The Christian Council, moral citizenship and sex education in Ghana, 1951 – 1966

Abstract

The Christian Council was at the heart of promoting sex education in Ghana in the mid-twentieth century, through its own institutions and through schools. It was responding to perceived and real shifts in Ghanaian society, and the need to control sexuality, as the nation pushed for ‘modernity’, whilst some worried about the loss of ‘tradition’. This article outlines the beginnings of sex education and family planning provision, and the influence of Christian organisations in Ghana. It argues that Christian leaders pushed for the dissemination of biomedical knowledge within the boundaries of Christian morality and spirituality, in order to put a stop to clandestine abortion, and to promote the idea of a monogamous, Christian and moral citizenry in decolonising Ghana.