Youth unemployment requires strategic policy framework – MCE
Mrs. Dela Adinyira, Kpando Municipal Chief Executive on Friday said the youth unemployment crisis in Africa demands a strategic policy framework, accompanied by clear budgetary allocations to ensure effective implementation.
She noted that, though some African countries had marked 50 years of statehood, little has been done to introduce employable policies to address youth unemployment.
Mrs. Adinyira who was addressing the Volta Regional segment of the Africa Youth Day celebration as part of the National Youth Policy at Kpando, said the youth of the continent should be guarded in the planning and harnessing of their talents for development.
She said ignoring the youth is equal to placing the continent in danger. “It is critical we engage this youthful energy to create meaningful productivity for national and continental development”, she added.
On Ghana’s national youth policy, Mrs. Adinyira stressed the need to scale up collective efforts that clearly define the various segments of interventions embedded in the national document to guarantee sustainable development.
She called on all young people in the country to avoid allowing themselves to be used by self-centred politicians and other individuals and groups to disturb the peace of the nation, insisting that peace is a prerequisite for accelerated development.
Mr. Yao Semorde, Volta Regional Coordinator of the National Youth Authority said the national policy was intended to provide the framework, guidelines and direction for all stakeholders involved in the implementation of policies, programmes and projects for the development of the youth.
He said the document sought to promote and inculcate in the youth a sense of patriotism, volunteerism and nationalism, and organizing them to fully participate in governance, socio-economic and cultural activities at the national, regional and district levels.
Mr. Semorde said plans were advanced to print out the national policy to make it a household document, while at the same time being made part of the school curriculum.
He urged the youth to eschew the phenomenon of borrowing glory and be ready to go the extra mile in order to meet their life aspirations.
The Reverend James Viva, a radio Pastor at Kpando exhorted the youth to pursue the God factor in all endeavours, urging them to flee from immorality, youthful exuberance and the inordinate quest for materialism.
“God is the source of any potential. So you should have dominion and be guarded by the spirit of diligence and hard work,” he said.
Source: GNA