By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, June 19, GNA – The Female Empowerment and Advocacy for Development (FEAD Ghana), an NGO, has called for the strict enforcement of existing policies and guidelines to address school-related gender-based violence and create safer learning environments for girls across the country.
Hajia Hikmat Baba Dua, Executive Director of FEAD Ghana, who made the call, said Ghana had developed several policies and frameworks aimed at protecting girls and promoting their education, however, weak implementation continued to undermine their effectiveness.
Hajia Baba Dua, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tamale, said stronger commitment from educational authorities, law enforcement agencies and community leaders was needed to ensure that girls were protected from abuse and exploitation within schools.
She said “As a country, we are very good at developing policies and guidelines but implementation is where the challenge lies. If we effectively implement some of these existing policies especially those that protect girls within the educational system, we can make significant progress.”
Hajia Baba Dua identified the Ghana Education Service Code of Conduct as one of the key instruments that could help prevent abuse and inappropriate relationships within schools if rigorously enforced.
She stressed that ensuring the safety of girls in schools was a collective responsibility that required the active involvement of government institutions, civil society organisations, traditional authorities and parents.
She urged law enforcement agencies to act swiftly and decisively on reported cases of abuse involving girls.
She observed that many victims and their families were reluctant to report incidents because they lacked confidence in the justice system and feared that perpetrators would escape punishment.
She called for the establishment of confidential reporting mechanisms within schools to enable girls to report abuse without fear of victimisation or stigma.
She appealed to chiefs, assembly members, religious leaders and opinion leaders to support efforts aimed at protecting girls and ensuring that offenders were held accountable.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh /Kenneth Odeng Adade
19 June 2026
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