The Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Joycelyn Quashie, has called on law enforcement agencies to put measures in place to end all forms of child marriages and the sexual exploitation of children below the age of consent.
She made the call at the Up Girl Literary Project, a reading and conversation programme organised by the Duo Concept Foundation as part of this year’s Ghana Association of Writers and Book Festival (GAWBOFEST). The book of focus, Talata, the Child Bride, published by Adwinsa Publications Ghana Limited, highlights child marriage in Ghana with particular emphasis on the girl child.
Earlier, the MP joined the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations and Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Dr Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, to engage young people from various second-cycle institutions in Accra on the advantages of reading and the skills needed for effective writing. She also donated math sets to students who actively participated in the conversation.
Joycelyn Quashie, a child rights activist, has been working assiduously in her constituency to empower vulnerable children through the provision of essential learning tools and other social interventions. She was joined by the Deputy Director of the Parliamentary Broadcasting Department, and together they read to the students and held discussions on how to mitigate, if not totally eradicate, early child marriages from Ghanaian society.
The Duo Concept Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation focused on empowering young people through literary projects and engagements. The Foundation also undertakes philanthropic activities aimed at bridging social gaps among today’s youth. The event formed part of a two-day collaboration with GAWBOFEST and was expected to bring together over one thousand students from second-cycle institutions.
