The youth in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District have urged the District Assembly to do all within its power to reduce the increasing number of children orphaned through the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
They should pressurize governments to enact laws to deal with people who stigmatize and discriminate against children whose parents have died of AIDS in their communities.
The youth expressed regret at the manner in which AIDS orphans were discriminate against in many ways in their communities.
In a Communiqué issued at the end of a special Youth Mock Assembly organized by the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Office of the National Youth Council to mark World AIDS Day at Winneba, the youth appealed to the government to put in place measures to safeguard the educational, health, and economic needs of AIDS orphans in the country.
They suggested that a special body be set up to gather data on all AIDS orphans in the country to enable the government to obtain accurate number of such children.
Government must find out whether orphans in various orphanages, including those whose parents died through AIDS had been registered with the various district, municipal and metropolitan Mutual Health Insurance schemes and measures taken without delay to register them to enable them to enjoy free and quality health care.
AIDS orphans, the communiqué further stated, must be given all the necessary support, encouragement and logistics backing to enable them to pursue education at all levels.
It also stressed the need for tougher punishment for rapists to compliment national efforts at eradicating the practice from the country and provide a lasting protection for young girls and women.
The communiqué appealed to the government to use state organs like, the National Youth Council, the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Community Development to intensify awareness education on the deadly disease.
Mr Peter Eduful, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, received the communiqué on behalf of President John Agyekum Kufuor and gave assurance that it would forwarded to him for his consideration.