According to the group, the immediate passage of the bill would go a long way to protect the youth against a number of challenges confronting their growth and well-being.
“The undue delay in the passage of the National Youth Bill to replace the 42 year old National Youth Authority Act, 1974 that does not adequately respond to the current challenges of youth development remains a major problem,” a statement signed by Prosper Hoetu, Executive Director of the group has said.
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The statement added that: “The low participation of youth in decision-making on issues that affect them from the local level to the national level remains a big challenge. This phenomenon results in situations where policies and programmes targeting youth fail to respond to their needs. You-net therefore wishes to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies including District Assemblies to put in place mechanisms for the inclusion of youth in decision making processes.”
The International Youth Day is an awareness day set aside by the United Nations and is meant to be an opportunity for governments and others to draw attention to youth issues worldwide.
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The theme of this year’s International Youth Day is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.”
This year’s theme is focused on accelerating the 2030 Agenda and the role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through sustainable consumption and production.
Below is the full statement by the Youth Network for Human Rights and Democracy:
YOU-NET CONGRATULATES GHANAIAN YOUTH ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY AND CALLS ON GOVERNMENT AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO ADOPT A MORE PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
August 12, 2016 ACCRA, GHANA.
Youth Network for Human Rights and Democracy (you-net) salutes all Ghanaian youth for their tremendous contribution to national development in diverse ways on the occasion of International Youth Day. It is heartwarming to note that in spite of the various challenges confronting the youth and youth organizations, the youth remain resolute in their effort to make life better for themselves and build a better society.
You-net equally congratulates the government of Ghana and other stakeholders such as development partners for their support to youth development. This notwithstanding, this year’s International Youth Day presents the nation yet another opportunity to celebrate its youth and also reflect on the challenges confronting youth development in Ghana.
You-net is concerned about the poor institutional framework for youth development in Ghana. This is manifested in the lack of coordination between institutions of state responsible for youth development in the country. This concern is corroborated by the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda as a major challenge facing youth development. It is important for government to put in place the proper institutional framework that will facilitate sustainable youth development.
Again, the slow pace of implementation of the National Youth Policy, 2010 remains a major concern to the youth. We therefore encourage government to demonstrate its commitment to youth development by paying particular attention to the implementation of the National Youth Policy which we believe will help address the challenges facing the youth.
The undue delay in the passage of the National Youth Bill to replace the 42 year old National Youth Authority Act, 1974 that does not adequately respond to the current challenges of youth development remains a major problem. We therefore call on government to expedite action on the passage of the National Youth Bill.
The low participation of youth in decision-making on issues that affect them from the local level to the national level remains a big challenge. This phenomenon results in situations where policies and programmes targeting youth fail to respond to their needs. You-net therefore wishes to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies including District Assemblies to put in place mechanisms for the inclusion of youth in decision making processes.
While we encourage the youth to actively participate in the political process in the upcoming general elections, the youth must desist from acts that will undermine our democracy.
Prosper Hoetu
Executive Director