The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with African Development Bank has organised a day’s sensitization workshop on teenage pregnancy for female head porters (Kayayei) in the Greater Accra Region.

The workshop was to educate them on the effects of teenage pregnancy to enable them make informed decisions on their sexual lifestyles.

The workshop, attended by over 80 participants, was also aimed at educating the Kayayei on family planning, HIV/STI transmission information, immunisation, and early child care services.

It provided the Ministry and other relevant stakeholders the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the challenges facing the Kayayei for the development of direct intervention programmes and long term strategic planning.

Nana Oye Lithur, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the workshop demonstrated Government's commitment to provide essential services for the empowerment of vulnerable groups in the society.

She said tackling adolescent sexual and productive health rights was a critical issue for national development adding that females in Ghana currently represent 51.2 per cent of the entire population of almost 25 million; while adolescents represent 22.4 per cent of the total population.

Nana Oye Lithur said teenage pregnancy rate in the country was high adding that in 2014, of all the births registered in the country, 30 per cent were by adolescents, and 14 per cent of adolescents aged between 15-19 years had begun childbearing.

“The time is now to effectively address sexual and reproductive health issues across the country and make it a priority for all relevant stakeholders in our national development agenda,” she said.

The Minister said the contribution of women to the socio-economic development of every nation could not be underestimated, hence the need to ensure their education; for them to fully explore their potential and contribute to the development aspirations of the nation.

Nana Oye Lithur said the Government has also taken bold measures to implement social protection intervention programmes that empowers the most vulnerable persons in the society especially women and girls who use markets centres as their homes and as a result suffer physical, sexual and emotional abuses.

She said the Ministry of Gender in collaboration with UNFPA has established response centres for Gender-based violence survivors in three selected markets in Accra and Kumasi.

She said the main aim of the response centres was to increase survivor safety and perpetrator accountability adding that the centres would coordinate and link core services, and provide immediate to long-term health care, access to police, legal and counseling services.

Stakeholders including the Ghana Health Service, Legal Aid Scheme, DOVVSU, Marie Stopes, Willows Foundation, Population Council, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana and IPAS were present to provide essential health and social services.