NYA charges youth to play leading role in Ghana Beyond Aid vision

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has challenged African youth, particularly the young people in Ghana, to play a leading role towards the realisation of the vision of Africa and Ghana Beyond Aid.

This, he said, can be done by developing their creative potentials and actively involving themselves in various productive enterprises in order to be able to make meaningful contributions to the development of the continent.

In a statement issued by the Authority and signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Sylvester Tetteh, on November 1, 2019 to commemorate 2019 Africa Youth Day, the NYA observed that “since the youth constitute the greatest productive workforce of all African countries, there cannot be an Africa Beyond Aid, and for that matter a Ghana Beyond Aid, without the active involvement of the youth in all facets of life.”

Africa Youth Day, according to the NYA, is a day set aside by the Africa Union Commission ostensibly to promote an increased awareness and recognition of young people as key agents of positive social change and economic growth in all aspects of the African society.

The day, which is used to reflect on how the energy and creativity of the youth could be harnessed productively, was proclaimed and adopted as part of the Africa Youth Charter by an Executive Council Division at the 2006 Banjul Summit in 2006, and comes under the umbrella of the Youth Division of the Africa Union (AU).

The celebration of 2019 Africa Youth Day here in Ghana is anchored on the theme, “Ghana Beyond Aid; The Youth Factor”, to reflect the growing national conversation and pragmatism spearheaded by President Nana Akufo-Addo and his government on transitioning Ghana from a country of aid dependency to a country beyond aid.

The Youth Factor is at the heart of the country’s drive to realising a Ghana Beyond Aid, thus necessitating the choice of the 2019 theme by the NYA, which is the statutory establishment with the overall objective of developing the creative potentials of the youth of Ghana.

“In the build-up to this day, the current board and management of the NYA rolled out, for the first time in the country’s history, a NATIONAL YOUTH WEEK, where a number of programmes were held in the various regions, and at the national level.”

Among the programmes held at the national level to mark the maiden edition of the National Youth Week were National Youth Prayer Sessions, the Youth Stay Healthy Walk which was patronised by some 15,000 young people across the country, and a Special Sitting of the Youth Parliament, where the CEO of the YEA, Sylvester Tetteh, on behalf of His Excellency President Akufo-Addo, delivered a statement on the STATE OF YOUTH AFFAIRS IN GHANA.

“The statement, as delivered by the Chief Executive Officer, was then subjected to a thorough debate on the floor by the Youth Parliamentarians to the delight of all. The Special Sitting of the Youth Parliament was graced by some senior officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat and members of the Commonwealth Youth Council, as well as Youth Parliamentarians and Speakers of the Youth Parliament in some selected African countries,” the NYA statement said.

The management of the NYA, while congratulating the youth of Ghana and elsewhere on the African Continent for their immense contributions towards the development of the nation and continent, also called on them to do even more to help realise the vision of a Ghana and an Africa Beyond Aid.

The NYA concluded its statement by expressing appreciation to the government of President Akufo-Addo for prioritising matters of the youth, and providing significant support to the Authority in the discharge of its statutory mandate to the youth of Ghana, pursuant to Act 939.