Create Economic Opportunities For Families To End Child Marriage In Ghana ---- Pecman Ghana Tells Gov't

Pecman Ghana, a Social Development NGO in Tamale has called on government to create opportunities for families to improve economically to be able to take care of their children in order to eliminate child and early marriages in the country

According to the Social Development NGO, the surest way to eliminate child marriage in the country is for government to create opportunities for families to be able to take care of their wards especially, the girls so that, they can attain adulthood before marriage

The NGO noted that, most parents give out their girls to men for marriage due to poverty

It said women by nature demands lots of care which requires money, so parents who are not able to meet the needs of their girls are at times push them off to marriage so as to be free from their responsibilities

In a statement to commemorate the 2019 Mothers' Day celebration, the Programmes Director of the NGO, Adam Abdul-Fatawu Wunizoya observed that, to end child marriage in Ghana, then there is the need for government to ensure that, families' economic status are improved

The statement noted "We have observed that taking care of the girl-child is not as easy as that of the boy-child, because, women by nature have an unlimited needs, so parents who are not able to provide these needs by their girls, at times pushes them to marriage so that, they can become free"

He called on government to work towards liberating families from economic hardships that makes it difficult for parents to cater for their children thereby pushing them into early and Child marriages

"We know the government is doing everything possible to ensure that, the country attend the needed development, but we want to appeal that, government put in plans to liberate families from hardship so that, they can be able to take good care of their families without pushing them into early marriage. Government should ensure that parents are able to provide the basic needs of their children, especially girls" the statement said

It also called on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) not to relent on their efforts to end the menace of Child marriage but rather work with government and other organizations to ensure that, the practice of Child marriage becomes a history

Pecman Ghana is a Social Development Advocacy NGO in Tamale working towards ending child and early marriage in the country especially, the Northern part

It also works towards Sustaining Girls in Schools and eliminating Teenage Pregnancies using advocacy strategies such as School Visitation, Stakeholder engagement, Public Forums, Media engagement amongst others

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For Immediate Release
10/06/2019
PECMAN GHANA CELEBRATES MOTHERS ON MOTHER'S DAY, DEMANDS AN END TO CHILD MARRIAGE IN GHANA

We, PECMAN GHANA wish to join the local and the international Community to Celebrate mothers,especially, the responsible mothers ahead of the 2019 mothers' Day which falls on Sunday, May 12,2019 for their contributions to both the continuity of life and the human resource development of the country

As an NGO in Social Development, we recognized the role mothers play in child upbringing from conception through to birth and training of children to become better persons in society

We know that, a mother, from the day of conception till the day she puts to bed undergoes both physical and psychological trauma, and the worse is the pain of labor, but never regrets, rather, they continue to bear the pain in bringing up children

On this special day, we say 'Happy Mothers's Day' 'Ayikoo', 'Ni yi tuma pam' to every responsible mother because, though mothers get support from Fathers in child upbringing, there are some mothers who do this alone either because the father is no more or is careless to the family

We however wish to call on all, especially, government to work towards ending child marriage in the country

We wish to admonish government to create economic opportunities for families so that parents are be able to take care of their wards especially, Girls in order to eliminate child and early marriage in Ghana

We know the government is doing everything possible to ensure that, the country attend the needed development, but we want to appeal that, government put in plans to liberate families from hardship so that, they can be able to take good care of their families without pushing them into early marriage. Government should ensure that parents are able to provide the basic needs of their children, especially girls

We also wish to call on CSOs both local and international to collaborate together so that early and child marriage will become a history

Finally, we also wish to appeal to the media to take interest in the area of child right protection so that together we can reduce if not eliminate completely the menace of child and early marriages in the country

Once again, HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY
........Signed......
Adam Abdul-Fatawu Wunizoya
(Programmes Director, Pecman Ghana)
SOURCE: northern news GH
Abdul Fatawu