By Razak Baba.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the National Youth Authority, George Orwell Amponsah has expressed concern about increasing teenage pregnancy in the region. He said out of about 107,000 teenage pregnancies recorded last year, the Ashanti Region had 17,802 cases, representing 16.2% of the national figure. Mr. Amponsah stated this at this year’s African Youth Day celebrations in Kumasi.
African Youth Day has been commemorated since 2006 to acknowledge and recognize the youth as agents of development. This year’s celebration focused on “Safeguarding The Teenage Girl; A Clarion Call for Action”. It sought to define roles for stakeholders in finding lasting solutions to the menace of teenage pregnancy. Per the 2020 Statistics from the Ghana Health Service, Ashanti Region, is ranked first with more than 17,000 cases of teenage pregnancies, followed by the Eastern Region, with the Central Region at the third position. The Ashanti Regional Girls Education Officer, Hannah Amponsah, said the GES has developed a re-entry policy guideline, ‘’ that gives an opportunity for pregnant mothers to be in school before and after childbirth’’.
The Regional Director of the National Youth Authority, George Orwell Amponsah, expressed worry about increasing teenage pregnancy in the region.
The Executive Director of Rights and Responsibilities Initiative Ghana, Madam Aba Oppong called for punitive action against people who abuse or defile school girls.
Various stakeholders including Civil Society Organizations resolved to work collectively to reduce teenage pregnancy in the Ashanti region.