NCCE to intensify education for vulnerable on national issues
The Secretary to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Lucille Hewlett Annan, has assured Ghanaians that the NCCE would continue to educate the vulnerable in society on issues that promote growth.
Mrs Annan said the issues of vulnerability were no longer limited to women, girls and children but also included men and boys, stressing that much as attention was given to women and girls, conscious efforts should be made to educate and protect men and boys too.
The Commission Secretary was speaking at stakeholder’s engagement in Ho under the Adolescent Girls Programme (AGP) funded by Global Affairs Canada and being implemented by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations International Emergency Children’s Fund Fund (UNICEF).
The Programme organised by the Volta Regional office of the NCCE dubbed “Empowering Community and Youth for Adolescent Health, Gender Equality, and Preventing Gender Based Violence through Civic Education”, aimed to reinforce ownership, improve coordination and sustained action with special emphasis on men and boys.
Mrs Annan stressed that much as efforts were being made in the protection and education of women and girls, similar steps needed to be taken to protect and educate men and boys on reproductive health among others.
She observed that culture was vital to the development of the country, however negative cultural practices which did not promote development should be removed.
The Volta Regional Director of Gender, Mrs Thywill Eyra Kpe, lauded the Volta Region NCCE for the programme and said gender roles were crucial to national growth, adding that men and boys could play an important role in reducing gender based Violence (GBV) and sexual violence in society.
Mrs Kpe stressed that bad cultural practices and religious beliefs, which did not promote development particularly of girls and women needed to be removed to facilitate growth.
The Director expressed concerned about recent development of reports indicating that fathers were sleeping with their daughters and brothers sleeping with their sisters, and appealed to Christian and Islamic religious leaders to educate their followers on the health, legal and culture implications of the new development.
The Public Health Officer in Charge of Health Promotion at the Ho Municipal Hospital, Ms Shine Gavey, said reproductive health education for Adolescents was vital to preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The Volta Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Kenneth Kponor, said the programme had engagement with adolescents, men and boys in the Keta Municipality, Anloga District, Central Tongu District, Akatsi- North District, and the Adaklu District.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, HO
