The National Youth Authority (NYA) on Wednesday launched this year’s International Youth Day in Accra with a call on the youth to develop innovative solutions to address some of the challenges confronting the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is a day set aside and recognized by the United Nations (UN) to underscore the immense contributions of young people and also raise awareness of challenges facing the world’s youth.
This year’s celebration has the global theme, “Youth Engagements for Global Action”, and highlights ways in which young people are enriching institutions and the needed efforts to enhance youth representation and engagements.
In Ghana, the event scheduled for August 12, is on the theme: “Promoting youth engagement in mitigating the impact of COVID-19; the need for youth innovation and creativity.
Pre-event activities will be held in all regions of the country as part of this year’s celebration, and it will bring together young people to tap into the rich intellectual reserves and leverage on their efforts to fight COVID-19.
Performing the launch, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NYA, Mr Slyvester Tetteh said the local theme for this year’s celebration was developed to encourage young people to be the at the forefront of efforts to alleviate the effects of COVID-19 on the socio-cultural, economic and political lives of the people.
He said the country required the ingenuity and innovation of the youth in tackling challenges created by the pandemic and developing solutions to aid our post- coronavirus recovery.
Mr Tetteh explained that the authority, under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), would engage the youth in series of dialogues and activities to empower them to lead the country’s mitigation and adaptation efforts through diverse innovative approaches.
“The youth are the hardest hit in these trying times; the effects of COVID-19 on education, employment and health of young people are unprecedented,” he emphasised.
He said even though the massive public education, business support interventions and the strict enforcement of safety protocols by government had yielded positive result, there was the need to tap into the energies, creativity and innovation of young people to assist in the formulation and implementation of mitigation mechanisms.
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