George Padmore Mensah, the Chief Coordinator of the Bono East Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), has advised the youth to refrain from practices that could abort their dreams untimely.

He expressed worries about the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy, which had affected the goals of the youth in becoming the nations productive force and also affected their development in the area.

Mr Mensah gave the advised at a programme to train about 120 youth in four districts in the Region on reproductive health and gender issues to equip their social lives.

The training programme held at Techiman in the Bono Region was jointly organized by the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the beneficiary Assemblies and funded by the United Nations Population Fund Agency (UNFPA) and Global Affairs-Canada.

It aimed at training and equipping the participants to become artisans, seamstress, tailors, hairdressers and mechanics as well as sensitizing them to know their rights on gender responsiveness issues, sex and gender-based violence.

He said the Coordinating Council was committed in championing the fight against all menace such as teenage pregnancy, early marriage and drug abuse in the area to secure the future of the youth.

Mr. Mensah asked the youth to take opportunities of the training programme so that they could become good future leaders.

He entreated them to abstain from unprotected sex, which could lead to unwanted pregnancy and be free from drugs to be able to achieve their ambitions.

Madam Fati Bamba, Regional Director of the National Youth Authority in charge of Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions noted that the training was basically to alert the youth on the dangers of irresponsible youthful behaviours such as teenage pregnancy and drug abuse.

She said the training would equip the youth with information on their reproductive lives and aid them to become responsible adults to be able to contribute significantly to the country’s development.

She said the participants would be empowered economically by equipping them with the skills such as soap making, beauticians, dressmaking and catering to improve their livelihood.

She indicated that earlier feasibility studies in the areas revealed negative implications on the reproductive health of the youth, which had resulted in high rates of teenage pregnancy over the years and affected the wellbeing of young people in the beneficiary towns.