The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the National Youth Authority (NYA), in collaboration with the Western Regional Coordinating Partner, organized a sensitization meeting for 60 pragyia riders on teenage pregnancy and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Wasa Akropong, located in the Wasa Amenfi East Municipality of the Western Region.

During the program, Madam Judith Kwegyir Agyrey, a midwife at Wasa Akropong Government Hospital, highlighted that the Western Region has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Ghana.

Specifically, within the Amenfi East Municipality, the figures for teenage pregnancy were as follows: 2020 – 983 cases, 2021 – 955 cases, 2022 – 953 cases, and 2023 – 249 cases from January to March.

These statistics,  according to Madam Judith Kwegyir Agyrey indicates a significant problem with teenage pregnancy in the Amenfi East Municipality, with many attributing the pregnancies to pragyia riders.

Madam Judith Kwegyir Agyrey advised the pragyia riders to refrain from having sexual relationships with young girls in order to curb teenage pregnancy in the Amenfi East Municipality.

Chief Inspector Mavis Mensah from the Ghana Police Service’s Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in the Western Region also urged the pragyia riders to avoid engaging in relationships with teenage girls to prevent legal consequences that could result in a 15-year prison sentence.

Madam Yvonne Afiba Newton, the Municipal Youth Director in Ahanta West and a representative from the Western Region, emphasized the importance of providing training to pragyia riders.

She explained that a significant number of pregnant teenage girls often mention the names of pragyia riders, and this training aims to reduce teenage pregnancy rates in the Western Region.