RIPS, TaMA engage stakeholders on adolescents’ well-being

The Regional Institute of Population Studies of the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) has met representatives of various organisations in the metropolis to learn about their activities in the area of adolescents’ health and well-being.

Participants at the two-day meeting were drawn from public sector organisations and non-governmental organisations including; National Youth Authority, Department of Gender, Ghana Health Service, DOVVSU, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, amongst others.

They shared projects and activities they implemented over the years in the area of adolescents’ health and well-being and how they partnered and collaborated with other stakeholders and organisations to ensure the success of those projects.

The meeting formed part of the Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) project being implemented by the Regional Institute of Population Studies of the University of Ghana in collaboration with TaMA with support from the Botnar Foundation.

The HCA project amongst others seeks to build a multi-stakeholder consortium with capacity to use evidence-based information for strategic programming that promotes adolescent health and general well-being towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr George Amexo, Coordinator of the HCA project, who spoke during the meeting, which ended in Tamale on Wednesday, said “One of the objectives of the project is to work with partners, so we have already been working with some partners but we want to explore further. We want to know more partners and what they have been doing in terms of adolescents’ health and well-being hence the meeting.”

Mr Amexo said “So, this is one of the exercises to identify the partners that are on the ground and know exactly what they are doing. From there, we can strategise very well so that the project will be more effective as there are lessons to be learnt from their activities.”

He gave the assurance that the implementers of the HCA project would continue to work with the partners in the metropolis emphasising that “Adolescents’ health is not one sectoral issue. We have to collaborate with others to improve the health and well-being of adolescents.”

Mr Amadu Zulyaden, Project Officer at YEFL – Ghana lauded the meeting saying “It is a good step the HCA project implementers have taken to identify stakeholders, and for these stakeholders to also map out other stakeholders and relevant state actors or private sector actors in ensuring that the HCA project is effectively implemented.”

Miss Gladys Atusong, Development Planning Officer at TaMA expressed the hope that issues discussed during the meeting would impart the project to advance the well-being of adolescents in the metropolis.