Over 500 youth from different African countries attending the 1st Africa region youth conference in Kampala have urged their political leaders to fulfill the promises made to them if they are to register inclusive growth.
Raymond Ruyoka from Reproductive Health Uganda states that leaders on the African continent should remember that the youth are part of the masses they lead and deserve to be planned for instead of neglecting issues that affect their lives.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Gals Forum International, Esther Namboka is tasking the Ugandan president to consider fulfilling his free sanitary pads pledge for school going girls.
Esther Namboka says, the low levels of awareness are making it difficult for the girls to take up informed decisions in regard to their sexual and reproductive health.
Namboka made the remarks, while addressing over 500 young people from various African -countries who gathered in Uganda to discuss reproductive issues affecting teenagers.
Namboka says many girls are dropping out of school as a result of lack of sanitary pads and Namboka says this poses a threat to Uganda’s future.
The two days conference is one of the platforms where African youth are deliberating on the issues affecting their growth and full participation in the governance of their respective nations.
In Uganda adolescents make up 34.8% of the country’s population, but to dismay, 25% of the adolescent girls and women aged between 15 and 19 are pregnant or already Mothers.
The president made the pledge during the 2016 presidential campaigns which up to now has not fulfilled.
