The MoU signing ceremony for the establishment of Toll Free Youth Help Line between Plan Pakistan and Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism Department Government of the Punjab was held here in Lahore. The proposed Youth Help Line will provide free telephonic counseling on career related issues of youth and adolescents as well as guidance on emotional, psychological and reproductive health issues. The MOU was signed by Youth Affairs Secretary Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism Department Government of the Punjab and Rashid Javed Country Director Plan Pakistan. While addressing the ceremony Plan International Senior Health Advisor Dr Irfan Ahmed said that Pakistan was the sixth most populous country in the world and had one of the largest cohorts of youth in its history, with approximately 25 million people between the ages of 15 and 24. People between 9 and 19 years are called adolescents and currently a large portion of Pakistan’s population, 39.5 million, falls within this range. He emphasised that it was the right time for provincial government to invest on adolescents and the youth to make them responsible citizens of Pakistan keeping in view the country’s development.
