Sunyani Adolescent Parliament advocates access to contraceptives to promote safe sex

The Sunyani Municipal Adolescent Parliament has called on the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to support young people to easily access condoms and contraceptives to promote safe sex. 
 
They also called for intensified sex education, proper use of contraceptives, and access to family planning services. 
 
That would greatly control the rising cases of teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and unsafe abortion in the Municipality. 
 
The Adolescent Parliament is one of the critical components of a three-year Resilient City for Adolescents Project, (RC4A) being implemented by Global Media Foundation (GLoMeF), in partnership with Indigenous Women Empowerment Network and Citizens Watch Ghana, both NGOs. 
 
It is a platform for the adolescents in the Sunyani Municipality of the Bono Region to influence governance and demand accountability as part of the implementation of the 300,000-pounds sterling project, being funded by the Swiss Bortnar Foundation, which seeks to improve adolescent lives. 
 
Members of the ‘Parliament’ have been carefully selected from various communities in and around Sunyani to meet occasionally to deliberate on issues and embark on advocacy to influence decision-making in the area. 
 
Daniel Sarkodie Frimpong, the ‘Speaker’ of the 23-member Parliament, which covers 19 constituencies, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of sporting activities organised for the members. 
 
GLoMeF and the project implementing partners organised the games to promote and deepen friendship, unearth and nurture the sporting talents of the young people. 
Speaker Frimpong indicated that though Parliament was strongly against pre-marital sexual practices, many of the young people in the municipality were engaged in active sex, hence the need to supply them with contraceptives. 
 
That would enable those who could not control their sexual desires to protect themselves, and thereby control teenage pregnancies, contributing to high school-dropout rate and impeding girl-child education in the municipality, he said. 
 
Speaker Frimpong said with safe sex girls would also be able to further their education and grow into responsible adulthoods and become societal assets, and not liability, regretting that early “breaking’ of girl’s virginity was becoming a burden in the society. 
 
He observed that parental neglect was fueling alcoholism, sexual perversions, drug abuse, internet scam, sports betting among the youth. 
 
“I think some parents have failed in the proper upbringing and development of their children. Instead of drawing their children closer and listening to them, they have chosen to pursue their life careers to the detriment of their children’s wellbeing.” 
 
Master Frimpong, a-15-year-old student of the Abesim St. James Seminary and Senior High School, reminded parents that those who neglected their children brought burden to themselves, and implored irresponsible parents to change. 
 
Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chief Executive Officer, GLoMeF, said the RC4A project sought to identify and tackle emerging challenges confronting adolescence in the municipality. 
 
Prizes ranging from sanitary pads, detergent, toothpaste and brushes, reading and learning materials, trophies to medals were presented to deserving young people who participated in the games: football, sack race and athletics.