Commission to fight early marriage in Ghana

Public agencies and civil society organizations involved in the promotion of child rights in the Tamale Metropolis have began a workshop to synergize their activities to tackle the menace of Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) in the Northern Region.

The two-day workshop organized by the Tamale Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is also to form a strong partnership between the state agencies and the CSOs to report the menace of CEFM in their communities to secure justice for the victims.

NCCE is being supported by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, through the Global Peace and Security Fund to engage in public awareness and strengthened civil society advocacy to reduce CEFM.

Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, Northern Regional Director of NCCE, who opened the workshop in Tamale on Wednesday, said issues of CEFM were a violation of human rights of the victims as well as militated against the development of society.

Alhaji Saani said the constitution granted everyone the right to choose who to marry and called on those who gave out or forced girls into early marriage to desist from the practice.

He called on parents to be concerned about the future of their children and send them to school rather than putting them into early marriages.

Alhaji Saani said NCCE in the Region was poised to fighting the menace of CEFM and would liaise with religious leaders to educate their members to desist from practice.

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