African governments urged to remain committed to the African Youth Charter

African governments and Heads of State were on Tuesday called upon to remain steadfast on the African Youth Charter and the National Youth Policies of their respective countries in an effort to empower the youth.

Paa Kumi Frank, Executive Secretary, Vision Care Network International, a youth empowerment oriented NGO, who was speaking on the occasion of the African Youth Day in Accra, called on the government to put in place the needed measures to ensure that Ghana was spared the negative occurrences in other Africa countries.

“We must collectively work to ensure the peaceful co- existence of each other while working to ensure equitable distribution of the nation’s resources for the common good of all,” he said.

African Youth Day which falls on November 1 every year, was instituted by the African Union in July 2006 to bring to the world, the challenges of African youth.

Paa Kumi Frank urged youth activists and youth development workers on the continent to step up their efforts in engaging proactively with governments and stakeholders in the development of the continent.

He used the occasion to present to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration five thematic areas that the youth of Ghana wanted government to tackle.

These included democracy and good governance in the country, advocating for African unity, building of strong state institutions, building good relations with other African countries, and being accountable to the people of Ghana.

Mrs Perpetual Dufu, Deputy Director, Africa and Regional Integration Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed satisfaction with the five thematic areas identified by the youth.

She said Ghana had gained lots of respect  in Africa due to her democratic dispensation which had also given her the major role of spearheading the aspirations of the African Union (AU).

She asked the youth of Ghana to challenge the UK Government on its stand of cutting Aid to the Government of Ghana  for not supporting  homosexuality.

Source: GNA