By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA
Nkawie (Ash), June 30, GNA-Parents and guardians have been urged to take active interest in the health and wellbeing of adolescents, particularly by supporting girls during menstruation and helping to break long-held taboos surrounding menstrual health.
Mr. Emmanuel Kwadwo Wiredu, Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said fathers had an important role to play in ensuring adolescent girls received the care, understanding and support they needed.
He expressed concern that many fathers still distanced themselves from issues relating to menstruation and menstrual hygiene, making it difficult for girls to openly discuss their health needs and receive the necessary assistance.
“Menstruation and menstrual health are important adolescent health issues that need to be given attention.
In this era, getting fathers and boys to appreciate that it is a biological developmental process among girls and not a taboo is very critical.
This will enable them to provide the needed support to our adolescent girls,” he stressed.
Mr. Wiredu made the call as part of a series of civic education activities by the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipal Directorate of the NCCE under the Adolescent Girls Programme (AGP), supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with funding from Global Affairs Canada.
The initiative forms part of a nationwide programme aimed at strengthening community awareness, promoting positive social and gender norms, enhancing adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and preventing gender-based violence (GBV).
The programme recognises that adolescent pregnancy, gender-based violence, harmful social norms and limited access to sexual and reproductive health information continue to affect many young people, especially girls, and therefore, seeks to mobilise communities to address these challenges collectively.
As part of the programme, the NCCE undertook eight days of intensive engagements with men and boys’ groups and other identifiable groups, organised a community outreach at the Nkawie Market and conducted mobile van sensitisation campaigns across communities in the municipality.
The engagements deliberately targeted men and boys to encourage positive masculinity and promote shared responsibility in supporting adolescent health and preventing gender-based violence, in line with the objectives of the programme.
Mr. Wiredu said behavioural change could only be sustained when parents, traditional leaders, religious bodies and community members worked together to create a safe and supportive environment for adolescents.
He said the education campaign also focused on substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, internet addiction, unsafe sexual practices, and the importance of abstinence and responsible decision-making among adolescents.
The Municipal Director urged parents to maintain open communication with their children and provide them with accurate guidance on issues affecting their health and development instead of leaving them to rely on misleading information from peers or social media.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/George-Ramsey Benamba
Reporter: Yussif Ibrahim