Adolescent pregnancies declined in 2023 in Krachi East- Director of Gender, Oti Region.

The Oti Regional Director of the Department of Gender Mrs Esther Hammond Doe  disclosed that adolescent pregnancies declined from 12.7% in 2021 to 11.2% in 2023 in Krachi East Municipality in the Oti Region.

She made this known at 2024 Adolescent Mentorship and Empowerment Workshop at Dambai on 26th September, 2024 under the theme Empower and Rise; Ending SGBV, Teenage Pregnancy, and Child Marriage.

According to her, though this marks a decrease from previous years from 14.7% in 2021 and 13.8% in 2022, it still means that over 1 in 10 adolescent girls are at risk of missing out on their future and education prospect adding that other districts such as Nkwanta South,  the challenges of adolescent Pregnancy remain more persistent.

Madam Esther Doe Hammond lamented that child marriage remains a crucial issue highlighting statistics from 2021 population and housing census which indicates that 4.9% of girls aged 12-17 in the Oti Region have already been married which she underscored the need for initiatives of their nature to offer mentorship for young girls to gain knowledge and guidance as well.

The 2024 Adolescent Mentorship and Empowerment Workshop is a workshop organised by the Department of Gender in partnership with the Oti Regional Coordinating Council and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) seeks to provide young girls with tools to stand up for their and become peer educators and advocates in their communities to forge a path towards a brighter future for them.