The Central Region has seen a significant reduction in teen pregnancies as it recorded 10,301 cases in 2020 against 10,914 cases in 2019.

Statistically, the figure indicates a drastic drop of 613 of the cases.

Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan made the revelation at a day's engagement on "Teenage Pregnancy and Sexual and Gender-based Violence" with members of the Population and Development Committee and the Youth Caucus of Parliament in Cape Coast.

The Youth Caucus of Parliament comprises young Members of Parliament led by Mr Elvis Morrison Donkor, the MP for Abura-Asebu-Kwaman-Kese (AAK) Constituency.

It is being supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), aimed at equipping the MPs with knowledge on issues affecting adolescents' health rights and the impact of teen pregnancies on teen mothers and the nation at large.

Mrs Assan said efforts by stakeholders over the years had yielded positive results, but there was still room for improvement, adding that the target was zero teen pregnancy in the Region.

She called on the MPs to collectively join the fight against combating the canker in the country as their zeal and commitment would help conquer the menace in their various constituencies.

That should also engage more disciplined and well-trained youth who would support the transformational agenda in the years ahead.

MP for Daffiama Bussie Issa Constituency in the Upper West Region, Dr Sebastian Sandaare, cautioned unscrupulous men who take advantage of teen girls to desist from the act or face the law.

He proposed severe punitive measures locally to deal with such men in various communities and called for the inclusion of adolescent education in the national budget to financially assist advocates and educators to step up efforts to end the phenomenon.

The Programmes Analyst, UNFPA, Doris Mawuse Aglobitse, stated that gender equality could not be achieved without the involvement of boys and men.

She called on stakeholders to consider bringing boys into the picture to effectively deal with the issue since they were seriously having sex with the girls.