The Ghana Youth Manifesto has been launched with a call to action for young people’s inclusion in the decision making of this country.
It was launched Thursday, October 29, 2020, in Accra.
The Ghana Youth Manifesto was developed and launched with support by Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) OXFAM and Plan International Ghana.
The African Youth Charter enjoins member states of the African Union to “Guarantee the participation of youth in parliament and other decision- making bodies by the prescribed laws” Similarly, the UN Youth Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for an inclusive society where the voices, aspirations, and views of the youth are considered in decision-making processes.
The Ghana Youth Manifesto is aimed at offering the youth of Ghana space and opportunity to shape the political discourse aimed at enhancing the social and economic capital of the youth and projecting developmental issues affecting the youth.
The Youth Manifesto marks a new era of youth inclusivity in Ghana’s development discourse.
The Manifesto represents the voice of young people, their views, perspectives, challenges, and needs on contemporary youth development issues.
The Ghana Youth Manifesto is also a youth-led comprehensive compilation of youth development issues and priorities aimed at influencing the policy direction of political leaders, the private sector, civil society organizations, and all other stakeholders.
The Manifesto has three main objectives’ highlight youth voices and perspectives on emerging development issues in Ghana, to recommend policy actions that promote inclusive public governance and collaboration in Ghana and to advocate for mainstreaming of youth concerns in national development processes.
The manifesto also anchored on eight thematic areas such as education, health, employment and wealth creation, sexual reproductive health and right, sports culture and tourism, youth migration and morbidity, gender, good governance and accountability which the youth in Ghana expect Government to address after the December 7 elections.
The youth further recommend their inclusion and empowerment in any political and decision-making processes of the country which is paramount to the development of the country.
Education
The Youth Manifesto calls for pragmatic measures to address challenges confronting the education sector.
Of particular mention was the double track system introduced as a result of the free senior high school policy. According to the youth, the double-track system is creating lots of challenges for students hence the need to immediately suspend the program.
Health
The youth have also made several recommendations about health; in particular, they want to see improvements surrounding sexual and reproductive health services. The issue of youth involvement and participation in decision-making bodies has been of particular importance in every general election in Ghana and 2020 is not left out, and young people want to see their role in the decision-making strengthened even further. Young people have drawn attention to several significant difficulties faced by them in the sports and arts industries, and have developed practical steps to remedy these issues.
They have also made several pragmatic demands about the crucial issue of youth with disabilities. Gender equality is an issue of paramount importance to Ghanaian youth today and through this manifesto, they have encompassed their demands for tackling gender equality issues.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
