<<Print>>

The Minister for Social and Allied Agencies and MP for Ada, Hon. Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, has called on Parliament to re-affirm the role that young people play in the nation�s development and to prioritize interventions that will facilitate their transition to adulthood and responsible citizenship. The Minister made the call in a statement delivered on the floor of Parliament to mark the International community World Population Day on 11th of July and urged the House to focus attention on pertinent population issues. 2014 marks the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. The global theme for the 2014 World Population Day is, �Investing in Young People,� and re-echoes the recommendations of the ICPD-Programme of Action for nations to meet the needs and aspirations of young people to ensure their participation and integration in all spheres of society. �We in Ghana have adapted the global theme; �Investing in Young People: Our Future Our Heritage,� she stated at Parliament. She hinted that statistics currently reveal that one out of every three persons in Ghana is between the ages of 10 to 25 years, representing 31.8% of the total population of Ghana. Hon. Ghansah stated that it has become important to invest in young people to produce a healthy, well-educated and well-trained human capital to propel the country towards its development aspirations. �The question is what investments are we making in these young people in order to derive the benefits we so desire,� she queried? She suggested that there must be intensive collaboration between ministries, departments and agencies and NGOs to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of policies and programmes. Young people, Hon. Ghansah mentioned, must be given space to be actively involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of activities that directly impact on their lives and commended President John Dramanai Mahama for creating opportunities for young people in his government.