The practice of Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) in the country has reduced “many girls to baby producing machines”, Mr Joseph Whittal, Deputy Commissioner of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has said.

He said the practice of CEFM continued to perpetuate issues of gender inequality, poverty, maternal and child mortality in the country.

He said this when making a presentation at a workshop in Tamale on the topic: “The Prevalence of Child, Early and Forced Marriages in Ghana: Facts and Figures”.

The two-day workshop, organized by CHRAJ and the Commonwealth Secretariat, was attended by traditional leaders and queen-mothers drawn from the Northern (N/R), Upper East (UER) and Upper West Regions (UWR).

It focused on strengthening the capacities of the participants to champion the elimination of CEFM in N/R, UER and UWR in line with the Kigali Declaration of 2015 to move from aspiration to action to prevent and eliminate CEFM in the Commonwealth.

According to the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, one in four girls are married off before their 18th birthday with the practice recording 39.2 per cent in UER, 36.7 per cent in Western Region, 36.3 per cent in UWR and 27.4 per cent in N/R, making the country to fall among countries with highest prevalence of CEFM in the world.

Mr Whittal said the country risked not attaining the Sustainable Development Goals if urgent actions were not taken to address the high prevalence of CEFM.

He expressed his pleasure at the attendance of traditional leaders and queen-mothers saying it was indicative of their willingness to contribute to eliminating the practice.

He expressed need for the sections of the Criminal Offences Act on consent to sexual intercourse to be in tandem with the age of marriage set under the Children’s Act to address the issue of CEFM in the country.

Advocate Karen McKenzie, Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said a major role lay on traditional leaders and queen-mothers in eliminating CEFM emphasizing the need to protect the girl-child from the CEFM practice in the country.

A testimony of a victim of CEFM, read by Madam Esther Boateng, Programmes Manager of Action Aid Ghana, caused participants to express their abhorrence to the practice by shaking their heads in annoyance.