International Youth Day: A spotlight on political parties’ youth policies
Ghana continues to lose a chunk of its highly skilled youthful workforce to opportunities in developed countries.
As the world observes International Youth Day, calls have deepened for political parties to reset their youth policies to curb the worrying trend. The youth, it is said are the architects of tomorrow’s world.
As a result, programmes and projects have been tailored towards the development of youth in advanced countries so they can own their future and impact it.
Africa which hosts one of the most vibrant, energetic and skilled youthful workforce in the world is now losing them to opportunities in the advanced countries. Each day, professionals leave the country in droves.
Rising economic hardship, unemployment, poor investment in the youth and poor policy directions have been the driving force for the mass exodus of the country’s professional workforce.
In Ghana, majority of the youth desirous to help change the fortunes of the country and put the nation on a higher pedestal have had their hopes and aspirations dashed because every sun rises under the past and present leadership only inflicts them with excruciating hardship.
Currently, many have not even realized when they will heave a sigh of relief from their suffering tunnels.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 38% of the country’s 31 million population are youth, but unemployment rate here now hovers around 14.7%.
Perhaps, the observation of the International Youth Day initiated by the United Nations presents a fine opportunity for leaders of political parties seeking to lead the country to pulse and reflect on how they can reset their prospective youth policies to benefit and retain Ghanaian youthful skilled workforce while harnessing the potentials of the locals.
Some tertiary students who fall within the youth bracket told 3news.com that they are willing to leave Ghana in search of greener pastures abroad anytime, since prevailing conditions in the country do not inspire them.
One of the students engaged said, “people will continue to leave this country as far as existing hardship has not been resolved.”
Another student said, “nurses in particular are leaving the country because current working situations are not good enough for them.
The opposition National Democratic Congress NDC is outdooring its policy document aimed at empowering the youth and creating opportunities for them to thrive and succeed. That event is today.
National Youth Organizer of the NDC, George Opare Addo is confident that the next NDC government will prioritize investment in the youth development.
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party will also next week outdoor its manifesto which intends highlighting in detail plans for holistic youth development.
National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party, Mustapha Salam said; “you cannot take away from this government its contribution to youth development. When you look at employment, job creation, our record on job creation is very high. Over 2 million jobs created and counting. But of course, as a young person living in this country as a national youth organizer and a youth activist, I want more to be done for the youth in this country.”
A Deputy Director at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Horeh Quarshigah says that the government is already implementing a ten-year policy to empower the youth.
It is the expectation of every Ghanaian youth that policies and social intervention programmes by the next government tailored towards their development should inspire hope and create opportunities for all.
But there are those who think that the youth themselves have failed Ghana. A person who shares such an opinion is the Executive Director of IFEST, Dr. Peter Anti. He says the failure of the youth to mobilise students against the ongoing strike of CETAG is worrying for Ghana.
Which political party has the magic wand that would change the phase of youth development in Ghana?