World Population Day: Support, empower adolescents in fight against teenage pregnancies


Wenchi Municipal Public Health director, Abigail Ofosuhemaa Asamoah

 Parental control and support are critical components in the fight against teenage pregnancies in the Wenchi Municipality of the Bono Region.

Some 750 cases have so far been recorded in the first half of 2019, a situation the Wenchi Municipal Public Health director, Abigail Ofosuhemaa Asamoah describes as worrying.

She told Joy News, on the sidelines of a World Population Day event at Amponsakrom, in Wenchi, that, besides taking their services to the homes of these teenagers, the cooperation of parents and the empowering of the adolescent will help curb the rising number of teenage mothers in the municipality.

She said some pregnant students, including two nursing mothers, took part in the 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Wenchi.

“The education is ongoing but we have to intensify it. We will need much support from the parents since some are directly or indirectly push their girls into such immoral sexual acts due to money. And besides the parent’s cooperation in curbing the alarming situation, the adolescent herself needs to be empowered to be able to make the right decisions for herself,” she stressed.

The regional population day programme at Wenchi Amponsakrom aimed at drawing the attention of the people on the need and the urgency to think about population growth and its impacts on development.

The event which was under the theme; Reproductive health and gender equality also afforded the youth the chance to appreciate the dangers and challenges associated with unplanned childbirth.

Ghana has an estimated population of 30.42 million. And the youth are significantly contributing to the population growth rate in the country which currently stands at 2.5%.

In the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions, teenage pregnancies increased from 13% in 2008 to 17% in 2017. This is attributed to factors such as broken homes, lack of education and early marriages.

Such unplanned childbirths add to the regional and national population growth thereby affecting developments.

“But the existing structures such as school building, health facilities to support them are not enough because we are not adding on to the structures as compared to the number of human beings we are adding on every year,” Regional population officer, Davies Aboagye said.

Mr Aboagye noted that though government is spending more to provide infrastructure to improve the quality of life of the people, the growing number makes the situation difficult for both government and individual families.

Fadila Kansaana, a 14-year-old form 2 student of Amponsakrom Junior High School explained to Joy News Bono Regional Correspondent, Precious Semevoh that, poverty, lack of parental control and peer influence drives some of her friends to become pregnant at such young ages.

She said some boys offer them food as well as money for their upkeep to complement the insufficient support from their parents. 

“Our problem in the community is that one day he will ask sex from you and you will have nothing to say than to give in to the sexual act leading to unwanted pregnancies”.

Assemblyman for Amponsakrom, Peter Yelkoro Chottah said activities of drinking bar operators in the night must be checked since that remains the excuse to lure the adolescent out at night. 

Wenchi Municipal Chief Executive Officer, Dr Prince Kwakye Afriyie, however, called on the chiefs to pass a by-law to regulate some activities in the various communities that breeds immoral behaviours.

Dr Afriyie also encouraged stakeholders including religious leaders and youth groups to use every platform available to them to drum home the effects of teenage pregnancies.

He added, “More classroom building and Library blocks for the communities are part of plans to engage the adolescent during their spare time”.

U/W region grapples with high teenage pregnancy

Fourteen percent (14%) of adolescent women between the ages of 15 and 19 in the Upper West Region get pregnant without the intention to do so. This has been blamed on the low patronage of family planning services in the Upper West Region and the high fertility rate of 4.6 which is above the national average of 4.2.

The region is also recording high maternal deaths, infant and under five mortality rates of 37 and 52 deaths per 1,000 live births respectively.

These were contained in the 2017 Maternal Health Survey.


Regional Population Officer, Abu Salifu

The Upper West Regional Population Officer, Abu Salifu disclosed this at the celebration of World Population Day at Siriyiri in the Wa West District.

Mr. Salifu explained that the factors identified “coupled with the inability of majority of our women to fully participate in important decision taking at both the regional and national levels is a source of concern for sustainable development”.

The World Population Day was first observed in 1989 after the world’s population hit 5 billion in 1987 which was said to be alarming. The global celebration this year focuses on “International Conference on Population and Development at 25; The Unfinished Business”. Ghana meanwhile adapted the local theme “Reproductive Health and Gender Equality for Sustainable Development”.

The Upper West Regional Population Officer Abu Salifu described the themes as apt saying “the themes remind us of the Program of Action at the 1994 ICPD in Cairo where the international community reached a consensus on the reduction of infants, child and maternal mortality”.

He said in lieu with this, there must be the “provision of universal education particularly for girls and the provision of universal access of a full range of reproductive health services including family planning”.

Mr. Salifu called for the mainstreaming of family planning services for Ghanaians particularly those in the Upper West Region.

The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih in a speech read on his behalf expressed worry about the continuous rise in teenage pregnancy in the region. He disclosed that “in a research by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, between 2012 and 2013, the region recorded the highest (15 percent) of teenage pregnancies.” Dr. Bin Salih added that “the region [Upper West Region] however placed second to the Upper East Region with 13 percent in 2016.”


U/W Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih

The Minister averred that teenage pregnancy is a major challenge because “girls who become pregnant go through extreme pressure from family and community members to marry hence curtailing their ability to continue with their education or other chosen vocational careers”.

Dr. Bin Salih said there is a need for society to further uphold the views, rights and privileges of women. “Men should treat women with respect and give them space to participate in decision making starting from the household level. This should include decisions about childbearing,” he stressed.

The Wa West District Health Directorate used the occasion to educate the residents of Siriyiri on the importance of family planning.


Residents of Siriyiri

Story filed by Mark Smith

Women empowerment, critical to attaining SDGs

Bolgatanga, July 12, GNA – Mr Alosibah Akare Azam, the Upper East Regional Population Officer, has called on stakeholders to review and initiate interventions and policies geared towards addressing gender inequality issues to attain inclusive development.

This, he said, would eliminate all forms of gender discrimination particularly against women and empower them to contribute significantly to achieve sustainable national development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Regional Officer made the call when he briefed the media in Bolgatanga, as part of activities marking the 2019 World Population Day celebration.

The global event celebrated annually on July 11, is set aside by the United Nations (UN) to highlight key population issues and challenges at the global and national levels and examine the need to review existing policies and programmes to address them.

The global theme for this year’s celebration was “International Conference on Population and Development at 25: the unfinished business” while in Ghana it had been sub themed: “Reproductive Health Gender and Equality for sustainable development”.

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, declared that women’s empowerment and reproductive rights are essential for the realization of sexual and reproductive rights.

Mr Azam explained that the country’s socio-economic development depended on the attention paid to gender issues and the programmes formulated to mitigate them.

“Generally, when gender equality improves, the amount of power within women to bargain and acquire resources that is desired, is likely to increase, thus, leading to increase in opportunities for women to make personal and social choices.

“Sustainable development, especially attaining the SDG five, relies on ending discrimination towards women and providing them equal opportunities for education and employment,” he added.

The Regional Officer revealed that the Upper East Region for instance, during the 2010 population and housing census, recorded over one million people and is expected to hit over 1.3 million with the growth rate of 1.2 per cent, adding that, about 52 per cent are women.

This, according to Mr Azam, does not correspond with women representation at the decision making processes, especially at the local governance levels, adding that, “the situation is even worse among the Assembly Members across the region.”

Teenage pregnancy, inadequate information and social cultural beliefs, regarding the use of modern family planning methods, were major factors that accounted for the rapid population growth the region and the country had experienced, Mr Azam added.

He said, “traditional and community leaders such as chiefs and queen-mothers, as well as religious leaders should serve as champions of change for reproductive health in their communities, mosques and churches by promoting reproductive health issues in their messages.

“The traditional leaders should institute by-laws in their communities to facilitate or promote reproductive health and abolish negative or harmful practices that affect reproductive health.”

The Regional Officer said family planning was central to achieving gender equality, women empowerment and reduced poverty, and advocated intensive education, especially in the rural areas, to ensure parents understand the implications of having many children on family’s resources and against the few social amenities in the country.

By Anthony Apubeo, GNA 

World Population Day observed in Koforidua

The Acting Eastern Regional Population Officer, Kwasi Owusu Obeng has declared that development cannot be delinked from population since it is the subject and object of development of every nation.

Speaking at a media engagement to mark this year’s World Population Day in Koforidua, Mr. Obeng said, with the right investments in health, including family planning, education, provision of employment opportunities and good governance, national development can be achieved.

He added that population issues go beyond just the numbers pointing out that Ghana has experienced some reduction in the total fertility rate from six point two percent in 1998 to four point two percent in 2018.

He noted that the decline has opened a window of opportunity for the country to harness the potential in the youth for development.

Mr. Obeng also spoke on the importance of Girl Child Education in the country.

Madam Ellen Darkoa Asare said, early teenage pregnancy in the region reduced from zero point four percent to zero point three percent between 2014 and 2018 in the region, while that of late teenage pregnancy reduced from thirteen point six percent to twelve point nine percent during the same period.

She outlined inadequate scale-up of information for adolescents and challenges of reaching the out-of-school teenagers, among others as some of the issues confronting the sector in tackling the problem.

Madam Asare suggested the establishment of pregnancy schools, increase of adolescent-friendly facilities, frequent health committee meetings in all districts and strengthening the usage of community pregnancy registers as ways to fight the menace.

The theme for the celebration was “Reproductive Health and Gender Equality for Sustainable Development”.

source: gbcsunrisefmonlinenews

Balance Parenthood with education to manage Ghana’s development- Ex Prez Kufuor urges parents

Ex President John Agyekum  Kufour has urged all parents to have enough time with their wards so as to be able to train them with the needed moral ethics and societal values in order to address the menace of teenage pregnancy  which is compounding our population issues  and  taking a toll on our economy.

According to him, lack of attention by some parents for their children at home in recent times is affecting child development and the moral upbringing which has been one of the key factors that leads to teenage pregnancy in the country.

Getting parents involved in their children’s learning, and the home upbringing has been identified to make a real difference and potentially has a much bigger impact on a child’s success and the society at large.

“ These days necessity drives the parents to dump their children at school very early in the morning, go to work and get home very late with just a little or no time at all with the children” he said.

“Education is good, teachers would to their best by providing academic duties to children at school. However every parent has a vital role to play in guiding the child and molding them with the right norms of society.  Until we set population management issues right, we would lose the fight as a nation “he added.

The Ex President said this when the Executive Director, of the National Population Council (NPC), Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah paid a courtesy call on him to brief him on the current states of the Ghanaian Population and reproductive health management and asked him for his support.

Again, he urged her to continuously lobby for support in order to get the needed resources which will enable her to propagate the message of the Council

Dr. Appiahsaid teenage pregnancy is taking a toll on productivity in the country and for that matter a holistic and comprehensive approach is required to tackle it rising threat.

The Director however noted that even though NPC has ten regional offices in the country, funding has been one of the major setbacks which has affected the Council to perform its mandate effectively and efficiently since its establishment.

She therefore appealed to the Ex President to add his voice to the call for support towards the work of population management in the country.

She disclosed that the NPC would collaborate with the Hungarian government, the Chinese and other organizations for support, to see how best Ghana’s population issues can be solved.

She said, as part of the activities making the world population day which was celebrated in Accra a couple of weeks ago, the NPC dramatized population dynamics at the Osu Presby Hall.

This, she said is part of efforts being made to channel concerns to the various stakeholders and Civil Society Organizations to know more about the realities on the ground.

Finally, Dr. Appiah said, the drama would be repeated to a larger audience at the National Theater and across ten other regions in the country when the Council is able to solicit for funds to support the event.

 

Source:  Solace Esi Amankwa (PRO) NPC

Show interest in the work of Population Council—Muslim leaders to govt.

The Executive Director of the Muslim Family Council Services (MFCS), Chief Alhaji Imoro Baaba, has urged government to show more interest in the work of the National Population Council (NPC) as it is a vital arm of government that acts as a springboard for government developmental agenda.

According to him, without the full functioning of the NPC, it will be difficult for the various institutions and commissions set up by the government to achieve any impactful results. 

Chief Alhaji Imoro Baaba made the remarks when he paid a courtesy call on the Executive Director of the NPC, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah last Wednesday, February 6, 2019 in Accra.

He was accompanied by accompanied by Alhaji Issifu Fuseini and Hajia Adiza Baaba Issa, Deputy Director of the Muslim Family Council Services. 

Chief Alhaji Imoro Baaba said a lot of people do not understand the work of the council hence the very little prominence it receives, urging government to provide increased support to the NPC if it desires to see meaningful development. 

He also called on the United Nations Population Fund, formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and other international donors to continue to beef-up support for the population council to do their advocacy work to affect lives positively.

“The establishment of the National population Council dates as far back to the Busia regime which saw population, family planning as the way to go if visible developments is something to go by,” he opined. 

Chief Alhaji Imoro Baaba also blamed teenage pregnancy and all the increasing social ills in society to the country’s inability to address population, family planning and related issues.

He has, therefore, requested the NPC to adopt strategic lobbying skills to get the desired prominence it requires to help achieve its mandate in making government efforts in developing Ghana visible. 

He was of the view that there is the need for partnership to better position family planning strategically for national development, educate its people and provide requisite information for their follower and provide better understanding regarding the integral nature of NPC’s work in national Development. 

The Executive Director of the National Population Council, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah who was happy to receive the group commended their efforts and supports. 

“Family planning is the way to go,” she said, adding that it is like a missionary work, hence all must join hands in achieving a mandate of providing an improved and sustained quality of life for all Ghanaians. 

“We are ready to join you and won’t also mind if you join us to do the needful for the country we all love and want to see develop,” she noted.

‘Give birth 10 times to win a sheep’

In our series of letters from African journalists, Elizabeth Ohene considers the controversial proposal to limit women to having three babies in Ghana.

Among the Ga, the people who are indigenous to Ghana’s capital, Accra, a woman is entitled to a live sheep on the delivery of her 10th child. The word for it is “nyongmato”.

I am not making this up even though it does sound like the kind of apocryphal story that is regularly made up.

Lots of very important people among the Gas can testify to this. Unfortunately, I have not met any woman who has actually got a live sheep for having given birth to 10 children.

Indeed, I have never met any woman who has had 10 children.

I don’t know if I have been moving in the wrong circles, because I don’t even know any woman who has had five children. OK, as soon as I wrote that, I realized I was wrong.

‘Lonely battle’

Two months ago, I went to the funeral of a female relation of mine who was my classmate in primary school.

At her death, this relation of mine had 46 direct descendants; made up of eight children, 26 grandchildren and counting, and 10 great-grandchildren and counting.

I was scandalized and I spent the entire funeral going over these figures and moaning to myself how easy it was to find the reasons for the poverty in Ghana.

I have been waging a lonely unpopular battle about the rate of population growth in our country and against women having so many babies, but to no avail.

I roll out what I consider to be a sound argument that I thought would win over all doubters.

I cite Norway, which had a population of 3.5 million to Ghana’s five million at the time of our independence in 1957.

Today, there are 5.3 million people living in Norway while Ghana has a population of nearly 30 million.
‘We don’t count children’

I make the argument that even if none of our rulers ever stole any public funds, we would still have economic difficulties at this rate of population growth.

The last time I visited Lillehammer in Norway, I wrote in my column about the difference in our two situations. I pointed out it is no wonder everything is bursting at the seams and we are forever worrying about the lack of classrooms.

Somehow, these arguments don’t cut any ice with people here because it is considered in extremely bad taste to complain about the number of children somebody has.

As someone once claimed to me: “In our tradition we don’t count children.”

The good news is that now I don’t feel alone in this battle.

Into the fray has jumped the Executive Director of the National Population Council, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, and believe me, she is an exceptionally brave woman.

She is not speaking in parables, she is straight to the point. She has proposed that women should be restricted to having three children.

And she says this should be obligatory.

If a woman goes beyond this sacred number of three, she would be punished by being denied access to free government services.

‘Outrage from men’

We have to talk about the quality of life, Dr Appiah has been arguing.

I don’t recall that anyone in an official position has been this categorical in Ghana about family planning ever before.

We have had a family planning policy since 1970 but usually people only talk about the spacing of births and then hope that the spacing will lead to the birth of fewer children.

This time around Dr. Appiah is urging a cap on the number of children a woman should have.

It is interesting to note that that the people who claim to be outraged by the proposal to limit the number of children have been largely men. I’m sorry none of their arguments stick in my mind long enough to repeat here.

I have not yet heard any woman complain that they don’t want the number of children they can have to be restricted.

Ghana’s fertility rate, that is the average number of children per woman, currently stands at four, though that figure has fallen steadily over the last 30 years.

Another interesting statistic worth noting is that there has not been a single death from measles in Ghana since 2002. Measles used to be one of the main infant killers, and the main justification for having many births.

This past week, I have been doing a very unscientific survey.

Every pregnant woman I have seen, I have asked which number it was and I have not yet met a woman in her third pregnancy. But I am probably looking in the wrong place by asking working women in banks, in offices and shops; the high birth rates can be found mostly in the rural areas.

There might yet be some women who are aspiring to get that live sheep.

We would probably have to find an equally attractive present for every woman who decides to stop at three or below. The problem is I can’t think what can possibly challenge the “10-baby sheep”, nyongmato.

Source: BBC

RE: The Population Myth

In his article titled The Population Myth carried in the September 22, 2018 edition of the Daily Guide Newspaper Dr Nii Moi Thompson wrote things about the National Population Council and its Executive Director that created some false impressions that need to be corrected.

Dr. Thompson wrote that the NPC is “prosecuting an alarmist campaign’ which according to him ‘seems to be driven more by disregard for facts and history than desire to enlighten the public’.

He described the three child per woman policy target of the NPC as ‘arbitrary and whimsical, even dangerous’ and said there is no research ‘anywhere that identifies three children per woman as the optimal threshold’.

Clearly, his understanding of population and development does not include health of the population; that is why he is talking about absence of an ‘optimal population structure for development’ thereby re-echoing the usual Julian Simon School.

There is too much of it out there describing the effect of higher birth order (and short birth intervals) on reproductive health outcomes (Stover and Ross, 2010; Susuman et al. 2016; Mishra et al. 2017; GSS et al. 2015, 2018).

Births of order 4 and above are shown to increase the risk of infant and maternal mortality. This is one of the reasons why the 1994 revised Population Policy set a total fertility rate (TFR) target of 3 children by 2020. This is important because nations are developed by healthy people reproducing healthily and working to take care of them in a sustainable manner. Just as we have optimal blood pressure level.

A reference to the population policy or engagement with the NPC would inform anyone that the figure is not ‘whimsical or arbitrary’.

This policy target of three children was set as far back as1994 and is therefore not an agenda been pushed by the Executive Director of the NPC. As far back as 1969 when the first population policy was developed there were recommendations for exemptions including limiting maternal leave to three children. Just as limiting pension age in the public service to 60 years does not mean after 60 one cannot work in other organizations.

As we wish to reiterate, his understanding of development is that of a classical economist and does not include health, otherwise he would have known that there is an optimal number of births for the health of women, children and communities.

For the information of the economist, age, birth interval and birth order (4+) are the demographic variables used in defining a high-risk pregnancy and are termed demographic risks.

He writes that ‘contrary to the campaign‘s repeated claims, Ghana does NOT face any imminent crises of population growth’.

He concludes the paragraph that Ghana has succeeded and ‘just needs to manage its success better’. Dr Thompson being the astute journalist, artist and economist should explain why though poverty declined by 0.8% between 2013 and 2017, the absolute figures increased from 6.4 million to 6.8 million with widening inequalities according to the GLSS7 of 2017. 

Is this what he terms success that we should just manage? Of course, there is no imminent crises but as clearly stated by Lee Kuan Yew in 1969, we will regret the time lost if we do not take the decisive steps towards correcting a trend which can leave a society with many physically, intellectually and culturally anemic people.

Population growth rate does affect health, education, employment, security among others. The size and population growth rate which are a function of birth rate, death rate and migration do matter because it acts as the supply of labor force for a country and the economic situation the demand factor. An imbalance between the supply of labour and demand gives rise to unemployment and underemployment. 

A vicious cycle generated by a high dependency burden associated with a young age structure leads to low savings and investment per capita which in turn leads to low economic growth and a low standard of living. 

They produced high fertility rates in turn thus heightens the dependency burden perpetuating the cycle. This vicious cycle could be broken at only two points. First at the high fertility stage primarily by introducing an effective family planning program and at the stage of low economic growth by adopting policies to accelerate economic growth.

To be successful, both actions must be pursued simultaneously. With this as a clue, I hope Dr Thompson understands why there is an ever-increasing cohort of school children and we keep building to accommodate them instead of improving quality. Other economists have stated that at 1% population growth rate, nations need between 6.5% and 7% of GDP to maintain the same quality of life. This is termed running to stand still. What does he say about this? Is this consumption or investment?

He states that we are growing at 2.2% which is fine, and therefore we need to sustain the growth. It is however important to note that, our 1969 population policy had a target of 1.7% by the year 2000. Nonetheless, at 2.2 per annum, how much of our GDP do we need annually to just maintain our quality of life giving the life span of our durable assets such as schools, hospitals, roads, bridges currently perked averagely at 50 years not considering the human capital? 

When Dr Thompson blames the overthrow of Gaddafi on European failed to connect the dots properly. Why should the overthrow of Gaddafi lead to the influx of African migrants to Europe if economists had good ideas as MechaiViravaidya of Thailand who within 15 years from 1971 halved Thailand’s growth rate from 3.2% to 1.6% and increased use of contraceptives among married couples from 15% to 70% within the same period. Because of the fertility decline and improved quality of life the people of Thailand did not migrate to Europe with or without the overthrow of Gaddafi.

The population of Thailand in 1970 was about 37 million, in2016 it was about 68 million with a GDP per capita increased from $570 in 1960 to $ 5901 in 2016. How does this compare to our situation in Ghana?

The claim by the economist that if indeed high population growth in Africa is the cause of migration, Africans should have been leaving long time ago is mistaken. A profile of the migrants will show that these are young people who have reached their prime ages and cannot find jobs. This is the result of high population growth and slow economic growth.

The high population growth rates he is referring to applied to smaller bases, 3.6% of 6 million therefore any little loan or grant we had was sufficient for our needs, but that will not be sufficient if our growth rate is 2.5 or 2.2 percent of 30 million. A fertility rate of 6 among 1 million women of reproductive age will result in far fewer absolute births than a fertility rate of 4 among 5 million women. 

About 40% of Ghana’s population was less than 15 years in 2010 and by 2035 all those surviving from this large cohort and still living in Ghana will enter the economically active population. That high population growth increases the need for employment. This is very well demonstrated by Linden in New York Times of June 8th2018. He described it by illustrating that USA with its population structure generated 129,000 new jobs monthly, however, an America size Tanzania population structure would have had to produce 636,000 new jobs monthly without ceasing. We all have a stake and we will co-create the Ghana we want.

Dr Thompson talks about European women having up to 8 children some 100 years ago and European countries have undergone demographic transition. It is right that some European women had up to 8 children at some point in history and a corresponding life expectancy of 30 years. In economics, the fact that one cannot talk about interest rate without inflation also applies to fertility rate and quality of life in population management.

European countries run the full course of the demographic transition from high stationary to low stationary. Everything developed gradually, they did not face the explosive expansion like developing countries who benefited from medical technology and advancement in public health which lead to rapid decline in mortality.

Unfortunately, some economists did not and still do not support family planning as a critical intervention to reduce fertility to match mortality decline contributing to our current state.

Dr. Nii MoiThompson explains that ‘the slowdown in Ghana’s fertility and population growth rates over the years was largely due to the brisk pace of urbanization, from 23.25% in 1960 to 55.32% in 2017’. 

Yes, one huge change in Africa according to Robert Engelman is the mushrooming of gigantic cities. Ghana is urbanizing rapidly with most people arriving from failed farmland and settling into slums.

While it is true that fertility differ according to urban-rural residence, increase in urbanization will never directly lead to fertility decline. The reduced fertility is as a result of easy access to contraceptives and abortion services. The long-standing family planning efforts have accounted for fertility decline and not necessarily urbanization.

In fact, recommending urbanization as a measure for further fertility decline is difficult to comprehend because Ghana’s greatest fertility decline was in the 1980’s when 70% of the country was rural and less literate.

According to Dr. Nii MoiThompson, the NPC ‘typically compares Ghana’s population figures to world averages or individual European countries and conclude that Ghana is doing badly’. We will continue to do so because the sustainable development goals are global targets just as the MDGs were. Human rights and human dignity are universal, and we will continue to do so. He goes further to explain how world population averages distort data from the developing world.

As much as possible we try to present a balanced picture, but we see no problem comparing with world averages. That is exactly what an average is: it combines the best performing and the worst performing. Just as some countries in the world have TFRs less than 2, others have up to 6 so there is nothing wrong with world figures and the distortions he is talking about are only imaginary.

However, we shall limit our comparisons here to only developing countries as suggested or recommended by the economist.
According to the world population prospects estimate by UN 2010-2015, the growth rate of all less developed countries is 1.37% (against 2.39 for Ghana); a growth rate of 1.70% for less developed countries excluding china (against 2.39% for Ghana); a growth rate of 1.48% for lower middle-income countries (against 2.39 for Ghana).

The last is 2.39% for least developed countries (against 2.39% for Ghana); The NPC will continue to present a balanced comparison of Ghana’s population indicators including global ones because there is a global agenda with common benchmarks for all countries. 
About the wild allegation of the ‘NPC campaign [being] an unwitting extension of its European counterpart, which operates through “foreign aid”, we wish to ask what is driving his agenda. Is it driven by ‘aid’?

The vision of the NPC is quality life for the people of Ghana (children, teachers, nurses, mothers, fathers, doctors etc.) not just number of births. Numbers with purpose.

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE 2ND NATIONAL ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SUMMIT HELD AT LA PALM HOTEL, ACCRA ON 29-30 AUGUST 2018

We, Students, Young People, Persons with Disabilities, SRHR
Partners, Academics, Policy Makers, Adolescent and Youth SRHR advocates
at the 2nd National Adolescent Reproductive Health Summit held at the La
Palm Royal Beach Hotel, have discussed issues on Adolescent Sexual and
Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) and how to increase funding for
ASRHR.
We reflected and noted the critical roles Government must play to ensure that
adolescent SRHR issues such as – facilitating innovations, sharing good
practices, generating local level solutions while scaling up initiatives in
partnerships with Government and other partners – receive the needed
attention and financial investment, and call for the following:
1. Government should adequately resource and also empower state
institutions responsible for adolescent sexual and reproductive health,
such as the National Population Council (NPC), the Ghana Health
Service (GHS), the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the School
Health Education Programme (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service
(GES) to fulfil their mandates of coordinating ARH/Youth policies and
implementing ARH/Youth programmes respectively, to ensure
maximum and synergistic use of resources.
2. Government should expedite action on the integration of Family
Planning into the benefit package of the National Health Insurance
Scheme to remove the cost barrier for services, in order to promote use
of sexual and reproductive health services especially by adolescents
and young people.
3. We recognize the changing funding landscape and dwindling donor
support as a result of the middle income status of Ghana, leading to
gaps in ASRHR financing and call on Government through the Ministers
of Finance, Health, Education, Youth and Sports to ring-fence budgets
for adolescent health in their annual budgets to enable Ghana reap
demographic dividend.
4. Government, through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) into the
school curriculum, as part of the ongoing review of the school
curriculum.
5. Government through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the capacity building of teachers to effectively teach CSE, especially as
we go into universal free senior high school and double – track
education.
6. Parents, religious leaders and the media should support efforts by
Government to integrate CSE into the school curriculum and also clarify
values on adolescent sexuality.
7. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should expand the
establishment of adolescent/youth friendly corners and integrate them
into school based clinics, where sexual and reproductive health
information and services with the appropriate referral linkages can be
provided to all students, especially those who are sexually active.
8. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should promote school
health clubs into all junior and senior high schools and Technical and
Vocational Institutions in order to promote positive sexual and
reproductive health behavior, using the life course approach to
development, so that investments in early childhood is built on during
adolescence.
9. We recognize the need to include persons with disabilities, including all
young people in their diversity – to acknowledge their unique
differences and the need to work together to design programmes and
policies and strengthen existing ones to ensure a better future for the
country, continent and the globe.
10. We recognize the need to make all sexual and reproductive
health information and services accessible to persons with disabilities in
all their diversity, and call on Government through the Ministries of
Health and Education to invest in the capacity building of educators and
service providers in disability and related issues to facilitate access to
sexual and reproductive health information and services by persons
with disabilities.We Adolescents, Students, Young People, Persons with Disabilities, SRHR
Partners, Academics, Policy Makers, Adolescent and Youth SRHR advocates
at the 2nd National Adolescent Reproductive Health Summit held at the La
Palm Royal Beach Hotel, have discussed issues on Adolescent Sexual and
Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) and how to increase funding for
ASRHR.
We reflected and noted the critical roles Government must play to ensure that
adolescent SRHR issues such as – facilitating innovations, sharing good
practices, generating local level solutions while scaling up initiatives in
partnerships with Government and other partners – receive the needed
attention and financial investment, and call for the following:
1. Government should adequately resource and also empower state
institutions responsible for adolescent sexual and reproductive health,
such as the National Population Council (NPC), the Ghana Health
Service (GHS), the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the School
Health Education Programme (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service
(GES) to fulfil their mandates of coordinating ARH/Youth policies and
implementing ARH/Youth programmes respectively, to ensure
maximum and synergistic use of resources.
2. Government should expedite action on the integration of Family
Planning into the benefit package of the National Health Insurance
Scheme to remove the cost barrier for services, in order to promote use
of sexual and reproductive health services especially by adolescents
and young people.
3. We recognize the changing funding landscape and dwindling donor
support as a result of the middle income status of Ghana, leading to
gaps in ASRHR financing and call on Government through the Ministers
of Finance, Health, Education, Youth and Sports to ring-fence budgets
for adolescent health in their annual budgets to enable Ghana reap
demographic dividend.
4. Government, through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) into the
school curriculum, as part of the ongoing review of the school
curriculum.
5. Government through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the capacity building of teachers to effectively teach CSE, especially as
we go into universal free senior high school and double – track
education.
6. Parents, religious leaders and the media should support efforts by
Government to integrate CSE into the school curriculum and also clarify
values on adolescent sexuality.
7. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should expand the
establishment of adolescent/youth friendly corners and integrate them
into school based clinics, where sexual and reproductive health
information and services with the appropriate referral linkages can be
provided to all students, especially those who are sexually active.
8. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should promote school
health clubs into all junior and senior high schools and Technical and
Vocational Institutions in order to promote positive sexual and
reproductive health behavior, using the life course approach to
development, so that investments in early childhood is built on during
adolescence.
9. We recognize the need to include persons with disabilities, including all
young people in their diversity – to acknowledge their unique
differences and the need to work together to design programmes and
policies and strengthen existing ones to ensure a better future for the
country, continent and the globe.
10. We recognize the need to make all sexual and reproductive
health information and services accessible to persons with disabilities in
all their diversity, and call on Government through the Ministries of
Health and Education to invest in the capacity building of educators and
service providers in disability and related issues to facilitate access to
sexual and reproductive health information and services by persons
with disabilities.
11. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications, the
National Youth Authority, Civil Society and NGOs should explore
opportunities to use technology, including social and digital media to
educate and provide accurate sexual and reproductive health
information to adolescents. This provides anonymity and confidentiality.
In this wise, we call on internet service providers and
telecommunication companiesWe Adolescents, Students, Young People, Persons with Disabilities, SRHR
Partners, Academics, Policy Makers, Adolescent and Youth SRHR advocates
at the 2nd National Adolescent Reproductive Health Summit held at the La
Palm Royal Beach Hotel, have discussed issues on Adolescent Sexual and
Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) and how to increase funding for
ASRHR.
We reflected and noted the critical roles Government must play to ensure that
adolescent SRHR issues such as – facilitating innovations, sharing good
practices, generating local level solutions while scaling up initiatives in
partnerships with Government and other partners – receive the needed
attention and financial investment, and call for the following:
1. Government should adequately resource and also empower state
institutions responsible for adolescent sexual and reproductive health,
such as the National Population Council (NPC), the Ghana Health
Service (GHS), the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the School
Health Education Programme (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service
(GES) to fulfil their mandates of coordinating ARH/Youth policies and
implementing ARH/Youth programmes respectively, to ensure
maximum and synergistic use of resources.
2. Government should expedite action on the integration of Family
Planning into the benefit package of the National Health Insurance
Scheme to remove the cost barrier for services, in order to promote use
of sexual and reproductive health services especially by adolescents
and young people.
3. We recognize the changing funding landscape and dwindling donor
support as a result of the middle income status of Ghana, leading to
gaps in ASRHR financing and call on Government through the Ministers
of Finance, Health, Education, Youth and Sports to ring-fence budgets
for adolescent health in their annual budgets to enable Ghana reap
demographic dividend.
4. Government, through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) into the
school curriculum, as part of the ongoing review of the school
curriculum.
5. Government through the Minister of Education should expedite work on
the capacity building of teachers to effectively teach CSE, especially as
we go into universal free senior high school and double – track
education.
6. Parents, religious leaders and the media should support efforts by
Government to integrate CSE into the school curriculum and also clarify
values on adolescent sexuality.
7. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should expand the
establishment of adolescent/youth friendly corners and integrate them
into school based clinics, where sexual and reproductive health
information and services with the appropriate referral linkages can be
provided to all students, especially those who are sexually active.
8. Government, through the GES, GHS and NYA should promote school
health clubs into all junior and senior high schools and Technical and
Vocational Institutions in order to promote positive sexual and
reproductive health behavior, using the life course approach to
development, so that investments in early childhood is built on during
adolescence.
9. We recognize the need to include persons with disabilities, including all
young people in their diversity – to acknowledge their unique
differences and the need to work together to design programmes and
policies and strengthen existing ones to ensure a better future for the
country, continent and the globe.
10. We recognize the need to make all sexual and reproductive
health information and services accessible to persons with disabilities in
all their diversity, and call on Government through the Ministries of
Health and Education to invest in the capacity building of educators and
service providers in disability and related issues to facilitate access to
sexual and reproductive health information and services by persons
with disabilities.
11. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications, the
National Youth Authority, Civil Society and NGOs should explore
opportunities to use technology, including social and digital media to
educate and provide accurate sexual and reproductive health
information to adolescents. This provides anonymity and confidentiality.
In this wise, we call on internet service providers and
telecommunication companies and the private sector to support this as
part of their contributions through their corporate social responsibility.
12. Government should invest in ASRHR Monitoring, Evaluation,
Research and Learning platforms, particularly for younger adolescents
aged 10-14yrs to help tailor sexual and reproductive health information
and services to their needs.
Issued in Accra, 30th August 2018and the private sector to support this as
part of their contributions through their corporate social responsibility.
12. Government should invest in ASRHR Monitoring, Evaluation,
Research and Learning platforms, particularly for younger adolescents
aged 10-14yrs to help tailor sexual and reproductive health information
and services to their needs.
Issued in Accra, 30th August 2018
11. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications, the
National Youth Authority, Civil Society and NGOs should explore
opportunities to use technology, including social and digital media to
educate and provide accurate sexual and reproductive health
information to adolescents. This provides anonymity and confidentiality.
In this wise, we call on internet service providers and
telecommunication companies and the private sector to support this as
part of their contributions through their corporate social responsibility.
12. Government should invest in ASRHR Monitoring, Evaluation,
Research and Learning platforms, particularly for younger adolescents
aged 10-14yrs to help tailor sexual and reproductive health information
and services to their needs.
Issued in Accra, 30th August 2018