Mary Akumbisah, Girl-Child Education Officer of the Nanumba South District, has said child marriage had become a major challenge in the area, affecting the education of girls.

Though she could not readily provide figures on the situation, Mrs Akumbisah said some pupils, who got pregnant returned to school after delivery, but others ended up being married off truncating their education.

She advised girls to report cases of early and forced marriages to the Girls' Education Office for redress.

Mrs Akumbisah stated this at a durbar of chiefs and people of Danayili in the Nanumba South District of the Northern Region to mark this year's International Day of the Girl-Child.

It was organised by the Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS), a non-governmental organization, as part of the Strategic Approaches to Girls’ Education (STAGE) project.

It was funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) under the Leave No Girl Behind (LNGB) programme of its Girls’ Education Challenge Window II.

STAGE, which is a five-year project with a target of 20,100 marginalised girls, seeks to support their education to improve their lives by achieving and acquiring literacy and numeracy skills, needed for life and work.

The lead implementing NGO is World Education Incorporated (WEI), based in Accra, and working with seven local NGOs including RAINS and Afrikids Ghana.

RAINS is implementing the project in 23 communities in the Nanumba South and Kpandai districts with an annual target of 575 marginalised girls and an overall total of 2,300 girls over the five-year period.

Mrs Akumbisah lauded the STAGE project that it would help to empower girls through school and advised residents, especially parents, to desist from marrying off girls and rather support them to continue with their education.

Mr Yaw Sarfo, the Nanumba South District Director of Education, urged parents to invest in the education of girls to help retain them in school.

Mr Dawuda Mohammed Hamisu, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of RAINS, commended community members for participating massively in the durbar, an indication of their support for the project.

Mrs Ragadahu Abdul Wahab, the Child Protection and Safeguarding Officer at RAINS, said the organisation was working closely with stakeholders including the Ghana Police Service to ensure the protection of beneficiaries and other vulnerable adults.

Chief of Danayili, Danayili Naa Nyimba Pronimor, thanked RAINS for implementing the intervention in the community and expressed support for the success of the project.

He advised parents to encourage their children to fully participate in it to reap its full benefits.