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E/R Director for National Culture calls for collaborative effort to end child marriage
The Eastern Regional Director for the Centre for National Culture (CNC), Madam Dorcas Salamatu Alhassan has called for a collaborative effort among stakeholders, especially with parents to help end child marriages in the country.
According to her, child marriages which involved young children being married off, especially young girls, have been recognised as one of the serious challenges in the country.
She indicated that the situation was a personal, life-changing tragedy which had a devastating and long-lasting negative impact on the child. She added that these issues could be solved through collaborative efforts from all stakeholders, especially parents.
Madam Alhassan was speaking at a community engagement organised at Kpone lorry station and Agomanya Roman Catholic Basic School in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern region by the CNC in collaboration with Department of Social Welfare and Community Development and funded by UNICEF, on the theme: For Our Bright Future, End Child Marriage Now! ending child marriages.
The community engagement was done to educate community members on the issue as part of activities and interventions to end the menace in five communities in the Lower Manya Municipality including Asitey, Kojo Nya, Kpone, Nuaso, and Agomenya, where child marriages were prevalent.
The education was done through drama and other performances by the CNC to drum home the message of ending child marriages to the community members.
Madam Alhassan stated that the areas which have been selected in the municipality were ones where such issues of child marriages were prevalent, hence, the community engagements were organised to educate parents on the need to collaborate with other stakeholders to end child marriages.
“Early marriages lead to early childbearing, which is associated with significantly higher maternal mortality and morbidity rates, as well as higher infant mortality rates,” she stated.
She said having many pregnancies at an early age was dangerous for both mother and child, as young mothers bodies are not usually mature enough to carry a baby, adding that since the child married off was not given adequate time to learn how to take care of themselves, let alone to take care of another person.
“Also, child marriages have negative effects on girls’ education and life opportunities and often such marriages put an end to a girl’s education. Hence, we need to put in strategies, intervention and activities as well as intensify the education on the issues to prevent parents from giving their children into such marriages,” she said.
For her part, the Municipal Director for Social Welfare and Community Department at Krobo-Odumase, Madam Grace Ama Baiden, said child marriage was as a result of economic hardship on the part of poor families who sell off their children to wealthy ones, and added that the situation passes on cycles of poverty, poor health, and low education from generation to generation.
“Early child marriage is a crime and anyone who is caught to engage in it would be dealt with by law and so we are educating parents and children themselves to rather focus on their education to give their children and themselves a better life.”
From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Kpone
The Diaspora Affairs Office at the Office of the President has hosted a delegation of African diaspora women who are in Ghana ahead of a planned Presidential Conferment of Citizenship ceremony.
The Director of Diaspora Affairs, Kofi Okyere Darko, explained in a Facebook post that the visit was a gesture of appreciation by the delegation to the Government of Ghana for its continued efforts to reconnect Africans in the diaspora with their ancestral homeland.
He indicated that the ceremony, scheduled for next Monday, will officially grant Ghanaian citizenship to members of the delegation as part of the country’s broader engagement with the African diaspora.
The delegation was led by Erica Bennett, Founder of the Diaspora Africa Forum.
According to Mr Okyere Darko, her years of advocacy have played an important role in strengthening ties between Africa and people of African descent living abroad.
He noted that the group’s journey towards citizenship represents not only a legal process but also a cultural and spiritual return to their roots.
Also present at the meeting was Natalie Jackson, an attorney who is also expected to receive Ghanaian citizenship during the ceremony. She works closely with renowned civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.
Mr Okyere Darko emphasised that Ghana remains committed to strengthening relationships with the African diaspora and promoting unity, identity, and shared heritage among people of African descent worldwide.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana Tourism Authority is leading Ghana’s participation at ITB Berlin, which opened in Berlin with a vibrant national pavilion highlighting Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, tourism destinations and investment opportunities.
March 5 has been designated as Ghana Day, a special platform to promote Ghana’s languages, cuisine, Kente, festivals and business prospects to the global tourism community. The stand has already drawn strong interest with traditional arts and crafts displays, immersive multimedia presentations and popular Ghanaian snacks.
Seven private-sector players are exhibiting alongside government officials as part of efforts to deepen trade partnerships, expand market access, and attract investment across the hospitality, heritage tourism, ecotourism, and creative arts sectors.
Ahead of the official opening, the Ghana delegation also engaged young Ghanaian investors in Germany in collaboration with V Afrika-Verein and the Ghana Embassy, strengthening diaspora investment linkages and highlighting opportunities within the tourism value chain.
Ghana’s coordinated presence at ITB Berlin 2026 reinforces its strategy to position the country as the Gateway to Africa and a competitive destination for leisure travel and global investment.
