The Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region recorded more than 100 teenage pregnancies between January and July 2026, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) disclosed during a community sensitisation engagement.
Deputy Commissioner Mercy Larbi, speaking to the media, said the figure underscores the urgent need for stronger community involvement to protect young girls from early and forced marriages, teenage pregnancies and other forms of gender‑based violence.
She urged local leaders and residents to take an active role in identifying and addressing the factors that drive early marriages and teenage pregnancies. “Officials from the Ministry of Health said that, from January to July, they had recorded 141 teenage pregnancies. These are just the cases that have been reported at health facilities. If we have recorded 141 cases from January to July, I don’t know what we are going to have by the end of the year,” Larbi said.
Larbi warned that individuals who facilitate or engage in early and forced marriages should desist, stressing that young girls should not be forced into marriages without their consent. She added that the commission’s ongoing engagements aim to provide platforms for communities to identify practical solutions to gender‑based violence and related challenges.
According to Larbi, involving community stakeholders is critical because they are better positioned to identify the social and cultural factors contributing to such cases and develop measures that can help reduce them. The commission plans to continue its outreach programmes to empower communities to tackle these issues head‑on.
What follows is a call for sustained community vigilance and collaboration with health authorities to curb the rising trend of teenage pregnancies in the region.
