Stakeholders in the Asante-Akim South Municipality have advocated a skills training programme for adolescent girls as a strategy to curb teenage pregnancy in the Municipality.
They believe that equipping young girls with employable skills would empower them to be economically independent and reduce the reliance on men for survival.
The stakeholders shared these opinions during a meeting on an adolescent health communication project being piloted in the Municipality with funding from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The project dubbed, “Medaakye Nti” seeks to engage relevant stakeholders on adolescent sexual reproductive health issues with the ultimate goal of tackling teenage pregnancy in the Municipality.
As part of the implementation, adolescent champions and peer support service providers would be identified and trained by the Municipal Health Directorate to lead the advocacy.
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Representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), traditional leaders, media, municipal assembly, education directorate, clergy and the municipal health directorate attended the meeting.
Mr Reuben Osei Antwi, the Municipal Director of Health Services, said the selection of Asante-Akim South for the pilot did not mean the Municipality had the worst cases of teenage pregnancy but due to the activeness of stakeholders in health issues.
He said teenage pregnancy was not only a health issue but also a social issue that required the involvement of all stakeholders to address.
Addressing factors that lead to teenage pregnancy at the community level, he said, was critical to the fight against the menace and called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders in that regard.
He said the Health Directorate had over the years rolled out various interventions to promote adolescent health but a lot more needed to be done to achieve the desired results.
The participants resolved to work together with the health authorities to sensitise young girls in the various communities to the effects of teenage pregnancy as part of the adolescent health communication project.
