By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Aug. 07, GNA – Mr Kingsley Obeng Kyere, the Executive Coordinator of Curious Minds Ghana, has advocated the need for the government and development partners to commit adequate resources towards the development of young people in the country.
“Children and young people should be given the first call on resources and be provided with what they need so that they can develop into citizens who will make valuable contributions to themselves and their societies,” he said.
He also stressed the need for ending gender and all forms of discrimination and harmful practices against young people, to create a safe space for females to develop without ascribing and limiting them to presumed roles like marriage and childbearing.
Mr Kyere, who said this during an inter-generational dialogue forum in Wa, observed that the many national and international policies and agreements including the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided for the interest of children and young people and the need to give them a first call on resources.
Representatives from the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Community Development Alliance, traditional leaders, youth groups and students among others attended the forum on the theme: “Building a Better Ghana: Eliminating Harmful Practices for Sustainable Development.”
The Forum was organised by the Children and Youth in Broadcasting (CYIB) Curious Minds with funding from UNICEF to create an inter-generational dialogue platform to chart a path towards ending harmful practices including child marriage that militated against the holistic development of children and young people.
Mr Kyere, who is also the Project Manager for the UNICEF-GBC-Curious Minds Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) project, said strong partnership and collaboration between institutions and individuals was important in achieving the development needs of children and young people.
“We may not achieve everything by the year 2030 as envisioned but as much as we keep working hard and working together, committing the resources so that whatever we do ensures quality in our lives then it means we are doing something,” he explained.
He said the older generation should adequately empower the younger generation to play active roles in society’s development now and in the future.
“Young people are not just the future leaders, young people are here, and they should be catered for, if we are waiting for the future for them to become leaders then we have lost the plot right from the beginning,” Mr Kyere stated.
He said young people should be allowed to enjoy their rights including proper protection and care to develop into responsible people to contribute to society’s development while executing their responsibilities of contributing to ending harmful practices in society.
Madam Janet Kpan, the Upper West Regional Girl Child Coordinator at the Ghana Education Service (GES), encouraged students who suffered any form of sexual abuse from any person including teachers to report to the school authority as soon as possible for investigation.
She said some girls who suffered abuse refused to report, which made it difficult for such cases to be investigated thereby perpetuating the acts in the schools.
Madam Kpan indicated that the staff of GES is aware of the consequences of sexual abuse against students and that the punishment ranges from 20 to 25 years of imprisonment depending on the degree of offence.
She cautioned the girls against indulging in sexual activities because of the GES re-entry policy for girls who dropped out of school due to pregnancy as that could affect their lives.
Some participants raised concerns about access to sanitary pads as a cause of teenage pregnancy and its attendant consequences and called on the government to reduce the cost of sanitary products.
They also questioned the effectiveness of laws and regulations that sought to safeguard schoolgirls from sexual abuse.
GNA