Becoming a young parent profoundly alters a teenager's life. Most of the girls forget about their dreams of education, a decent career and happy marriage. Only a few of these single mothers actually achieve their full potentials.

Meet 18-year-old teenage mother, Cassandra Adjavon. She is member of the Yole Young and Wise Adolescent Club in Essakyir in the Ekumfi District of the Central region.  The club is one of the many set up in the region through the UNFPA – UNICEF joint programme aimed at empowering adolescent girls through improved access to CSE and rights-based quality SHR services in Ghana.

The adolescent mother, joined the club to enable her learn more on CSE and SHRH in order to make informed decisions. According to Cassandra, she gave birth to her daughter a month to writing her Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Her grandmother agreed to take care of the baby so she could write the exams. “The father of my baby is 19 years old and he is in Accra schooling.  If I had known what I know today I will not have been pregnant let alone become a mother at this tender age”.

Cassandra together with some teenage mothers belong to the Yole Young and Wise Adolescent Club which she says has benefited her a lot. Aside learning more about the rights and choices available to her, she is also learning a trade in soap and detergent (bleach) making.  Beaming with smiles, Cassandra says she would continue her education when her results are out.

The team participating in the UNFPA - UNICEF Joint Programme’s field visit, caught up with Cassandra after a session at the Essakyir community centre. The programme is designed to support the government to advance its adolescent girls’ vision and to deliver a multi-sectoral and more integrated approach to address the needs of the adolescent girl. The programme is being implemented with support from the Canadian government.