By Jerry Azanduna
Techiman (Bono East) July 10, GNA-Madam Freda Owusu-Ansah, the Bono and Bono East Regional National Population Officer says Bono East has the lowest figure of persons not in Need of Education, Employment and Training (NEET).
She said the region’s NEET figure stood at 8.3 percent, reducing the rate of unemployment and increasing the level of literacy and skilled labour in the region.
Madam Owusu-Ansah explained that high NEET figures remained a daunting national challenge militating socio-economic development of the country.
She added, however, that: “In the Bono East Region is it rather fortunate that more young people are engaged right after formal or informal training and thereby releasing pressure on the unemployment situation in the area”.
Madam Owusu-Ansah stated this when speaking at a stakeholder engagement on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH), organized by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights at Techiman, the regional capital.
It was attended by representatives from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana Health Service (GHS), faith-based organisations and traditional authorities.
Madam Owusu-Ansah said that the region also had a high literacy rate of 56 percent and mentioned high illiteracy and unemployment rates as major national challenges.
She noted that the ASRH remained central to sustainable national development, hence the need to tackle barriers hindering its education.
She said the NPC had developed a Scoping Study on Reproductive Health Education to identify and explore possible ways of bridging existing gaps.
Madam Owusu-Ansah said that developing guidelines on Reproductive Health Education for In-school and out-of-school youth was necessary, saying that the NPC remained dedicated to policy coordination, advocacy and evidence-based planning.
Mr Benjamin Opong-Twumasi, the Programmes Manager for Policy and Advocacy at the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights, called for strong policy advocacy on ASRH and to tackle gender-based violence as well.
He urged the stakeholders to lead the advocacy in ending gender-based violence as well as promote dialogues on breaking resistance to youth’s reproductive health education.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/George-Ramsey Benamba
Reporter: Jerry Azanduna