Tamale, Dec 12, GNA – Healthy Cities for Adolescents Network Ghana (HCA Network Ghana) has been inaugurated to champion the interest of adolescents and advocate for their inclusion in decision-making processes towards the development of the Tamale Metropolis.
The HCA Network Ghana is composed of adolescents in the Tamale Metropolis and is in line with the Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) project being implemented by the Regional Institute of Population Studies of the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and supported by Botnar Foundation.
The HCA project, among others, seeks to build a multi-stakeholder consortium with the capacity to use evidence-based information for strategic programming that promotes adolescents’ health and general well-being towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mrs Clara Lamisi Weobong, Field Programme Officer, HCA Field Office, Tamale, who spoke during the inauguration of the HCA Network Ghana in Tamale, emphasised the need for city authorities to empower and include young people in Medium Term Development Planning to identify their critical needs and respond to them through the development plans.
The event was attended by selected adolescents, peer service educators and patrons of various adolescent clubs in the Tamale Metropolis.
Mrs Weobong said, “Adolescents are a valuable resource and our city managers and planners must support and encourage them to be responsible to reflect the aspirations of society.”
Alhaji Adam Abubakari, an educationist advised adolescent groups in the Tamale Metropolis to be disciplined and responsible to help drive the needed change they desired in their communities.
Alhaji Abubakari noted that adolescents represented a significant proportion of the county’s population, urging them to exhibit a high sense of responsibility towards the safety and development of their cities.
He advised them to be committed to their dreams and aspirations by being diligent and responsible to duty as well as avoiding idleness, laziness and violence.
Miss Mohammed Abuga Rafia, a Student of Saint John of ARC Junior High School, who was elected President of HCA Network Ghana, emphasised the need for city authorities in Tamale to prioritise the interest of young people to ensure holistic development of the area.
GNA