The Tiyumba Hope Foundation, THF, has organized the 2022 Regional Teens Summit in Tamale in the northern region to highlight on issues that bother on the psychosocial wellbeing of the girl-child in the north.
The summit was held on the theme, “Reproductive Health, A measure of Equity and Human Rights.”
Madam Fadila Fuseini, the Executive Director of Tiyumba Hope Foundation in her address underscored the important role religious and traditional leaders can play to combat issues of early child marriage, teenage pregnancy and other social vices that affect the growth of the girl child in the society.
She said part of her outfit’s advocacy is awareness creation and sensitization of the girl child on issues of reproductive health rights in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies and marriage at this early stage of their lives.
She reiterated the need for stakeholders such the traditional and religious authorities as well as the media to speak against early child marriage observing it is greatly affecting the present generation.
“As part of our contribution, at THF, we do advocacy in schools and communities to educate the students because sharing what you know with these teenagers will help save someone’s life” she emphasized.
For his part, Sheikh Ilyas Umar, a prominent Islamic Scholar, said it is only proper for a young women to acquire tertiary education or acquire vocational skills that can empower them economically, lamenting the predicament of unproductive women in the hands of men.
“We are in a different era and things have changed. Therefore, we must also change but with the guidance of the Quran and Sun’nah. There is no hadeeth or Quran verse that asks parents to force their girls into marriage. I know how our women suffer in the hands of men especially if they are not productive.
I always advocate for a girl to complete her tertiary education or learn a skill that can empower her economically” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, a former Broadcast journalist at GBC and now Head of Communications at UDS, Mr. Abdul Hayi Moomen called for collaboration between the media and Civil Society Organizations, stating as CSOs you must not sit and wait for the media to come to you.
“Go to the media with evidence to call for help on the problem you have found in the society. If you do not report what is happening to the media, they will not know and project it” he advised.
The summit brought together teenagers from various Senior High and Junior High Schools in the region, religious and traditional bodies, and stakeholders.
