The Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Paulina Patience Abayage has expressed grave concern about the increasing number of teenage pregnancies among teenage girls in the region.
She has thus advised parents not to do anything that will push their adolescent girls to depend on male friends or men for certain basic needs, especially sanitary pads.
Hon. Abayage was optimistic that teenage pregnancies can be curtailed or reduced drastically if parents especially mothers are able to set aside Five or Ten Ghana Cedis every month to buy sanitary pads for their daughters so that they did not make such demands from their male friends or men.
The Minister’s call comes on the back of some startling figures of teenage pregnancy in the just ended Basic Education Certificate Examination Certificate (BECE) in the Bawku Municipality.
Hon. Abayage was addressing the first edition of Durbar of Queen Mothers and Women in the Kusaug Traditional Area comprising Bawku Municipality, Pusiga, Binduri and Bawku West Districts in the Upper East Region. It was on the theme “The Role of Women in Kusaug Traditional Area in Developmentâ€.
Hon. Paulina Patience Abayage, Upper East Minister
She explained that the girl-child menstruate every month which requires sanitary pad at least once a day to enable them remain confident and comfortable in school and study.
“As parents if you fail in this direction, some irresponsible men will provide the sanitary pad on your behalf and other basic needs and the outcome is the increase in the teenage pregnancy in the society these daysâ€.
Hon Abayage also urged parents to make their daughters their friends and invest in their education rather than making unnecessary expenses on new cloths for every occasion.
She again advised parents to provide sex education for their daughters as early as eight to ten years because between 12 and 15 years girls get pregnant due to lack of sex education.
Hon Patience Paulina Abayage charged the Queen Mothers to be agents of change and lobby their male counterparts to attract investors to their various jurisdictions.
She also urged them to take advantage of the government interventions such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Free Senior High School policy, Planting for Food and Jobs among others to improve the life of their subjects.
Touching on the statistics on Teenage Pregnancy, the Desk Officer for Girl-Child at the Bawku Municipal Education office,
Madam Matilda Abolga said nine girls confirmed pregnant, one got married some weeks before the BECE exams while four dropped out adding that only God knows why they dropped out and married one could not also wait to complete the exams before going into marriage.
She said for 2018/2019 Academic year, 15 girls got pregnant at the Basic level, 2017/2018, 28 girls at the basic level got pregnant and 19 also got pregnant at the Senior High level and 28 got pregnant for 2016/2017 Academic year at the basic level and ten and the Senior High level.
A cross-section of Queen Mothers in the Kusaug Traditional Area
Madam Abolga cited negligence of parents to provide the basic necessities of life for their daughters and the absence of these basic needs exposes the girls to men for money while some mothers instead of advising their daughters to stay away from men rather push them to men to request for money consequently leading to teenage pregnancy.
She also mentioned others such as mothers sending their daughters to funerals exposing them to men and attending wedding and naming ceremonies where music is played throughout the night.
The Paramount Queen Mother of Kusaug Traditional Area, Puanaba Alasbuudi I said women by nature are uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of every society meanwhile they are not valued in the “eyes†of humanity quoting the adage that says that “Behind every successful man there is a womanâ€.
She called for an end to child abuse, parental neglect, single motherhood, the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), increase rate of teenage pregnancy even with some reported case at the primary school level.
Puanaba Alasbuudi I assured the Minister of her collaboration with the 25 Divisional and Sub-Divisional Queen mothers across Kusaug Traditional Area to work as a team in order to bring development and peaceful co-existence for socio-economic advancement.
, December 17, 2019