‘Enact policies on youth devt’
Speakers at a youth empowerment forum in Accra have called for policies on youth development to be geared towards emerging economic trends.
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They have also identified deliberate initiatives to actively engage the youth in agriculture as a viable venture that could transform the economy.
The observations were made at a forum organised by Youth Bridge Foundation, a youth advocacy group, in Accra on Wednesday.
The forum, which was on the theme: “Deepening Youth Engagement in Governance,” was meant to analyse the 2016 budget statement in relation to youth development.
Participants were drawn from across the country, including representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, university students and other youth groups.
Involvement
The Head of Finance at the Department of Finance, University of Ghana, Professor Godfred Bokpin, urged the youth to get involved in governance through effective policing on the implementation of the budget.
“The individual and civil society ought to get involved in the ownership and monitoring of development processes. Accountability should go beyond state-sponsored monitoring to active probing by all citizens,” he said.
Prof. Bokpin further observed that in the face of resource constraints, it was important for the government to prioritise, especially in matters relating to youth development policies.
According to him, policies on youth development would yield no fruits if they failed to translate into job opportunities in an enabling environment.
“If we want the youth to maximise their entrepreneurial skills, there should be an enabling environment anchored in non-restrictive systems,” he indicated.
2016 budget is youth friendly
The Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr John K. Baffoe, said active involvement of the youth in the budget process was key because that was the only way they would be informed about the opportunities it provided for them.
He enumerated specific opportunities the 2016 budget had for the youth, including the Youth Enterprise Agency (YEA), Youth in Agriculture and skills training projects, urging the youth to take advantage of them.
“The country spends an estimated $1.6 million annually to import agricultural product. When youth policies are geared towards agriculture, it will motivate them to produce those products locally to spur the growth of the local economy,” he indicated.
The Deputy Head of Budget Planning and Preparation Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Peter Aidoo, said every stage of the budget process was opened for the public to make inputs and, therefore, urged the youth and civil society to get actively involved in such matters.
