Girls in the Wa West District have called for coordinated efforts between traditional authorities, parents and other stakeholders to work help end the menace of child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the district.
They said the twin canker of child marriage and teenage pregnancy robbed he girls of their future by denying the opportunity formal education personal development.
This was contained in a communiqué by the school girls in the district and presented to the Naa Alhaji Imoro Nandomy-Gomah II, the Paramount Chief of Wechiau Traditional Area, the Wa West District Girl Child Education Officer and other Heads of Department of the Wa West District.
Miss Hannah Wadema Kolo, a student of Lassia-Tuolu R/C Junior High School, read the communiqué on behalf of the girls at Wechiau on Tuesday to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.
The communiqué identified poverty, poor parental control, lack of sexual education and bad cultural practices as some of the causes of teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
Mr Felix Bagyiliko Wuura, the Wa West District Director of the NYA, noted that teenage pregnancy and child marriage is very prevalent in the district depriving the girls of their education.
The presentation of the communiqué was preceded by a float through some principal streets of Wechaiu, organised by the Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD) Ghana, Music for Change group and the Wa West District office of the National Youth Authority (NYA).