A Taskforce Council has been formed in Tamale to amongst others recruit members in their various communities in the Metropolis to work towards ensuring that adolescents are properly groomed to become responsible citizens.

Members of the Taskforce and those to be recruited would undertake periodic coaching and mentoring of adolescents in the Metropolis to achieve its aim.

The Taskforce Council was formed by the Regional Institute of Population Studies of the University of Ghana in collaboration with Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) as part of the implementation of the Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) project with funding support from the Botnar Foundation.

The HCA project amongst others seeks to build a multi-stakeholder consortium with capacity to use evidence-based information for strategic programming that promotes adolescent health and general well-being towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals.

In line with the HCA project, members of the Taskforce Council, which includes Chiefs, Imams, Pastors, youth leaders and Assembly members, attended an orientation in Tamale on their roles, responsibilities and strategies to use in mobilising community members to address issues affecting the growth and development of adolescents in the area.

Mrs Clara Lamisi Weobong, Field Programme Officer, HCA Office, Tamale, during the event said it was significant because it would afford stakeholders the opportunity to decide ways to raise responsible adolescents in the Metropolis, adding "Raising responsible adults today requires dialogue, negotiation and persuasion”.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Emmanuel Holortu, Northern Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, said the challenge today as a country was about the inability to control the children.

DSP Holortu added that "the problem is not only with the children, but also those bringing them up" and urged parents to set good examples for their children to emulate.

Mr Inusah Iddrisu, Public Education Officer at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), called for collaboration between the Taskforce Council and CHRAJ to promote the rights of adolescents in communities, saying "We are partners in development and our collective efforts will secure the future and the sanity of the communities".

Mr Sama Faris, Unit Committee Member of the Bulan Fong Electoral Area, said the initiative would enable communities in the Tamale Metropolis to fight against all forms of deviant behaviours among the youth, noting that "The youth are the future of the country and any investment towards their upbringing should be encouraged”.