The participants at a consultative dialogue on Wednesday urged the policymakers, legislators and key stakeholders to take effective steps for delivery of better health services to adolescent girls and mothers. They also demanded considering adolescent girls as a separate target group in the health and population welfare programmes.
The consultative dialogue was organised by Rahnuma, a Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), in collaboration with the Research and Advocacy Fund (RAF) here at a local hotel. Rahnuma Director Amna Akhsheed, Vice President Haji Sattar Gul, Programme Manager Sohail Iqbal, and Co-ordinator Yasrab Nazir participated in the dialogue.
The Director Rahnuma whiling explaining the aims and objectives of the session said that the RAF-sponsored advocacy initiative aimed at plugging the policy and practice gaps at national, provincial and district levels for addressing the sexual and reproductive health issues of young women, by mobilising the policy makers and stakeholders.
She said that the elected representatives had a great responsibility to take proactive steps for resolution of key health-related issues.
Speaking on the occasion, Yasrab Nazir said that FPAP's AIMS project had already began individual and group consultation process with parliamentarians, government departments, civil society organisations, media and community in all provinces of the country with a very encouraging response.
The Programme Manager said that a total population of the country was covered by 60 percent adolescent and young people, out of which around 27 million were female. He said that the basic needs of adolescent girls and young mothers had been completely neglected at the policy level leading to worst social indicators in the South Asian region, low female literacy, high infant mortality rate, high maternal mortality rate, low contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR). The participants appreciated the Rahnuma initiative and stressed the need for giving adequate representation to sexual and reproductive health of young women in provincial policies.