The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Pius Enam Hadzideh, has appealed to the youth to rally behind the national flag and help push the development agenda of the country.
He said the time had come for the youth to rededicate themselves to the course of the country by ensuring that the development which had proven elusive for years was attained.
Mr Hadzideh made the appeal at the launch of this year’s International Youth Day (IYD) in Accra yesterday.
The IYD is a day set aside and recognised by the United Nations (UN) to underscore the immense contributions of young people in the world.
It is also to raise awareness of challenges facing the world’s youth.
This year’s celebration had the global theme, “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for all Ages’’ and it highlighted the need to foster solidarity across generations in the pursuit of “building the future we want.”
It was also to raise awareness on the barriers which hampered intergenerational solidarity and impeded the creation of an age-inclusive world where no one was left behind.
Launching the day, the CEO said the highlights for this year’s celebration would be the maiden National Youth Conference, National Youth policy launch, National Youth policy dissemination forum and Conferment of the Star of the Youth of Ghana Award on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He explained that the authority was enjoined by Section 3 subsection (d) of the NYA Act to organise annual youth conferences at the national, regional and district levels.
The objective of these conferences, he said, was to bring young people from different parts of the country together to promote friendship and co-operation through the exchange of ideas.
On the youth policy, he said it primarily aimed at ensuring a comprehensive framework and direction for all stakeholders involved in the implementation of policies, programmes and projects for youth development in the country.
“The National Youth Authority and the Ministry of Youth and Sports after extensive consultations have reviewed the 2010 youth policy.
“The policy document received cabinet approval recently and would be launched by the President. A framework to track implementation and monitor progress has also been developed. We cease this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to the Hon Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, for his leadership in this regard,” he emphasised.
Mr Hadzideh said the Authority recognised that under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, a comprehensive agenda to elevate the stature of the youth in the crucial sectors of education and employment had been initiated.
He said beyond education, the industrialisation agenda, seen through policies such as 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and the sustained investment in TVET and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Ghanaian youth, was grooming a new class of young Ghanaians as job owners and creators as opposed to job seekers.
He cited the YouStart initiative which sought to inject some GH¢10 billion into the youth of Ghana within the next three years as one key initiative that had the youth at heart.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
