Hyderabad: Government of Telangana, UNICEF and TISS Hyderabad have joined hands to work on adolescents’ issues.
In a workshop organized by TISS and UNICEF on Monday, participants from key line departments and CSOs deliberated upon the issues impacting adolescents and possible solutions for a cohesive programmatic response.
The workshop was presided over by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar who emphasized on the need for all departments to come together on the issues of adolescents. He suggested a State Level Committee for Adolescents for better convergence. The Principal Secretary – Health & Family Welfare, Secretary – Education, Secretary – Women & Child Development and Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare shared their reflections on ongoing government programmes. An IEC package on adolescents’ empowerment was also released by the delegates on this occasion.
Telangana is host to about nine million adolescents which accounts for nearly 19% of the total population of the state. Despite the progress made over the years, issues such as anaemia among adolescent girls and child marriage require more intensive efforts. Alongside services, interventions for behavior change will be prioritized by the state to address these issues. Technical support for this will continue from TISS under the leadership of Dr Gyanmudra, Chairperson & Head, Gender Studies and UNICEF team. (INN)