Traditional authorities and the clergy in Bulenga in the Wa East District have pledged commitment to ending the occurrence of teenage pregnancies among adolescent girls in the area.

They made the pledge at a stakeholder engagement organized by the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament with support from Plan International Ghana over the weekend.

The engagement was a follow-up to a similar engagement held earlier in Bulenga following research conducted by the Youth Parliament (YP) during which the need to specifically involve the traditional rulers and the clergy arose.

The Wa East District has been identified as one of the districts with high cases of teenage pregnancies and child marriages, and the research confirmed that 83 per cent of girls indulge in sexual escapades to secure sanitary goods.

In his remarks, the Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, Mr James Baba Anabiga said the essence of the engagement was to brainstorm to come out with the best strategies for speaking out about the issues of adolescent reproductive health as a way of finding solutions to the problems.

He added that the role of traditional authorities and religious leaders could not be underestimated when it comes to speaking out to bring about positive change in the situation of ASRH in the district.

Mr Anabiga indicated the engagement was, therefore, to carve out a well-defined roadmap that encompasses channels and feedback strategies for ASRH communication.

“We want to see, what steps are you putting in place to include these messages as part of your sermons, bible studies and meetings so that we can get the message to the roots,” he implored.

He acknowledged that the clergy and traditional rulers possess authority with which they can turn the situation around, hence the need to engage them in the process.

Source: Info Radio