By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Vunania (U/E), Oct. 11, GNA – WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation, has reiterated the need for sustained investment in the empowerment of girls.
Ms Fauzia Aliu, an Advocacy, Campaigns, and Inclusion Manager at WaterAid Ghana, who made the call, said supporting girls to realise their potentials was key to building a stronger, fairer, and more inclusive Ghana.
Ms Aliu made the call on behalf of Ms Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur, the Country Director of WaterAid Ghana at a community durbar held at the Vunania Junior High School (JHS) in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, to mark the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child.
The theme for this year’s commemoration; “The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis,” highlights the leadership, resilience, and determination of girls who continue to drive positive change in their communities despite numerous challenges.
The event was part of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) project, a five-year initiative (2021–2026) funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by a consortium led by Right to Play, in partnership with WaterAid Ghana, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), and FHI 360.
The SHARE project seeks to promote gender equality and empower women and girls by strengthening access to adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, improving menstrual health management and gender-responsive WASH facilities in schools, as well as building girls’ confidence and leadership skills.
Ms Aliu said in the Upper East Region, many girls continued to face barriers such as teenage pregnancy, early marriage, limited access to education and health information, as well as the absence of safe water and sanitation facilities in schools to ensure menstrual hygiene.
She, however, commended the courage of girls who continued to pursue education and leadership despite these obstacles.
She also commended the Government of Ghana and the Ghana Education Service (GES) for their commitment towards promoting girls’ education and well-being, through adolescent health and menstrual hygiene education, and counselling programmes, adding that these initiatives were helping to make schools safer and more inclusive for girls.
Ms Aliu also expressed appreciation to traditional and community leaders for their efforts towards discouraging child marriage, promoting girls’ education, and addressing harmful cultural practices.
“When traditional authority, government institutions, and civil society work hand in hand, our girls have a stronger chance to thrive,” she stated.
Ms Aliu said the SHARE project had contributed to empowering girls to speak up for their rights, stay in school, and pursue their dreams, and reaffirmed WaterAid Ghana’s commitment towards ensuring that every girl had access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene both at home and in school.
“Clean water and dignity are not privileges, but fundamental human rights that enable girls to learn with confidence, manage their menstruation safely, and stay healthy,” she stated.
She encouraged parents, teachers, traditional leaders, and all stakeholders to continue playing their roles in nurturing and protecting girls, adding “empowering girls is not the job of one organisation, it is a collective responsibility.”
Madam Pamela Adamwaba Buntugu, the Sub-Coordinator of the Kassena-Nankana Municipal School Health Education Programme, stated that the failure of parents to honour their responsibilities, was the major cause of teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
She called on parents to be open to their adolescent children, particularly girls, to ensure that they provided them with the needed sexual health and reproductive education required to make informed decisions.
In a speech read on his behalf, Pe Asagpaare Aneakwoa Dennis Balinia Adda II, the Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, reminded his subjects that child marriage was criminalised in his traditional area, and warned that perpetrators would be dealt with according to the law.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/ Christabel Addo