Build yourselves responsibly for future leadership roles – students urged

Accra, Aug. 2, GNA – Mrs Florence Hagan, the Regional Population Officer of the National Population Council, has urged students especially females, to build themselves up responsibly to take up leadership roles in future.

She explained that it was only when they lived responsible lives that they could take up leadership roles in future to serve the nation and help her to achieve her vision.

Mrs Hagan said this during an interaction with students of the Accra High School as part of the celebration of the “2019 World Population Day” on the theme, “Reproductive Health and Gender Equality, for Sustainable Development”.

The celebration, she said, called on everyone especially women to promote the attainment of gender equality, women empowerment, and sexual reproductive health and rights.

Speaking on controlling population growth, Mrs Hagan said, it was necessary to reduce the pressure imposed on the State’s natural resources and budget.

“As the population grows, all sectors of government increase their demand from the national budget and there would also be pressure on natural resources,” she said.

Productive hours are wasted in traffic and students sit on the floor to write, all due to population growth, she said, adding that it all drew back the development of the country.

Making reference to some of the Sustainable Development Goals, she said promoting universal health coverage and access to quality education could only be achieved by a collective effort from government, private entities and the citizenry and urged all to cooperate in that regard.

The Population Office also encouraged schools to give students comprehensive sexuality education so that they were not tempted to go for wrong education from their peers or irresponsible adults.

Dr Luiz Amousso, the Deputy Regional Director, Ghana Health Service, said millions of girls were coerced into unwanted sex or marriage,      putting them at risk of unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and dangerous childbirth.

Pregnancy during adolescence, he disclosed, was associated with health problems like anaemia, postpartum haemorrhage, and mental disorders (like depression).

“Pregnant adolescents also hear negative social consequences and often have to leave school reducing their employability leading to long-term economic implications,” he said.

Dr Amousso called on players in health services delivery to be sensitive to the needs and developmental attributes of adolescents to be able to attract them.

Institutions and families should empower young people to know and exercise their rights including the right to delay marriage and the right to refuse unwanted sexual advances, he advised.

GNA

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