Include NPC in Regional Planning Coordinating Unit to address population issues - Population Officer

The Upper East Regional Population Officer, Mr Alosibah Akare Azam has appealed to the Regional Minister, Ms Tangoba Abayage to facilitate the inclusion of the National Population Council (NPC) on the Regional Planning Coordinating Unit's (RPCU)Monitoring of District Development Plans.

Mr Azam explained that one of NPC's focus was to ensure the integration of population factors into development planning at all levels hence its inclusion in the RPCU would ultimately help speed up resolution of population issues in the development agenda of the Region.

The Population Officer stated this at the first Meeting of the Reactivated Regional Population Advisory Committee (RPAC) held at Bolgatanga on Tuesday October 6, 2020.

He further commended the RCC for the “continuing support to the NPC to ensure that population issues remained central to development planning at all levels to improve quality of life of the people".

Terms of Reference

Mr Azam stated that the RPAC was one of the structures that facilitated effective population management at the regional level.

Upper East Regional Population Officer, Mr Alosibah Akare Azam

According to him, the RPAC had played a vital role in the past in identifying Regional population issues and drawing strategies to address them but it had been dormant for some time now.

Its terms of reference included advising institutions, organizations and agencies on population issues in the Region and to ensure that population factors were integrated into development Planning.

Population Issues

The Officer observed that the key population issue that was of concern in the Region was teenage pregnancy.

He said Coronavirus (COVID-19) had “impacted greatly on teenage pregnancy from the reports that we have heard or read about”.

“In our discussions we should look at the impact of COVID-19 on teenage pregnancy; Advocacy Organizations have warned that more teenage girls would become pregnant if they continue to stay at home due to prolonged closure of schools because of COVID-19”Mr Azam noted.

The Regional Coordinating Director, Alhaji Mahammadu Assibi Azonko, who spoke on behalf of the Regional Minister, Miss Tangoba Abayage, as the chairperson of the RPAC, noted that accurate population data was very key to proper national development planning.

Alhaji Azonko explained that youth unemployment was a major security threat as more young graduates were being produced without effectively implementing policies to create jobs for them.

He therefore called on various stakeholders to work together to factor the issues of youth in the development planning strategies of the country to address the challenges facing them.

Committee

The Committee is made up of representatives from various institutions such as the Regional Coordinating Council, the NPC, Department of Gender and Children, National Youth Authority, Civil Society Organizations, the media among others.

The NPC Regional Office was opened in 1997 and RPAC was inaugurated in 1998.Since then the Regional Coordinating Council has supported the work of the NPC and the RPAC.