The Department of Gender in the Volta Region has expressed concern over the spike in adolescent pregnancies in the Volta Region over the past three years.
In 2020, 6,144 of such cases were recorded in the region, with figures rising to 6,294 in September 2021.
Speaking to Citi News during an engagement with some adolescent mothers in some districts of the Volta region, Regional Director of Gender, Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe noted that, child marriage has been on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Madam Thywill Kpe, the engagement forms part of a Global Programme under the UNFPA Seven Country Programme which aims at ending child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“We realized that child marriage is quite high when it comes to sub-Saharan Africa and teenage pregnancy has been identified as a cause and effect of child marriage. Teenage pregnancy has a serious implication on our population dynamics and this is aimed to globally end child marriage”.
According to Madam Kpe, “over 100,000 cases of teenage pregnancy has been recorded in the country, with the Volta region recording over 6,000 cases in 2020 and 2021”.
She added that, “there is an implication on development even if a single girl gets pregnant, and we are much concerned if 6,000 of them are getting pregnant.”
Madam Thywill Kpe, the Volta Regional Director of the Department of Gender, also noted that, the department is engaging these teenage mothers “to serve as ambassadors in their various communities to prevent further increase in cases of teenage pregnancy”.
The UNFPA CP7 Programme is also targeting other groups such as parents, youth groups, faith-based organisations and ‘okada riders’ who some girls identified as key contributors to teenage pregnancies.
Some of the teenage mothers also noted that, their education has been affected as a result of their pregnancies.
They however hope to continue their education or learn a trade to better their lives.
