The Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Network in the Upper East Region, has called on government to initiate practical steps towards providing the right information about sexual and reproductive health rights to adolescents.

This would help to prevent teenage pregnancies and child marriages.

It said when adolescents were equipped with basic knowledge about their sexual and reproductive health life it, would help them to be assertive and stand for their rights and make informed choices which would contribute to preventing teenage pregnancies and related adverse effects.

The SRHR Network is an advocacy group of Civil Society organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations working in the Upper East Region to campaign for the design and implementation of sexual and reproduction health education in schools and communities.

The member organizations include; the Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG), AfriKids Ghana, Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Camfed, Restorative Seed Society, Society for Empowerment and Social Justice and Ghana Coalition of NGOs.

A statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency by Mrs Priscilla Nyaaba, the Executive Director of YHFG, who is the Convenor of the Network, bemoaned the incessant increase in teenage pregnancies in the region and called for collective efforts from all stakeholders.

The statement disclosed that the District Health Information Management Systems of the Ghana Health Service reported that in 2020, the region recorded 6,533 pregnancies among girls between the ages of 10 to 19 which was a five per cent increase from 6,233 in 2019.

It also stated “it is even worrying that the reported teenage pregnancy cases among girls aged 10 to 14 in the region increased from 103 in 2019 to 142 in 2020, representing 38 per cent increase.

“The Ghana Education Service (GES) has corroborated the GHS figures on the increasing incidence of teenage pregnancies and mothers in the Region among in-school girls due to the COVID-19 school lockdown and restrictions.

“The GES data released in September 2020 reported that 220 teenage pregnancies occurred among girls in Junior High Schools, out of which 30 were nursing mothers. While 105 Junior High School girls were married during the same period, 48 Senior High School girls became pregnant.”

The statement said the cases were high in the Bawku West, Talensi and Bongo Districts.

“If this phenomenon is not checked immediately it will continue to pose serious maternal health risks to the teenagers and threaten efforts to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, It said.

“The SRHR Network-Upper East Region is of the view that gender inequality, difficulties in accessing Adolescent Reproductive Health information and Youth Friendly Health services, poverty and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled high rates of unintended teenage pregnancies and child marriages in the Region,” it added.

The statement, therefore, called on major stakeholders including; the GES, the National Youth Authority, the Ghana Health Service and traditional authorities to initiate open and frank discussions on adopting and implementing a culturally sensitive and age-appropriate Reproductive Health Education (RHE) in schools and communities as a mechanism to equipping the young people with accurate information to contribute to curbing the menace.