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Population Advisory Committees are to be established at the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country.

     The committees would develop and provide the MMDAs with reliable database, hitherto non-existent, for efficient and effective long-term planning for community development.

     Mr. Sylvester Agangmikra, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Population Officer, disclosed this when he opened a five-day trainers of trainees camp in Sunyani on Thursday.

     The camp, organised by the Hope for Future Generation, a health centered Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), was attended by 40 young boys and girls drawn from 10 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Region.

     It was aimed at educating and empowering the participants on relevant issues on sexual reproductive and adolescent health.

     Mr. Agangmikra said because most of the MMDAs did not have reliable data on population, they could not plan properly for long term development.

     He explained that the National Population Council was dialoguing with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to set up modalities for the establishment of the Committees at the MMDAs.

     Mr. Agangmikra expressed concern about the increasing spate of teenage pregnancy, which according to him was responsible for spiraling population growth in the Region.

     The Regional Population Officer observed teenage pregnancy was also the cause of the alarming proportion of school dropouts and called for stepped-up measures to bring the situation under control.

      Mrs. Irene Sawerteh, Programmes Manager at the HFFG head office in Accra, explained that the camp was a product of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health Project being implemented by the NGO with support from the UKAID through the Palladium Group.

     She observed that because most young boys and girls could not control their sexual desires, there was the need to ensure that they understood certain reproductive health issues.

     Mrs. Sawerteh advised the participants to be disciplined and conduct themselves well so that they could learn new things and share with their colleagues.

     Mr. Moses Nanang, a Representative from the Palladium Group, said the three-year project would end in 2017 and therefore asked the beneficiary project implementing Municipalities and Districts to consider alternative means to fund and sustain it.

       He said sustainability of the project would depend on the commitment of the Assemblies and the traditional authorities and entreated both parties to ensure an effective collaboration.