A total of 420 girls within the ages of 15 to 19 years got pregnant from January to December this year in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese (AAK) of the Central Region.
Out of the 420 girls, 3 within the age bracket of 10-14 years were confirmed pregnant.
This forms 13 percent of the Antenatal Care (ANC) cases registered at various hospitals within the region.
The Adolescent Focal Person for AAK District, Mrs. Caroline Okai who disclosed this at the inauguration of the Community Orange Ambassadors Club at Wiomoa in the AAK District said “this is something that can really affect the district’s development.”
The Club was set up by the Member of Parliament for the Area, Mr. Elvis Morris Donkor through a collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund.
Speaking to ATL FM NEWS on the side-lines of the program, she indicated that drivers of aboboyaa (tricycles), fishermen, barbers, and farmers are the main people impregnating the girls.
“…in every district we compile this data and we pick data from the adolescents when they visit the ANC clinic. Immediately we know it’s an adolescent there are a series of questions we ask, so based on that we are able to find out that, in AAK, though we have other categories of persons, the men that are topping the list of impregnating the girls are the drivers, barbers, the farmers, and the fishermen. “
To help curb the menace in the district, Mrs. Okai said various programmes have been put in place to break the string of teenage pregnancies in the district.
These she notes include education, role model interactions, setting up of adolescent clubs to help the young girls stay focused among others.
The UNFPA Ghana Honorary Ambassador, Claudia Lumor, on her part, urged parents, assembly members, and all stakeholders to assist young girls in order to achieve zero teenage pregnancy, zero Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), and zero maternal death in AAK.
She said the Orange Centres would educate adolescents on the essence of speaking up against abuses and other related issues.
She also noted that very soon a scorecard will be introduced where a constituency that records zero Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in a year will be publicly acknowledged by the UNFPA.
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On the motive behind the setting up of the group, the coordinator of the Orange Ambassadors who is also the assembly member for Apewosika electoral area in the AAK constituency, Naomi Adjei-Konadu said in recent years, the girl-child of today has been taking everything about education and life in general for granted, hence the formation of the ambassadors in the various communities.
The Club Community Orange Ambassadors Club at Wiomoa in the AAK District will serve as a platform to help the young adolescents to find appropriate means to channel their worries in order to stop menace in the district.
Source: Anthony Sasu Ayisadu/ATLFMNEWS
