A health and Development Advocate and a traditional ruler, Baɣizaa Naa Alhassan Issahaku has called on parents in the Northern region to play a critical role in bringing up their children the best way.
Naa Alhassan revealed that Northern region has illiteracy rate of 62.8 percent, with 45 percent representing the youth. He attributes the situation to poor parenting saying until parents begin to play their role adequately, the development and growth of children in the region will be in a dilemma.
‘’If you are a father play your fatherly role and if you are a mother play your motherly role by providing your children their basic needs’’, he stressed.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a Tamale based NGO which emphasizes the holistic development of children younger than 3 to 5 years. It encompasses multiple dimensions of children’s well-being: nutrition; physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development; safety and protection; stimulation and care; and early education.
With ECD as a global and national priority, the United Nations has pledged to achieve the ECD targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. Bagzaa Naa Alhassan Issahaku indicates the issues of stunting is on the rise as children in the region appear to be more stunted than in other regions.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), although levels of malnutrition in Ghana have dropped, 23 percent of children are stunted and 57 percent anemic.
Nutrition is particularly poor in Northern Ghana, where almost two in every five children are stunted and more than 80 percent of children suffer from anemia.
Bagzaa Naa has therefore called for limited births in the region in order for parents to cater for their children. Bagzaa Naa also advised that people assess themselves by the standards of the culture and religion before engaging in marital affairs.
Marriage he noted should not be ignorantly motivated but with adequate preparation to face the responsibilities that it comes with.
BY: LILIAN D. WALTER
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