Conference on Adolescent Issues and Challenges

Adolescence represents a psycho-social revolution in the whole life cycle of an individual. It is viewed as a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, whose purpose is to prepare the child for adult roles. Adolescent development is both a shared aspiration and a responsibility for the future. What will it take to design and deliver effective interventions for adolescent development? And how can we get there?

Mumbai Smiles organised a conference that tackled these questions by bringing together key stakeholders working in the field of adolescent development – including policy makers, government & non Government NGO partners, educationalists, practitioners, legal experts, adolescent and youth representatives, parents and the media – to discuss how to advance & accelerate the agenda for better adolescent development. Together with partners & stakeholders including adolescent and youth leaders – will consider opportunities for local, regional and global cooperation aimed at promoting the overall development of adolescents.

Lighting of the lamp by Chief Guest, Mr. Harish Iyer and Executive Director India, Ms. Alpa Chauhan.

Skit performance by our LSE girls beneficiaries with the theme of prevalent Adolescent Issues and Challenges.

 Present for this conference were NGO representatives, beneficiary parents and 160 of our beneficiaries.

The conference offered opportunities to extend ideas, discuss various issues pertaining to adolescents’ development & challenges (education, health, gender equality, psycho-social needs, and sexual & reproductive health), it will facilitate direct talk with the experts from the government & non Government functionaries and bring more awareness about ‘Adolescent rights & development.

The conference featured dynamic and interactive panel discussion designed to encourage dialogue and participation of the audience especially to engage the views and contributions of adolescents and youth. The goal of the conference was to accelerate the implementation of commitments and agreements on adolescent health and development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The objectives of the conference were as follows:

• To create a conducive environment for the participants to discus, learn, unlearn & relearn matters pertaining to adolescent development : Issues & challenges
• To get insights from experts, practitioners and adolescents into the successes and limitations of current strategies and interventions at regional, national and local levels
• To provide a multi-sectoral platform for discussing and building a shared understanding, identifying gaps and opportunities, and developing a way forward for adolescent development and rights

Panel discussion moderated by Dr. Nirmal Ahuja, Unit Head, Nutrition and Health, Mumbai Smiles.

The conference broadly addressed the theme with the following subthemes: Theme 1: Sexual and reproductive health services (STI’s, HIV etc) – FPAI Theme 2: Gender-based violence, human trafficking, child marriage and adolescent pregnancy – UNFPA Theme 3: Tobacco, alcohol and drugs: Risk factors for non-communicable diseases – WHO Consultant Theme 4: Social & Emotional health of adolescents, depression and suicide (Moral Values & peer pressure) – UNICEF Theme 5: Adolescence development and social networking. Theme 6. Education Development & growth of young adolescent.

The panelists present during the conference were-

1. Kamal Hazari, FPAI Vice President
2. Dilip Rupwate ACP Mumbai Police
3. Sneha Khandekar, Consultant Coordinator, SavitribaiPhule Gender Resource Centre of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM)
4. Varsha Vilas, Maharashtra Nashamukti Mandal, General Secretary
5. Santosh Shinde, Maharashtra consultant to UNICEF
6. Swati, Communication Head – UNICEF
7. Nitin Bachhav, Education Inspector West Zone Mumbai