A Youth Advocacy Assembly has been held at Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region, to introduce students in Junior High Schools to the operations of the district assemblies.
National Youth Council in collaboration with Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation and the United Nations Fund for Population
Activities organised the assembly.
The issues debated by the assembly, were; "the upsurge of teenage pregnancy", "poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) Results"
and "child trafficking and poor sanitation".
The youth said teenage pregnancy, was the major cause of school drop-out among the girl-child in the rural communities and attributed the problem to parents who leave their children with their aging grandmothers to cater for their education.
The assembly said grandmothers are not well resourced compelling the children, especially the girls to become bread winners.
They observed that making financial demands from girls encouraged them to go to men for support, which often led to pregnancy.
They appealed to the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, the district assemblies, Queenmothers, religious groups and civil society
organisations to launch a campaign on the situation.
They also touched on the trafficking of children in some communities in the Mfantseman Municipality to fishing areas along the Volta Lake and some West African countries, due to abject poverty facing their parents.
The youth suggested to the Municipal Assembly to introduce fishermen and farmers in the area to alternate livelihood jobs since their jobs are no longer lucrative due to the depletion of marine resources.
They said erratic rainfall pattern had also rendered farming unprofitable.
On poor BECE results, the assembly appealed to chiefs to enforce the bye- laws enacted by the municipal assembly to control the movement of
school children at night.
They also appealed to the Ghana Education Service to ban the use of cellular phones by teachers in the classroom as they spend too much time in conversation on phones at the expense of teaching.
Mr Sulemana Gbana, Mankessim Programme Area Manager of Plan Ghana explained that the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child was
based on survival, development, participation and protection.
Mr Anthony K. Arthur, Mfantseman Youth Co-ordinator commended the youth for putting up a splendid performance and urged the public not to look down upon children in decision making.
The resolution of the assembly was sent to the municipal assembly through Mr Awotwe Pratt, Chairman of the assembly's Finance and
Administration Sub-committee.