Some Members of Parliament (MP) have led a community dialogue with adolescents and parents in the Central Tongu Constituency of the Volta Region. A total of 16 MPs from across the country took part in the three-day adolescent learning forum organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners. They included members from the Population and Development Committee, Health Committee, and MPs from the Parliamentary Youth Forum. The Volta Caucus in Parliament led by its Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho West, were also represented. Ms Dzifa Gomashie, the MP for Ketu South, Joycelyn Tetteh, MP for North Dayi and other female MPs took charge of the various engagements held in three communities, including Adidome, Mafi Dadoboe. The engagements offered the MPs the opportunity to understand issues of adolescents in districts known to be hotspots of sexual and gender-based violence. The engagements were divided between adolescents, their parents and caregivers, which enabled the collation of various concerns around the subject. Parents and caregivers noted down several challenges with adolescents in their prime, saying they grew more adventurous and stubborn. Again, 'Watch Committee' on adolescents have been formed in various communities, and parents commended their role in child development, suggesting also that community police were made to support the efforts of this group to keep the youth in line. Other caregivers asked that they be empowered to enable them to effectively impact the development of their children. The adolescents traced teen pregnancy to poverty and said socio-economic factors such as broken homes and death of parents continued to affect their development. The MPs used the opportunity to share personal experiences with the youth. The MPs encouraged parents not to allow their limitations to affect the care and love for their children, but to lead exemplary lives to be able to meet the responsibilities of parenthood. The MPs also advised girls against distractions such as sexual urges, which had the tendency to derail their glorious life progress, but to remain focused on their academic development to be able to attain the most in life. Among stakeholders present were executives of the UNFPA and other humanitarian organisation such as International Needs, traditional leaders, delegates from various child focused non-profits, and the Department of Gender which led the event. The MPs would later join a Delegates and Legislators Conference to climax the forum and make commitments to advancing the cause of children. Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, leader of the Volta Caucus in Parliament, said the engagement was an 'eye opener' for the legislators. He said there was the need for MPs to consider community engagements to help boost the implementation of laws and to gain direct feedback to improve legislation. 'We need to do more as MPs by enhancing advocacy and going down into the communities to tell them about the laws we have made. The police, our parents and all need to know about the law, and it is very important for us to go back and let these people know,' he said. Mr Wilfred Ochan, the Country Director of the UNFPA, said the initiative was to facilitate meaningful youth engagement and dialogue that would affect advocacy and legislature that would better the state of the youth. He commended MPs for 'showing interest in shaping the future if children in Ghana.' The adolescent learning forum and legislators' forum was instituted a few years ago to bring together youth from across the country, and this year's programme is aimed at ending child marriage.

Source: Ghana News Agency