According to UNICEF, 1 in 5 girls in Ghana are married before their 18th birthday, a situation that affects their ability to complete basic and secondary education, or venture into any form of skills or vocational training.
The situation is dire in northern Ghana where 1 out of 3 girls marry before age 18.
As the world mark the International day of the girl 2022, Eduwatch is calling for pragmatic steps to end the practice.
About 1 in 4 girls aged 15 to 19 globally are not in education, employment, or training.
There are an estimated 418,000 out of school children in Ghana, many of whom are girls, due to economic and socio-cultural factors such as child marriage.
In a statement to mark the day, Eduwatch noted that efforts aimed at ending child marriage must begin with the prevention of teenage pregnancy and resourcing of social protection and Justice Sector Institutions mandated to prevent child marriage, protect rescued girls from further exploitation, arrest and prosecute perpetrators.
It observed that underlying a child marriage free society is a strong foundation of education and skills training for girls, especially the poor.
‘Girls educated to the secondary level and beyond are 95 per cent less likely to become victims of child marriage’, the statement further stressed
The time is now for government and stakeholders to make more targeted investments to provide equitable, quality education and skills training for girls, especially those from poor households, and resource social protection and Justice Sector Institutions to combat Child Marriage.
Full statement attached below
