Fifty under-privileged teenage mothers undergo skills training
By Caleb Kuleke, GNA
Accra, Sept. 8, GNA -Some 50 teenage mothers have received skills training at Akoefe-Avenui in the Ho Municipality.
The beneficiaries drawn from five districts of the Volta Region, Akatsi North, South Dayi, North Dayi, Afadjato South and Central Tongu, were taken through skills such as bead craft, pedicure and hair braid.
The training was organised by the National Youth Authority (NYA) with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Canadian Government, and aimed at equipping them with employable skills.
Mr Yao Semorde, the Volta Regional Director NYA, said most under- privileged adolescent girls were unable to realise their full potential because of pregnancy, making life difficult for them.
He said the training was to provide the teenage mothers with livelihood skills so they could earn a living and improve their lives.
The Director said most parents of the girls were unable to provide the needed support for them and their children and that the livelihood skills acquisition was necessary to make them economically independent.
He said not much capital investment was required to start a business with the skills they had acquired.
Madam Diana Mensah, a facilitator at the programme, said the acquisition of knowledge through skills training was necessary for individual and societal development.
She said if the youth were equipped with employable skills, they could become good and responsible citizens to contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth and development.
Madam Mensah commended the NYA, UNFPA and the Canadian Government for the initiative and implored the beneficiaries to put the skills to good use.
Some beneficiaries, who spoke to Ghana News Agency, expressed gratitude to the Authority and partners for the initiative.
They said the skills acquired would go a long way to transform their lives.
The programme was on the theme: “Curbing adolescent sexual and reproductive health delinquencies through livelihood skills acquisition.”
