Hajia Safia Tamimu, Head, Child Marriage Unit, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has advised religious leaders against officiating child marriages.
She said it was criminal to put together children in marriage or force underaged children to marry older men.
Hajia Tamimu gave the advice on the sidelines of an engagement with religious bodies on ending child marriage, organised by the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, (MCRA) in collaboration with MoGCSP and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Accra.
Child marriage is the formal and informal practice where one or both spouses enter into marriage below age 18 in Ghana.
It is also referred to as forced marriage because it is believed that it is not the child’s interest to go into marriage. He or she is being forced into it.
Hajia Tamimu said the Children’s Act, 1998 (ACT 560) Section 14 states that “no person shall force a child to be betrothed, be subjected to a dowry transaction or be married,” and “the minimum age of marriage of whatever kind shall be eighteen years.”
She confirmed that child marriage was criminal and a violation of human rights, denying girls their right to education and childhood.
The Head said religious leaders must advocate for girls’ education, retention and transition from Junior High School to Senior High School and further levels if possible.
Hajia Tamimu encouraged parents not to shirk their responsibilities to ensure that their children became responsible citizens.
“Fortunately for us, we have at least free basic education and the government has also brought the free Senior High School,” she added.
She urged parents to rely on social welfare services in districts for additional support.
Mr Selorm Evans Habadah, Director, Human Resources, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious affairs, noted that Ghana had robust legislative frameworks which created a strong enabling environment for advancing the rights of vulnerable persons, including adolescent girls to be protected from child marriage.
He said, however the persistence of child marriage in Ghana required concerted, multi-stakeholder efforts to address its root causes and foster lasting solutions.
Mr Habadah said the roles of religious leaders who are at the helm of affairs with culture and religion were pivotal in shaping values, and ideologies, and significantly influencing attitudes towards ending child marriage within communities, congregations and areas of influence.
The Director said among other efforts to end child marriage, last year, in November 2023, the Chieftaincy Ministry engaged and solicited inputs from religious and other governmental bodies into a proposed National Policy on Religion.
He said stakeholders reviewed the non-acceptance of inter-religious marriages, child marriage and forced marriages in Ghana.
Dr Doris Mawuse Aglobitse, the Gender Team Lead at UNFPA, said it was imperative to strengthen relevant sectoral systems and service delivery at scale with stronger linkages and referrals among service providers across relevant sectors.
She said gender-transformative approach must be integrated across programming, including engagement with boys and young men to promote positive masculinities.
Dr Aglobitse called for sustaining, scale up intensive support and interventions for adolescent girls’ empowerment, leverage public finance and strengthen government accountability.
GNA
