Dodoma — The government has emphasised the need for concerted efforts among community, religious leaders and other stakeholders in addressing moral decay among youths in the country.

Presenting a paper on the role and responsibility of religious leaders of the TAG-Central Diocese in handling moral decay in the community, Assistant Director, Culture department in the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports, Dr Julieth Kabyemela called for collective responsibility in children and youth upbringing.

"The society needs to have respect and fear of God, it is you (religious leaders) who can assist in this endeavor through your preaches to your congregation," said Dr Julieth.

She also urged parents and guardians to allocate time for their children, instead of leaving that responsibility to house helps.

"Let the parents or guardians participate in income generating activities but they must have time for their families and children, as some of the moral decays are due to the fact that parents and guardians do not have time for children and youth," said Dr Julieth.

She revealed that the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports had started implementing President Samia Suluhu Hassan's public call to address moral decay especially among children and youth, by engaging religious leaders as well as conducting awareness campaigns through different platforms.

She said the awareness campaign will be extended to other cadres of the society which in one way or another have a role in moral upbringing to rescue the nation from moral continuous decadence and protect its cultural values.

On his part, Bishop Steven Mahinyila of the Tanzania Assembly of God (TAG), Central Diocese said leaders have a great role to play in dealing with immoral issues in the country and they should come up with a special strategy in addressing the incidents.