UNICEF and MLGDRD launch program to empower out-of-school adolescent girls

By Anthony Adongo Apubeo

Bolgatanga, 18 November, GNA – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, has launched an intervention to provide livelihood strengthening support to poor and vulnerable out-of-school adolescent girls and young female adults .

The intervention, titled “Livelihood Enhancement and Productive Participation Program for Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Female Adults,” aims to support efforts to prevent and respond to child marriages and teenage pregnancies in the Upper East Region and Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the East. Mamprusi Municipality in the North Eastern Region.

To this end, the program aims to improve the income security and economic opportunities of at-risk and vulnerable adolescent girls and increase girls’ physical autonomy and decision-making power to facilitate their smooth transition to adulthood.

The program will therefore leverage the government’s existing social protection interventions and target adolescent girls aged 16 to 21 living in Livelihoods Empowerment Against Poverty Program (LEAP) households, the Ghana Health Service Adolescent Safety Net Programme, and the following delivery structures. Complementary and Livelihood Asset Support Scheme (CLASS) under the Ghana Social Protection System.

The pilot intervention formed part of the umbrella program known as the “UNFPA-UNICEF Global Program to End Child Marriage” and was designed to provide comprehensive vocational and job skills training to vulnerable girls and young women.

Addressing stakeholders at the launch in Bolgatanga, UNICEF Social Policy Specialist Christiana Gbedemah said that although child marriages in Ghana have fallen from about 40 percent in the 1980s to 19.3 percent in 2018, one in five girls is still married. or being in an informal relationship before the age of 18.

He emphasized that the prevalence of marriage by age 15 has stalled at five percent with no noticeable improvement in the past 10 years, and attributed this challenge to high levels of poverty, economic hardship, inadequate education and livelihood opportunities among vulnerable families. .

The aim of the program was therefore to empower adolescents to help overcome these challenges and prevent teenage pregnancies, child marriages and other challenges that hinder youth growth and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Director General of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Alhaji Amin Abdul Rahaman, in his speech read on his behalf, said the initiative represents a significant advancement in the government’s ongoing mission to empower and support vulnerable populations across the country. .

He said the initiative aligns perfectly with the government’s commitment to enhance the implementation of skill development and community empowerment programmes, and the ministry is committed to giving it the necessary support to make it successful.

The intervention was initiated by Upper East Regional Minister Dr. Hafez Bin Saleh pointed out that for economic reasons, some parents often marry off their teenagers and young female adults or push them into early marriage to pay off family debts.

The minister said this limits young girls from reaching their full potential and the program is in the right direction to address these challenges, pledging full support to the implementation of the project.

“On behalf of the Government of Ghana, I express my deepest gratitude to UNICEF and all stakeholders who played a role in making this pilot program possible. “Let’s continue to work hand in hand to ensure satisfactory implementation of the program to build a compelling case for expansion and scale-up,” he added.

The two municipalities, represented by their general manager and coordinator manager, as well as other staff, expressed their commitment to the implementation of the project.

GNA