Child marriage, she said, remained one of the pervasive human rights abuses that deprived the child, mostly girls of enjoying a safe and meaningful childhood.

Mrs Kpe was speaking at a day's training for Heads of Technical and Vocational Institutions and Leaders of Artisanal Groups at Tsito in the Ho West District of the Volta region.

The beneficiaries were drawn from five UNFPA-CP7 target districts, North Dayi, South Dayi, Central Tongu, Akatsi North and Afadjato South, as well as the Regional Executive of the participatory groups.

She said all hands-on deck approach was necessary for dealing with the situation to ensure holistic development of the child and full protection of his or her rights to safeguard the future of the country.

The training was one of the interventions being implemented by the Department under the auspices of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council as part of the UNFPA seventh Country programme.

The Director said the training was to develop the capacity of the beneficiaries on better ways to engage young persons in their institutions and groups on Gender Equality, SGBV, ASRH and Child Marriage.

It also aimed to equip the leaders with the requisite knowledge and skills to become champions on issues of gender equality, SGBV and child marriage and to help incorporate the knowledge into their interaction with their group members.

Although some gains had been made in reducing child marriage globally, UNICEF estimated that there were still some 650 million women and girls, who were married before their 18th birthday and 12 million each year, she stated.

It was estimated that 37 per cent of women and girls in Sub-Sahara Africa, she said, were married before their 18th birthday, adding that Ghana remained a home of some two million child brides, though there was a decline from 27 per cent in 2011 to 19 per cent in 2018.

The Volta Region had also seen some decline in child marriage from 29.3 per cent in 2011 to 24 per cent in 2018, higher than the national average.

The situation, she said, was more serious among the rural communities, poorer and least educated persons, the reason all must come onboard to address it.

Some participants, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, welcomed the training and pledged to join the campaign to find a solution to the phenomenon.