Saturday, February 15

Stakeholders unhappy about pre-marital sex, surge in teenage pregnancy in Sunyani    

Stakeholders at an adolescent community forum have expressed concern about uncontrolled pre-marital sexual practices among teenagers in the Sunyani Municipality, calling for collective approach to bring the situation under control. 

They said that was contributing to increasing teenage pregnancies and affecting girl-child education, as well as increasing adolescent single parenting in the municipality. 

That situation is affecting the holistic growth and development of girls and making more of them a liability and increasing the vulnerabilities of children. 

The ‘Sunyani Adolescent Parliament’ set up by the Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), a media advocacy non-government organisation (NGO) under the Resilient City for Adolescents (RC4A) project it is implementing in the Sunyani Municipality organised the forum. 

GloMeF is non-profit organisation, which specialises in the usage of social, and behaviour change communication, right and evidence-based research approaches to facilitate inclusive development programmes targeting young people, women, children and other vulnerable groups. 

The forum was attended by the adolescents, queens and chiefs, and assembly members and civil society organisations. 

Mr Kwaku Ayittey, the Assembly Member for the Sunyani Area One Electoral Area, regretted that “some of the teenage have sexual intercourse in abandoned structures”. 

He said the situation was becoming alarming and something ought to be done to bring it under control. 

Nana Konama Dompe I, the Kyidomhemaa (sub-queen) of the Sunyani Traditional Area noted that sexual intercourse and substance abuse “is becoming the order of the day” for teenagers, regretting that many girls in the Municipality were engage in immoral relationship. 

Master Daniel Frimpong-Sarkodie, the ‘Speaker’ of the Adolescent Parliament urged girls to endeavour to preserve their virginity until they marry, saying sex before marriage would only ruin the future of girls. 

In a brief background, Mr Simon Asore, the Executive Director of Citizens Watch Ghana, an NGO and the RC4A implementation partner explained that the Adolescent Parliament leads the adolescent movement and gives them a voice in the decision-making process, as part of the implementation of the RC4A project. 

He said the project implementation was expected to directly benefit 1,500 and indirectly reach out to 3000 boys and girls. 

The Swiss Botnar Foundation under its Resilient City for Adolescents Initiative is funding the implementation of the 300,000-pound sterling project, which seeks to improve the lives of adolescents in the country. 

Source: GNA 


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