You Have No Excuse To Drop Out Of School - World Vision Ghana To Teenagers.

 You Have No Excuse To Drop Out Of School - World Vision Ghana To Teenagers.

The regional operations manager of World Vision Ghana Barbara Asare Yaboah has called on school children, most especially females in the West Gonja municipality to discipline themselves in order to go far in their educational careers.

Barbara Asare Yaboah, made this call at a climax ceremony organized by World Vision Ghana to deepening the agenda on  ending child marriage now, violence and abuses against girls, through soccer clinic in Damongo, on 26th August, 2022, with the theme "Ending child violence and promoting holistic transformation of children through soccer clinic"

The program which was climaxed with a final game between Kurabaso and Larabanga was watched by huge spectators with Kurabaso girls emerged winners through penalty shootout after the game ended goalless.

Barbara Asare Yaboah, cautioned players and spectators not to use the  football game as just fun but rather be ambassadors of ending child marriage and that the players have no excuse to than to complete their educational levels.

"As we are playing, it is not just for fun, we know why we are here, to end child marriage, teenage pregnancies and all forms of violence against girls. 

Girls are capable of becoming future leaders in societies and the country at large. 

Girls are also capable of becoming nurses, teachers, lawyers, pilots, bankers, among others.

All of you here, have no excuses to drop out of school, no excuse to get pregnant, no excuse to be given out for marriage, you are all now  ambassadors for ending child marriage and teenage pregnancies in the country, so you have no excuse to drop out of school".

Mr. Felix Apeti, the cluster programs manager for World Vision Ghana said the essence of the program is to team up together as players, stakeholders to work together in ending child marriage in the municipality, Savannah region and Ghana as a whole. He added that the main aim of the soccer clinic is to work together to end all forms of violence against girls and boys in our communities, schools, and homes. He further stated that everyone should stop all forms of violence and abuses against girls and boys in our communities.

The chairman of the program, Pastor Akuka Samuel who also represented the municipal Ghana education service director (Ake Furguson), expressed gratitude to World Vision Ghana and acknowledged the collaborative works between Ghana education service and world Vision Ghana, saying the contributions of world vision in the educational sector are immeasurable.

Pastor Samuel, lamented on the alarming rising figures of teenage pregnancies the municipal is faced with, saying they are number of pregnant girls and nursing mothers in the two senior high schools; (Ndewura Jakpa SHS and Damongo SHS) in the West Gonja Municipality. He disclosed that they are currently 5 pregnant girls and 13 nursing girls at Ndewura Jakpa senior high school and seven (7) pregnant girls and 11 nursing mothers at Damongo senior high school.

He further stated that in the country the number of pregnancies in the upper primary to senior high schools from 2014 to 2019 is worrying and needs serious attention, saying a total of 6,559 pregnancies were record in the upper primary, 24, 003 in the junior high schools and 4,800 were also recorded in the senior schools, totalling 35,362 pregnancies in all levels in Ghana

He therefore called on everyone to join the campaign to end child marriage now in order to save girls and to enable them achieve higher in their educational levels.

Felix Apeti called on everyone to spread the message across various homes, market places schools, religious worship centers and work places.

Madam Alijata Haruna from the Genders Desk, thanked World Vision Ghana for organizing such an educative advocacy to stop child marriage. 

Alijatu Haruna stated that child marriage is a great menace in the West Gonja municipality hence the need for such programs to end child marriage now. 

She recounted how teenage pregnancies figures rose between 2018-2019. "Teenage pregnancies in 2018-2019 was very high because when girls were writing B.E.C.E exams almost half of the students were pregnant, which was a worry to us all".

Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union of children before age 18 years. It is considered a violation of human rights and a harmful traditional practice affecting more girls than boys, leading to numerous negative health and developmental consequences and limiting girls' economic and individual empowerment. 

In response to this situation, fighting child marriage has become a core development and human rights issue.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian, advocacy and development organization dedicated to working to transform the lives of children, families and communities worldwide so that they can reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

DAY ONE

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Say no to child marriage and protect the rights of children - world vision Ghana to parents and institutions

Parents in Ghana have been advised to protect the rights of children by not giving them out for marriages. Giving children out for early marriages is considered a violation of human rights and a harmful traditional practice affecting especially, girls than boys, leading to numerous negative health and developmental consequences and limiting girls economic and individual empowerment. 

The Cluster Programs Manager, Mr Felix Apeti made the call during a dubar organized by World Vision to end child violence, abuses and  marriage through soccer clinic in the West Gonna municipal, Damongo, on 23rd August, 2022, with the theme "Ending child violence and promoting holistic transformation of children through soccer clinic".

Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union of children before age 18 years. It is considered a violation of human rights and a harmful traditional practice affecting more girls than boys, leading to numerous negative health and developmental consequences and limiting girls' economic and individual empowerment. 

In response to this situation, fighting child marriage has become a core development and human rights issue.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian, advocacy and development organization dedicated to working to transform the lives of children, families and communities worldwide so that they can reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

Mr. Felix, Cluster Programs Manager in his welcome address lamented that, the future of children is being robbed by trading them into all forms of violence especially early marriages.

"the future of our most vulnerable girls and boys, especially the girl child is being robbed by trading them into all forms of violence especially early marriages".

Sharing statistics relating to early child marriage in the West Gonja municipality with the audience, Mr Felix revealed in 2021, West Gonja municipality recorded an increase in early child marriage as compared to 2019. 

"Over 4% of our children, a jump from 3% in 2019 aged from 12 to 18 were reported married or have experienced some form of sexual abuse, it is quite refreshing that, 78% of children in West Gonja municipality feel very safe within their environment".

"The information shows that parents, caregivers, the communities and duty bearers are not doing much to protect the children", he added.

According to Ghana Health Service (GHS), 555,575 teenage pregnancies were recorded among girls age 10 to 19 in Ghana, between 2016 and 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown of schools. Adding that an average of 112, 8000 girls get pregnant every year.

Mr. Felix therefore, called on stakeholders to pursue a holistic transformation of girls and boys using games to propagate a positive parenting and protecting all children from violence and abuse. He also call for support and to work with the law enforcement agencies to bring to book persons causing harm to children.

This and other punishment will help protect children against early child marriage in the West Gonja municipality, together with state agencies such as social welfare and community development, CHRAJ, Traditional leaders and among other agencies doing their job more aggressively to ending the menace. 

He added that a community feedback mechanism will be instituted to track progress made in child protection issues within the communities

Madam Barbara Asare Yaboah, the Regional Operations Manager called on children to take their education serious to enable them become responsible parents, and leaders in their various communities.

She reiterated that young girls should abstain from sex and the boys should protect girls rather than taking advantage of them and called on parents to avoid giving their daughters for early marriages by lunching a slogan "End child marriage now" with the response "it takes us all"

World Vision started operating in Ghana in 1979 and is currently working in ten regions in Ghana. 

World Vision Ghana have supported in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, improved livelihood, health 

development and advocacy organization dedicated to the 

their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty. 

World Vision Ghana work with communities to reach throughout Ghana, enabling us to contribute to the well provision of access to quality education, access to safe and nutrition.