By Enock Akonnor, enockakonnor2013@gmail.com
The National Chairperson for Girls Not Brides (GNB, Ghana); a coalition of Civil Society Organizations Hajia Fati Seidu has critiqued that government has not been up to the task in relation to the protection of the welfare and rights of the girl child.
Heightened rate of child marriage in some parts of the country she noted dominantly owes to his (government) failure to effectively enforce a robust legal and policy framework which prevent the menace in question.
She has asserted that, practically, authorities should showcase his commitment by ensuring that every grown child is sent to school and that girls attain a good level of education before they are given in to marriage.
“Systems should be put in place to monitor how laws and policies on the rights of the girl child are implemented”, she added.
Hajia Fati alluded in an exclusive interview with www.leakynews.net on the sidelines of the 4th Annual General Meeting of GNB, stating that Ghana still has communities where some parents consider education as their last priority.
“In most communities in the North, there are still children who have not been taken to school”.
This according to her accounts for why only few women occupy leadership positions in the country.
Touching on hygiene, she admonished that government should consider a free distribution of sanitary pads or at least subsidize their prices.
Presently, their prices have gone up and per her admonishing doing that will make them accessible, affordable and will ultimately enhance the hygiene of girls.
AGM
This year’s Annual General Meeting of GNB Ghana saw the attendance of members in good standing drawn from all the 16 regions in Ghana.
The objective focused on building the capacity of members, soliciting for their views on how best they can advocate for the rights of the girl child and also draw an action plan for the coming year.
Source; www.leakynews.net