Govt. must ensure elimination of discrimination - NGO

Ms. Christina Amarchey, Brong Ahafo Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has drawn government’s attention to its constitutional obligation of ensuring the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.

She was delivering a statement at a day's workshop at Abesim, near Sunyani, attended by 37 participants drawn from Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs), security agencies, the media, traditional authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders.

Organised by the Brong-Ahafo Regional Office of ActionAid under the topic: “Research Finding on Girls’ Migration during Vacation to Cities”, the participants were expected to study the research findings and come out with concrete suggestions to nib in the bud the negative practice among girls in Tain district in Brong Ahafo.

Ms. Amarchey observed that, it was true that migration offered hope and positive benefits every year to millions of men, women and children around the world and the countries and cities that received them, but noted that the practice could also have serious consequences, especially for children in the absence of adequate policies to check such movement.

She expressed regret that despite the fact that Ghana as a member of the United Nations had ratified and adopted the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination and Violence Against Women (CEDAW), in addition to other necessary legal frameworks put in place for the elimination of the practice, “the practice still goes on”.

Ms. Amarchey stated that, ActionAid, since its operation in Ghana in 1990, had been working to promote the rights of women and girls as part of its strategy to fight “the injustice and inequity in society that perpetuate poverty for poor and excluded people”.

She said the organisation was working with more than a million people in six out of the 10 regions of Ghana, mentioning Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Brong-Ahafo, Greater Accra and Volta Regions, as current operational areas in the country.

In order to achieve its strategy to fight injustice and inequity in society that perpetuate poverty for poor and excluded people, Ms. Amarchey said ActionAid ensured improvement in opportunities for girls to be in school and to reach highest educational levels available.

Ms. Amarchey said the NGO had provided five school blocks at Biena, Kune-Tenten, Adama, Njau and Weiwain, all in Tain District, as opportunities in the form of girls’ camps, leadership conferences and career fairs to better their lot.

She however, complained that “the efforts of ActionAid Ghana to improve girls’ education in the district are being thwarted by the migration of girls to urban centres during vacation”.

As the girls migrate to the cities during vacation to seek for menial jobs, they more often than not fall prey to vices like prostitution, teenage pregnancy, streetism and other negative consequences, the regional programme manager stated.

Ms. Amarchey expressed gratitude to Dr. Rudith King, a research partner of the NGO and leader of the research team, for a good work done and expressed the belief that the information in the report would be useful for a well-targeted advocacy strategy.

She also expressed belief that with the concerted efforts of government agencies, traditional authorities and other civil society groups, “we can completely eliminate girl-child migration in Tain district and Ghana as a whole”.

The programme consisted presentation of research findings by Mr. John Abaa, Programme Officer in-charge of Women’s Rights; the participants, in their presentations called on traditional authorities, particularly queen mothers, Churches, Ghana Education Service, the media, security services and other stakeholders to put in place measures to discourage girls from the negative practice.**