National campaign to end child marriage launched in Accra

Ghana has joined other African states in the fight against child marriage by launching an ambitious campaign to bring an end to the obnoxious practice.

Known as Ghana Ending Child Marriage campaign, the launch in Accra last Wednesday night brought to fruition, the government’s commitment to bring to a complete end, the practice that continues to bring pain and suffering to many young girls across the country.

Present at the well-attended launch at the Banquet Hall of the State House were African First Ladies, ministers of state, human rights groups, traditional rulers and other civil society organisations. 

Overview in Ghana

Giving an overview of the current state of affairs of Ghana’s campaign to end the practice, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, quoted the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Report of 2011, which showed that child marriage in Ghana increased from 25.9 per cent in 2006 to 27 per cent in 2011.

That, she explained, implied that one in every four women in Ghana between the ages of 20 and 49 years married before the age of 18.

The minister recalled the chilly story of Mahad Seidu, the girl whose plight made the headlines in the country a few years ago, after she was found tied up and hidden in a Walewale-bound bus to force her to marry a man against her wish on the instructions of her father.

Nana Oye indicated that child marriage, which came with sexual and physical abuse, had serious consequences on the child’s education, health, economic opportunities and security.

As part of the effort to end the practice, she said the ministry in 2014 established a child management committee unit with support from UNICEF to develop a national strategic framework to help end the practice.

She spoke of building a network of media allies to see to the successful end of the practice.

Enforce legislation

In her address, the First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, stated that ending child marriage on the continent was critical to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on gender equality and poverty.

Mrs Mahama, who is also the President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA), therefore, urged African heads of state to enforce the legislation they passed on the marriageable age for girls at 18, in their respective countries.

“Any time a child is married, it is a reflection of our failure as international community to care a little more. We cannot continue to fail. Let us protect our girls,” she charged.

Child Marriage

Mrs Mahama said already millions of girls and women suffered the effects of child marriage, adding that OAFLA was delighted that many African countries were taking the initiative to end child marriage very seriously.

She said the launch of Ghana’s campaign would bring hope to many young girls in the country whose education, ambitions and dreams were cut short.

Already, Ethiopia, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Niger have launched the campaign to end child marriage.

According to Mrs Mahama, Ghana’s event was also a positive response to the African Union’s (AU) call for action on the issue of child marriage, which was a global challenge.

She said data released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in July 2014 indicated that each year, 15 million girls married before the age of 18.

The President of OAFLA said the global data further revealed that more than 700 million women living today were married before they celebrated their 18th birthday and that was equivalent to 10 per cent of the world’s population. 

Mrs Mahama pointed out that while girls were usually most affected by child marriage, a large number of boys also married as children.

She said UNICEF had identified South Asia and Africa as regions with the highest prevalence rates of child marriage, adding that it was estimated that the number of child brides in sub-Saharan Africa would double by 2050 and the area would overtake South Asia as the region with the largest number of child brides in the world.

She expressed worry that if nothing was done about the problem, the devastating effects on girls, their families and their countries would be too much to bear.

Mrs Mahama promised that OAFLA would continue to offer the needed support to weed out child marriage from Africa. 

Overcome Challenges

The President, Mr John Mahama, who launched the initiative, gave an assurance of the government’s commitment and support to end the practice in the country.

He thanked the National House of Chiefs for the pledge to support  the campaign.

The President of the House, Wulugu Naba Pugansoa, Naa Prof. John S. Nabila, had earlier called on families not to encourage the culture of early marriages in the name of tradition.

The Commissioner of Social Affairs at the African Union (AU) Commission, Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, said the AU had made strides by putting in place various instruments to protect child rights.