By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Cape Coast, Aug. 21, GNA – Mrs. Cynthia
Mamle Morrison, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP),
has advised young girls to adhere to personal safety measures to avoid being
kidnapped.
They should at all times avoid the company
of bad friends and relatives they could not trust, and desist from walking in
dark places.
Mrs. Morrison gave the advice at the opening
of the “Third Mentorship and Girls Empowerment Summit -2019”,
organised by the Central Regional Department of Gender in Cape Coast.
Her advice comes in the wake of recent
kidnapping cases in the country.
The four-day mentorship training workshop
seeks to empower 130 adolescent girls, drawn from Upper Denkyira, Assin North,
Cape Coast, Twifo-Hemang-Lower- Denkyira and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abbrem
(KEEA).
It is supported by the United Nations
Population Fund (UNPFA), Global Affairs, in collaboration with the Ghana
Education Service (GES) and the Regional Coordinating Council.
Mrs. Morrison described the recent
kidnapping cases as unfortunate and pledged the Ministry’s commitment to
collaborate with all relevant agencies to end the disheartening occurrences and
asked parents to prioritise the security of their children and wards, especially
to and from school, church and at home.
Mrs. Thywill Eyra Kpe, the Regional Director
of the Department of Gender, advised adolescent girls to abstain from early
sex, which could expose them to undesirable conditions such as teenage
pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and child marriage, among
others.
Mrs. Kpe said the face-to-face interaction
with the adolescent girls was an opportunity for the Department of Gender to
discover issues that affected their studies, which often led to school dropout
among many teenage girls.
She told parents to properly cater for their
wards, saying that, the lack of proper parental care often exposed teenage
girls to unnecessary peer influence.
GNA
