INVOLVE MDAs TO CREATE BUDGET LINES FOR POPULATION ACTIVITIES

osei joseph hughes jnrINVOLVE MDAs TO CREATE BUDGET LINES FOR POPULATION ACTIVITIES
The Upper East Regional Office of the National Population Council (NPC), has been tasked to engage the various Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to be on the front line in the advocacy of population issues. The Deputy Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, James Akpablie, who made the appeal said, involving the various municipal and district assemblies in the activities of the council would encourage them to create budget lines to tackle the problem of inadequate funding for population activities, which for some time now, has been identified as one of the major challenges hampering the activities of the council. Mr. Akpablie said this at the 2010 first quarter meeting of the Upper East Regional Population Advisory Committee meeting (RPAC) at Bolgatanga. Mr. Akplablie appealed to the various assemblies to assist the council in the course of their operations by providing them with funds and other facilities including CHIP compound to facilitate their operations. A member of the Regional Advisory Committee, Mr. Aban-Gos, urged the various district advisory committees to come out with work plans and modalities for their respective assemblies to be considered for implementation. He stressed the need for the council to select planning officers as population focal persons for effective planning and called for the reactivation of district population advisory committees to complement the efforts made by the council in its quest to solving issues affecting population growth in the region. Presenting a report on last year’s activities carried out by the Regional Population Council, the Regional Population Officer, Mr. Alosiba Azam, revealed that the collaboration between the council and other relevant stakeholders have strengthened over the years, adding that the various assemblies in the region are beginning to appreciate the need for integrating population issues into their development plans. He commended the Upper East Regional Co-ordinating Council and the media for their support during last year’s under review and called for their support in public education and sensitization on population issues. Mr. Azam expressed the optimism that the council would this year focus much of its attention on the monitoring and supervision aspect of their activities to help regulate population growth in the region.