Oct 08, 2025 (allAfrica.com/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
Every year, the world pauses on the International Day of the Girl Child to reflect on the progress and challenges facing girls. In Northern Ghana, this reflection carries even deeper meaning. For decades, the girl child in this part of the country has been caught at the intersection of poverty, harmful cultural practices, and systemic neglect. Yet today, there are new signs of hope and transformation that remind us of the urgency to invest in girls' dignity, safety and potential.
The Harsh Realities of Yesteryears
In the 1970s and 1980s, many remote communities in Northern Ghana viewed girls not as children with dreams but as commodities in the fight against poverty. Families struggling with economic hardship forced their daughters into marriages, sometimes as second or third wives to much older men. These marriages were not motivated by love, but by survival-parents received small financial gains, food security, or cattle in exchange for their daughters' childhoods.
The consequences of such practices were devastating. Many girls dropped out of school prematurely, shutting the door to education, economic empowerment, and personal development. Their lives were dictated by the roles of motherhood and wifehood at an age when they should have been in classrooms or playing fields.
Beyond forced marriages, sexual violence against girls has long been a silent epidemic in Northern Ghana. For too many, this violence resulted in unwanted pregnancies and, tragically, unsafe abortions. In a time when reproductive health services were nearly nonexistent, young girls lost their lives or carry the lifelong scars of preventable complications.
The Turning Point
Thankfully, the narrative is gradually shifting. Organizations like Mabia-Ghana have stepped in to address the health and human rights of the girl child in Northern Ghana. Recognizing the dangers girls face, Mabia-Ghana provides lifesaving reproductive health services, including capacity building for safe abortion care and long-term family planning services. These services are not luxuries; they are lifelines that prevent needless deaths and empower girls to reclaim control over their futures.
At the policy level, the government has introduced initiatives that encourage school enrollment for girls and penalize child marriage. Coupled with sustained human rights advocacy, these measures have created a climate where more girls remain in classrooms instead of being forced into marriage. Education has become a powerful shield-when a girl is in school, she is less vulnerable to exploitation and more equipped to make informed choices about her life. Today, we see a new kind of girl child emerging in Northern Ghana. Unlike the silenced and powerless girls of the past, many of today's girls are growing up educated, confident, and determined. In numerous households, they are not just dependents but breadwinners and problem solvers. It is not uncommon to find girls contributing more actively than their male counterparts to the welfare of their families, whether by supporting siblings through school or by taking care of aging parents
This transformation, however, is fragile. It is a delicate balance that still requires strong institutional support, cultural shifts, and sustained investment. Girls have proven themselves resilient, but resilience should not be the standard we expect of children. Safety, dignity, and opportunity must be the norm.
The Road Ahead
As we mark this year's International Day of the Girl Child, we must ask ourselves: how do we want history to remember the treatment of the girl child in Northern Ghana? Do we want to cling to outdated practices that rob girls of their childhoods? Or do we want to build a society where every girl can dream, achieve, and lead?
Traditional leaders, religious leaders, and political leaders have a particularly crucial role to play. Their voices carry immense weight in shaping community attitudes and practices. If they join forces to denounce child marriage, condemn sexual violence, and champion girls' education, the ripple effects will transform generations.
Community gatekeepers must recognize that the progress of girls is the progress of society itself civil society organizations must also deepen collaboration with government institutions to scale up advocacy, service delivery, and community education. Media platforms, too, must amplify the voices of girls, shedding light on both their struggles and successes. And families-the first line of protection-must embrace the truth that empowering a girl is not a burden but an investment in collective prosperity.
A Call to Action
The story of the girl child in Northern Ghana is one of pain, resilience, and possibility. We have seen the harms of neglect and harmful traditions. We are now beginning to see the benefits of education, reproductive health services, and advocacy. But the journey is far from over.
On this International Day of the Girl Child, let us recommit ourselves to creating a society where no girl is forced into marriage, where no girl loses her life to an unsafe abortion, and where no girl's potential is dismissed simply because of her gender. Let us see the girl child not as a liability, but as a leader in the making.
If given the chance, the girl child in Northern Ghana will not just survive, she will thrive, lead and transform her community. That is the future we must fight for our girls.
Mr. John Lazame Tindanbil, MPH, B.A. R.N, New Voices Senior Fellow
COMTEX_469356786/2029/2025-10-08T02:00:28
by John Lazame Tindanbil
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