The Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region Thomas Ampem Nyarko has served notice to make a statement on the floor of Parliament when the House reconvenes from recess on increasing teenage pregnancy cases in the Country.
Statistics by the Ghana Health Service indicate that between 2016 and 2020 more than half a million about (555,575) teenagers aged 10 to 19 years, got pregnant.
The data further revealed that within the same period, 13,444 of the teenagers who got pregnant were between the ages of 10 and 14 while some 542,131 teenagers aged 15 to 19 years got pregnant within the period under review.
The statistics suggest that an average annual teenage pregnancy rate of 112,800. This places Ghana’s adolescent birth rate at 140 per 1000 women which is far above the sub-Sahara African rate of 104 adolescent births per 1000 women. The situation is pervasive across the entire country since all 16 administrative regions are affected with the Ashanti, Greater Accra, Eastern, and Central Regions being the worst affected.
The MP who has the welfare of children at heart described the growing phenomenon as bizarre and a threat to the future of young girls.
The MP called for the prosecution of those who impregnate the teenage girls while awareness is created on the canker.
“I am working assiduously to make a statement on the floor of Parliament on the state of teenage pregnancy and motherhood and its effects on the victims and the nation as a whole. I am therefore extending a hand of partnership to our development partners and Civil Society Organisations working on girls’ empowerment that you have a friend in Parliament who is ready and willing to champion the cause of girls’ empowerment. My doors are open to you anytime”. The MP said during the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child in the Asuogyaman District by UNFPA.
International Day of the Girl Child was declared by the UN to be observed on every 11th October.
Paramount Chief of Akwamu Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III chaired the event.
He called for all to create an enabling environment for girls to realize their full potential.
Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, UNFPA Country Rep, emphasized the need for more to be done by all to give opportunities to girls in tech and innovation.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
