Youth Authority Moves To Review Youth Policy

The National Youth Authority has set up a technical committee to review and update the National youth Policy to help address the challenges confronting the youth in Ghana.

 At a stakeholders engagement at the Ellking Hotel in Accra which was attended by the National Youth organizer of NPP, Sammy Awuku, NDC Sidi Abubakre and the other political parties as well as all recognized youth groups and NGO’s, The Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority, Emmanuel Asigri said the authority presides over a frightening youth demographic in which more than 57% of Ghanaians are under five years. In spite of this he said the country is operating an underwhelming national youth policy that is outdated and overrun by severe and serious global changes not to talk of the technological speed train.

“The current youth policy is a 27 page document outdoord in 2010 with no implementation plan until the year 2014. A policy without an implementation plan certainly is akin to a packed passengers of an airplane without a pilot. Even more worse in that the 2010 youth policy was based on a demographic data provided in the year 2000 census. Imagine this youth population was then 33% of the entire population of Ghana. Today it is clocking 60% of the population.”

“So here we are in 2007 needing a youth policy that is urgent. Updated inclusive, visionary and more importantly executable. To adapt President Akufo Addo’s words “we are an authority in a hurry. We need a youth policy that takes into consideration the AU” agenda 2063 plan to dedicate 50 years to empower African Youth” he said.

“We need a youth Policy that is in sync with the SDGs of which 8 out of the 17 goals directly affect the youth and we need a policy that captures the agitated desire of Ghana’s youth to see leadership leverage political will to solving the challenges of our time “he said .

“This is why the National Youth Authority would soon begin a national collation of ideas to improve the current youth policy. We want to consult both the grassroots and boardrooms to gather perspectives from the passionate” he noted.

“We would touch base with representatives of the 216 districts guided by international standards for designing youth policies. We hope our interactions will whip up fresh passion from our constituents to build a Ghana rededicated to the founding ideals of volunteerism, strong work, ethics, self-reliance and patriotism. We are in a make or break season as youth leaders and workers. What we aim at is to write our names in the rocks of Ghana’s history books and not for our inaction to get us write it in erasable sands of time. I choose rocks and I believe you would stand with NYA to also choose rocks, he added.