According to Dr Wilfred Ochan, the UNFPA Country Representative to Ghana, access to family planning services and products as well as contraceptives would help empower young people with informed decisions for sustainable development.

He said the country had made significant progress in family planning, however, domestic financing and commitment of the relevant stakeholders especially for family planning services had been significantly low over the years.

"While these strides are great and commendable, the journey is not without its hurdles," Dr Ochan said this in a speech read on his behalf at the commemoration of World Contraception Day (Family Planning Week) at Nalerigu.

"At the policy and health system, not much progress has been made in domestic financing for family planning procurement. Procurement of family planning commodities is still largely donor dependent.
There is no specific budgetary allocation for family planning procurement".

The celebration brought together stakeholders from the Ghana Health Service, educational institutions, civil society organisations and students among others from Upper East. Upper West, North East and Northern Regions.

It was organised by the UNFPA in collaboration with the Total Family Health Organisation, Marie Stopes International Ghana and Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, Non-Governmental organisations.

Dr Ochan indicated that the access to family planning services and products were fundamental human rights and there was the need for stakeholders led by government to ensure that the country achieved zero unmet needs of family planning.

"Also, many private insurance schemes are yet to include family planning into their benefit package. Family data does not fully capture private sector efforts.

"These challenges beg the question- how do we ensure consistent availability of the full family planning method mix at the Last Mile for the sexually active young persons, the rural women and the busy urban career woman?

"Addressing these systemic gaps is essential to ensure that family planning services are readily available, and affordable, to everyone wherever they are", he said.

Mr Mammah Tenii, a Programme Specialist and Head of Tamale Decentralised Office of the UNFPA, said the reason for choosing the North East Region for the celebration was informed by the region's poor family planning indicators.

He urged the various stakeholders to network and learn from the success stories of each to improve upon their performance and help achieve zero unmet family planning needs.

Ms Alimatu Seidu, a Family Planning Coordinator, North East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, appealed to the government to mainstream sexual and reproductive health education especially family planning into the school curriculum to ensure holistic education of the young people.

Mr Peter Awudu, the Health Promotion Officer and Senior Health Educator at the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Nalerigu, called for collective efforts to ensure men were involved and at the forefront of family planning activities, adding that it would help to prevent domestic conflicts among couples.