The Ministry of Education, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has launched the Healthy, Educated and Responsible Adolescents Living and Development Initiative (HERALD) Steering Group to strengthen coordination among existing education, health and civic responsibility policies and programmes.
Its purpose is to give adolescents, whether they attend school or not, reliable access to the information and services they need. The Steering Group will bring government, partners and civil society to one table so that separate programmes work as one effort.
“Addressing the challenges facing adolescents requires a coordinated approach that brings government agencies, development partners, civil society and families together to provide the support young people need to thrive.”
Mr Isaac Attach Baah, Principal Programme Officer for Early Childhood Education
Speaking at the launch, Mr Isaac Attach Baah, Principal Programme Officer for Early Childhood Education (GES), underscored the importance of coordinated interventions. Adolescence, he indicated, is a critical stage of development, and young people need consistent support from every institution around them. Coordinated interventions, in his view, give adolescents a much clearer and more dependable path through this stage of life.
He noted that coordination matters because adolescents meet the state through several doors. A student may encounter a school programme, a health service and a civic education activity, each run by a different agency with its own plans. The Steering Group exists to connect them so that they reinforce one another and do not work in isolation.
Challenges Facing Adolescents
The UNFPA Country Representative, Dr Wilfred Ochan, highlighted the need for a unified approach to the challenges adolescents face.
He listed teenage pregnancy, sexual exploitation and abuse, mental health concerns, HIV/AIDS and child labour. He added that the approach should also promote digital safety and responsible citizenship.
The list shows how closely the problems overlap. A girl who leaves school because of pregnancy, for instance, may also face exploitation or mental health strain, and a child who works instead of attending class loses the information and life skills that schooling provides.
A response that treats each issue alone can miss these links. Dr Ochan’s emphasis on digital safety also reflects how much of adolescent life now takes place online.
Stakeholders Press for Practical Support
Participants at the launch put forward four priorities. They called for stronger parental involvement, safer school environments, sustainable funding and meaningful youth participation.
They noted that each priority answers a different gap. Taken together, the four point to a model in which families, schools, funders and young people each hold part of the responsibility.
Parents shape what adolescents learn at home, and schools must be places where young people feel protected. Funding determines whether programmes can continue beyond a pilot phase, while the participation of young people helps ensure that the interventions reflect what adolescents actually need.
The HERALD Steering Group will bring together key stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners and civil society organisations.
Their task is to build on existing policies and programmes, not to replace them. Because membership spans government, development partners and civil society, the group can draw on public policy, donor support and community experience at once.
The group will develop coordinated implementation strategies, action plans and monitoring frameworks. Monitoring frameworks matter in particular, since they allow partners to measure whether the combined effort is reaching adolescents, both in and out of school.
A Shared Commitment
Through this collaboration, the Ministry of Education and its partners reaffirmed their commitment to empowering adolescents. They want the next generation to take part fully in the country’s progress. Their commitment is, for now, a statement of intent.
“Empowering adolescents to make informed decisions, develop essential life skills and contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s sustainable development.”
Mr Isaac Attach Baah, Principal Programme Officer for Early Childhood Education
The launch marks the start of the group’s work, and the strategies, action plans and monitoring frameworks are still to be developed.
The launch did not specify a date for the group’s first meeting or a deadline for its action plans. Observers will look for how soon the group publishes them, how it divides responsibility among its members, and how it secures the sustainable funding that stakeholders requested.
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