Innovative Adolescent Health Interventions - ISUH - International Society for Urban Health

Botnar Healthy Cities for Adolescents Program - Ghana

Innovative Adolescent Health Interventions in the Socio-demographically Diverse City of Tamale; Towards Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

PROJECT NAME

Innovative Adolescent Health Interventions in the Socio-demographically Diverse City of Tamale; Towards Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

CITY, COUNTRY

Tamale, Ghana

PROJECT PERIOD

Start Date: May 1, 2019
End Date: April 30, 2022

PROJECT SCALE

Adolescents in Tamale

POPULATION

360,297
Percentage of adolescents in Tamale: 10.4%

HEALTH FOCUS AREAS

Sexual and reproductive health information and services; early pregnancy

OTHER THEMATIC AREAS

School retention; child marriage; mobile health; adolescent health policy reform

ADOLESCENT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Participatory planning

LEAD ORGANIZATION

The Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana

About Tamale

Tamale, the target city in least resourced northern Ghana, has a population of 360,297 which represents 18.4 percent of the population of the Capital, Accra. Tamale’s population is youthful, with 36.7 percent below 15 years. Adolescents aged 10-14 years make up a little more than a tenth of the city’s population. Tamale’s population grew rapidly over the past two decades, constituting 15 percent of the Northern Region’s population. As a trunk city with cross-border movements from adjoining regions of Ghana, neighboring countries and the West African sub-region as a result of the Free Movement Policy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the population has become diverse. Complex human health and development challenges have emerged.

About the Regional Institute for Population Studies Regional Institute for Population Studies

an institute based at the University of Ghana in Accra, has experience implementing large research projects. Specific areas of focus include north-south independent child migration and return and children’s livelihoods; reproductive health; and child social re-integration.

Project Summary

Ghana’s urbanization has been rapid and characterized by challenges of human health, well-being and urban poverty. Adolescent health in cities has not received adequate policy attention and has been further undermined by limited implementation of the 2000 Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy (revised in 2016). This project aims at using evidence-based information for strategic programming that promotes adolescent health and general well-being towards realizing Sustainable Development Goal 3 and related goals (SDG1, SDG4, SDG 5 and SDG17) while strengthening a partnership with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly. The project will also conduct a cross-scale analysis on secondary cities in Ghana through a partnership with Ashaiman Municipality in Southern Ghana. Through research, advocacy, policy dialogues, service provision using emerging ICT solutions, adolescents and communities will become active change agents in matters that affect adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Tamale and elsewhere.

Consortium partners

Academic: RIPS, University of Ghana (Lead)
Academic: The School of Medicine and Health Sciences at University for Development Studies, Tamale
Private Sector: Local shops and businesses
Public Sector: Ghana Education; Ghana Health Service and Tamale Metropolitan Assembly
NGO: Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG)

To prioritize and integrate adolescent health intervention programming into the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly's medium-term development plan to inform Government of Ghana’s efforts towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and related goals (SDG1, SDG4, SDG 5 and SDG17), i.e., ending poverty; inclusive and equitable quality education; gender equality and strengthened partnerships respectively.
To engender the health and general wellbeing of adolescents through multi-stakeholder programming involving public, private and civil society sectors.
To advocate enablers of technological, financial and cultural opportunities for adolescents' access to health information and services through integration of adolescents in the design and implementation of the project; to sensitize parents and communities on adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs and general wellbeing with reference to Ghana’s 2015 Child and Family Welfare Policy and other relevant policies.
To contribute strategies towards reduced child marriage and early childbearing towards retention of at least half of adolescents in school beyond the basic level by the end of the third year of the project.
To identify, analyze and disseminate best practices and lessons on the health (including sexual and reproductive health and nutrition) of young adolescents in Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and nationally, using innovative IT and Social Media platforms, with reference to the Child and Family Welfare Policy and the 2017 Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy for Young People in Ghana.
To identify and sensitize future secondary cities (e.g. the case of Ashaiman) to respond to cities and adolescent health challenges and general wellbeing.

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