SOME 75 councillors from various community development councils (CDCs) have completed a one-month workshop geared at identifying problems affecting adolescents and youths and designing programmes to address adolescents and youths in their communities.Facilitated by the National Community Development Councils (NCDC) in collaboration with the United Nations through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the workshop saw participation from Regions Three, Four, Five and 10.

The participants were able to increase their knowledge and skills in the areas of identification of social problems of adolescents and youth; causal factors, adolescent growth and development, adolescent needs and the challenges they encounter in their lives; adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and links to gender equality and gender-based violence.

During brief remarks at the closing ceremony held at the Pegasus Hotel, Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Adams-Patterson, urged the participants to focus on implementing change and getting results, since they are now empowered with the necessary skills and are familiar with the issues affecting their respective communities.

“Many times we come up with workshops and people come up with plans; when you get back to your communities, (they are) put on the shelves. I trust that this will not happen, because the organisers of this workshop expect that with knowledge acquired there will be change of behaviour, attitude, and change in all its forms,” Minister Adams-Patterson said.

She noted that there should be more interaction among the people of a community, since the people would be able to provide significant insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their community.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), she also encouraged the councillors to listen to the residents, as it would help them to identify areas which seem to be of common interest towards making change and developing one shared vision.

The UNFPA Regional Representative Patrice La Fleur spoke of the importance of youth development, noting that young people can play a major role in launching an economic, social and cultural transformation once they are healthy, educated, and are provided with viable options in life.

Youths remain at the centre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in terms of prevalence of the infection, vulnerability, impact and potential for change, even though the world had agreed that young people have the human right to the information and means to protect themselves, La Fleur explained.

She pointed out that UNFPA is also concerned about adolescent pregnancy, which robs girls of their childhood and often prevents them from completing their education. In fact, in Guyana, 2013 statistics reveal that the adolescent pregnancy percentage has been fluctuating from 20 to 22 per cent for persons below the age of 19 years, and has remained constant at one per cent for persons under 15 years. There is, however, a reported increase in adolescent pregnancy in the hinterland regions.

It is in this context, La Fleur said, that the UNFPA collaborated with CARICOM to develop an integrated strategic framework for the reduction of teenage pregnancy in the Caribbean.

In Guyana, the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with UNICEF, UNFPA and PAHO, will soon launch a situation analysis of all 10 regions to ascertain the factors which contribute to girls becoming pregnant as early as 10 years of age.

La Fleur also charged the workshop participants to utilise their knowledge in addressing some of the issues affecting the youths in their communities.

The sessions were facilitated by a UNFPA liaison officer, and were supported by resource personnel sourced from the ministries of Health and Education and Social Protection, Women Across Differences (including adolescent mothers), and Help and Shelter.

UNFPA will now gather information crucial to completing its 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, which would place increased priority on adolescents, especially the very young, in national development policies and programmes, particularly in relation to increased availability of comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services.