Bolgatanga, Feb. 17, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu has urged District Assemblies in the region not to overlook the dynamics of population and social issues when formulating their development plans and budgets.

"If we neglect these problems and continue to concentrate our efforts on the provision of physical infrastructure, we risk facing the criticism of our people" he said.

These were contained in a speech read for him at the weekend during a joint meeting of the regional population advisory committee (RPAC) with the Bolgatanga Municipal and Bongo District Population advisory committees (DPACs) held at Bolgatanga.

The meeting was to enable the committees to review their work plans for the year and to share ideas on how to tackle some peculiar population problems in their various communities.

He reminded the participants of the recent demonstration organised in Accra by the physically challenged, saying that was enough signal to people in decision-making and other responsible positions that no sector of the society should be ignored in the developmental process.

Mr Salifu commended the regional secretariat of the National Population Council (NPC) and Action Aid-Ghana for their joint efforts in establishing a regional network to harmonise population-related development activities in the region.

He directed municipal and district assemblies in the region to support the network dubbed "Upper East Initiative on Sustainable Development" in order to fast track the development of the area.

The Regional Population Officer, Mr Sylvester Agangmikre, said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other donor partners had provided funds, which enabled the NPC to equip the district and regional population committees with skills in policy analysis and advocacy. He, therefore, appealed to the municipal and district Assemblies to implement the Regional Minister's directive requiring them to create separate budget lines for population activities to enable the committees to put their skills to good use for the benefit of the people.

Mr Agangmikre commended the Bawku East, Bawku West and Bongo districts for taking the lead to create separate budgets for population activities and urged the others to follow suit.

He also advised the committees not to work alone, but that they must involve other relevant community-based organisations and the local people in all aspects of their activities.