Advertisement Banner
According to him, women formed majority of the illiterate population contributing to the increase in school dropout, child labour and unwanted teenage pregnancy. He said the Northern Region is competing with Volta and Central regions on the league table of teenage pregnancy. He attributed the situation to lowered social standards in the region which is endowed with progeny. As one of the key resource persons, Chief Alhassan Issahaku dealt with the topic, Youth health is prerequisite for agro-business promotion, challenges for youth wealth creation.
The regional population Officer mentioned poverty as the root cause of early marriage in the area. He advised the youth particularly ladies to refrain from early sex and attach importance to their education. He called for concerted efforts to educate the youth as the surest means of ensuring their socio-economic empowerment. He further chastised unproductive youth found idling across the region. Chief Alhassan Issahaku challenged duty bearers to deepen social auditing and accountability during the implementation of projects meant for youth empowerment.
Touching on the theme, “The road to 2030: eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable production and consumption,” Northern Regional Coordinator of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Ziblim A. Shaibu, asked government to consider poverty as a national security threat. He advocated the involvement of the youth in career and occupational choices in the context of rural economic planning. Shaibu Ziblim stated that rural reproductive health advocacy is paramount in youth empowerment. He said it is incumbent on the district assemblies to allocate enough funds for youth empowerment. He bemoaned lack of resources needed to revamp the Nalerigu youth training and skills centre.
He thanked the Northern Regional Coordinating Council for liaising with the United Nations Population Fund to ensure universal access to reproductive health in the region. Activista launch Action Aid Ghana took advantage of the International Youth Day celebration symposium and outdoored its project called Activista. Activista is an amalgamation of youth networks funded by Action Aid Ghana to serve as agents of change especially during the 2016 electioneering campaign season. Its members have been tasked to promote peaceful co-existence in their localities before and after the December 7 polls.
Action Aid Ghana’s Northern Regional Programmes Manager, Esther Boateng, said her outfit had taken a commanding lead in women empowerment. She said the organization could boast of aspiring young female Parliamentarians in 20 second cycle institutions in the Northern Region. In addition are girls clubs dotted at almost all the Junior High Schools in the Tamale Metropolis, she revealed. Esther Boateng is convinced the Activista network will complement measures geared towards promoting peaceful, fair and transparent elections. A representative of the UNFPA reiterated the institution’s determination to collaborate with its allies to achieve its objective of universal access to reproductive health such as family planning and sexual health.
– By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Advertisement Banner
No comments:
Post a Comment