This was initiated by Plan International, in collaboration with the Central Regional Directorate of the National Youth Authority (NYA), to discuss issues affecting the youth and set the agenda for policy change to improve their welfare.

 At a forum to commemorate the 2019 International Day of the Child at Awutu Bereku, Mr Thomas Yaw Adjei-Baffoe, the Deputy Central Regional Minister, said the Parliament, which comprised 50 members, mostly girls, would enable the youth to share opinion on public issues.

It was on the theme: "Re-Write Her Story," and provides society a unique opportunity to celebrate the remarkable strides girls are making regardless of the challenges they face.

The International Day of the Girl is important because it creates awareness of the adversities that hinders girls' education, training and entry into the workforce.

Mr Adjei-Baffoe stressed the need for society to stop creating the impression that the only goal for a girl was to marry, have children and take care of the home.

He said persistent discrimination against the girl-child must stop and they should rather be emboldened to take over key positions.

"Society should do all it can to empower girls to fulfill their potentials, dreams and aspirations."

Mr Adjei-Baffoe said statistics from the United Nations indicate that of the one billion young people in the world, 600 million are adolescent girls, who would enter the workforce in the next 10 years.

"More than 90 per cent of them live in developing countries and will work in the informal sector, which is characterised by low pay, abuse and exploitation."

"The world is changing fast with its advancement in technology spearheaded by globalisation and in the face of these changes, girls want to see expansion of existing opportunities and chart new paths."

"It is high time the global community rethink how to prepare girls for a successful transition into the world of work".

Mr Adjei-Baffoe said girls had less access to Information and Communication Technology and resources such as the internet, where the global gender gap was growing, he said, adding that it was not acceptable in the present socio-economic dispensation.

Mr Adjei-Baffoe said the project was a step in the right direction and a testimony of empowering the youth.

"I hope it will help all and sundry to understand the need to create equal opportunities for girls and boys, men and women in the society".

Mr Salomon Tesfamariam, the Plan International-Ghana Country Director, asked stakeholders to continue to accelerate efforts to empower girls and called on the media to help in properly shaping their aspirations by producing content that did not endorse stereotyping.

"The efforts of these girls will yield more results if we contribute our quota to improving their journey of discovering themselves and become productive citizens of the global world."

Speakers at the event included Mr Emmanuel S. Martey, Central Regional Director of National Youth Authority, and Mr Paul Atsu Agbesudor, the Awutu-Senya District Coordinating Director.

 Later, during its first sitting, the Youth Parliament called on the government to put in place dramatic and sustainable policies to address issues that hinders their growth and development since they were the future man-power of the country.