High unemployment, low participation in national decision making, quality of education and educational outcomes as well as inadequate opportunities for skill development have been identified as key among list of concerns for Ghanaian youth.
The youth are therefore seeking solutions to these challenges to make their lives better.
These came up at a youth meeting organised by the National Development Planning Commission, NDPC in partnership with the Youth Authority to validate the Voluntary National Review report on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs in Accra.
Ghana has volunteered to present a review report on national efforts at attaining the 17 SDGs at a high level political forum in New York in July this year.
The Validation meeting was to highlight the findings in the report and solicit comments and generate discussions around the issues.
Giving an overview of the report relating to the youth, Acting Director for Development Policy Division at the NDPC, Dr. Felix Addo-Yobo mentioned peace and security, low support for young entrepreneurs, increasing online fraud, limited attention from parents and guardians as well as low knowledge about contraceptives as some of the worries of the youth.
Under Goal four which deals with education Dr. Addo-Yobo explained that Primary school enrolment rate has improved and gender parity has been achieved.
He pointed out that even though “School enrolment at SHS has increased significantly, quality of education and educational outccomes remain a concen.”
The CEO of the National Youth Authority Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri spoke about youth oriented initiatives being implemented by government to help in attaining the SDGs.
He said the youth have critical talent that need to be unearthed, nurtured and promoted to help in the development of the country.
My. Asigri noted that the future belongs to the youth therefore they must be supported.
This he said the Authority is doing across the country to enable them to contribute to the realisation of the SDGs.
He said government’s Youth support initiatives which span from internet related, entrepreneurial and sports skills development are yielding results.
He cited youth in online digital marketing and entrepreneurship, Youth Livelihood Farms, annual Voluntary youth work camps and the construction of ten youth resource centres across the country as some of the interventions by the Authority.
The Youth Authority, CEO, also stated that the national youth policy is currently under review to reflect government’s transformational agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Chief of Social Policy and Evidence of UNICEF Ghana, Dr. Yoshimi Nishino noted that the SDGs cannot be achieved without almost every part of people’s lives being improved.
She said to improve the health of children in Ghana, it is important for their mothers to be given better care, improved education, provision of reliable and clean water, ensuring homes are free from acts of violence and decreased levels of poverty.
Dr. Nishino assured that UNICEF is committed to supporting Ghana in achieving the SDGs and called on all stakeholders to work together to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.
The youth who participated in the validation programme were drawn from various schools as well as major Youth and disability groups in Accra.
Story by Dominic Hlordzi.
