The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has called on government to take serious action to fight the canker of child marriage in the country.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 16th annual congress of Youth Action Movement (YAM), the youth wing of PPAG, under the theme; “Addressing child marriage, a shared responsibility”, held in Accra on Tuesday, May 7, the Executive Director of PPAG, Mrs. Abena Acheampong, noted that, the adverse impacts of child marriage, especially on the girl-child, are serious and, therefore, need to be treated as an emergency.
According to Mrs. Acheampong, child marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts on the girl child. educational opportunity and chances of personal growth.
She added that, child marriage deprives the girl child of educational opportunity which would enable her to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation, therefore affecting the society entirely.
Mrs. Acheampong also stated that, though Ghana had signed many international conventions and agreements that prohibited child marriage, including its own national action plan and policies, the practice still persisted.
The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 407,000 girls born in Ghana between 2005 and 2010 will be married before age 18 by 2030 unless urgent action is taken.
