The Challenges of Curbing North-South Migration of Teenage Girls in Ghana

Abstract

Internal migration of the youth especially teenage girls from the five Northern regions of Ghana to the cities of Accra and Kumasi has persisted for over three decades yet no concrete strategies have been put in place to curb the drift which is damaging the human capital base of the country in general and the North in particular. The study therefore examined the challenges bedeviling efforts by stakeholders at curbing the trend. Specific objectives include identifying factors that promote the practice, examining the employment opportunities available to these girls in Accra as well as identifying the difficulties facing stakeholders in curbing the trend. In conducting the study, random sampling technique was used to select 8 out of the 49 markets in Accra metropolis where these girls operate. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the girls for their views while the interview guide technique constituted the main research instrument. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) assisted in analyzing the information captured from the field. The study found out that most of these girls are pushed down to the South for reasons including running away from forced marriages, inequalities in social amenities, the need to gather funds to establish trade back home in the North as well as coming down to look for funds to support parents and siblings back home. Challenges confronting government efforts at curbing the trend include the lukewarm attitude of the migrated girls towards getting back to classroom for formal education and vocational training. Government is also challenged with amassing funds to build decent hostel facilities necessary for ring fencing these girls for education and other life enhancement training packages. The study recommended that government makes conscious effort at educating, training and developing the skills of the migrated girls in addition to improving upon socio-economic conditions in the Northern regions. The Ministry of Health was also asked to deepen family planning awareness campaign in the North to enable parents to have children they can conveniently cater for. The teenage girls’ migration syndrome is really damaging the human capital base of the North and for that matter stakeholders must collaborate to stamp out the practice entirely.