IT is refreshing to hear that at long last a National Youth Policy (NYP) to spell out the government’s vision on the development of and direction for the youth and their place in national socio-economic transformation has been approved by Cabinet.
The policy is expected to be launched in Cape Coast on Thursday, August 12, 2010 to coincide with this year's International Youth Day to be celebrated on the theme, "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding".
That the youth of every country hold the key to its future is no mean statement because the youth are imbued with immense talents and skills which can be tapped for national development if properly harnessed.
Although the National Youth Council (NYC) exists as an umbrella body in the country to oversee the activities of the youth, there seems to be no proper co-ordination of the activities of our youth because of the lack of a proper youth policy over the years.
These unco-ordinated efforts have posed many problems for our country and staved off our national development agenda, thereby bolstering the saying that any society that does not take care of its youth does not have any future and is on the brink of extinction.
Even though the country has not had a national census for a long time, it is apparent that the youth make up the mass of our population, having with it its associated problems: The mushrooming of various youth groups in society for the purposes of trade, academic, training, sports and other activities.
Another sad aspect of this problem is the generally loose definition associated with or used to refer to the term ‘youth’. We hope this will be addressed as well.
It is the hope of the DAILY GRAPHIC that this new youth policy will co-ordinate the activities of our youth to cater for their professional training and development in such areas as ICT, education, skills training, sports and so on, so that an environment will be engendered to enable them to develop their capabilities.
We also believe that there should be proper linkages between the training institutions and industry so that the youth can easily fit into the job market after having undergone thorough training.
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes that the policy will minimise, if not curtail, the huge rural-urban drift and its associated backlash in the rural areas, as well as the urban areas, in order to rid urban streets of street sellers, prostitution, drug use and other anti-social activities.
In the same manner, our hitherto vibrant rural communities have become dead and devoid of any meaningful activities because of the massive urban drift by the youthful and productive segment of the population, all in the name of seeking greener pastures.
This policy, it is our hope, will regenerate activities in the rural areas so that the drifting youth will be motivated to stay at home and support activities in the rural areas.
We are, indeed, happy to learn that the draft policy is national in character, as it contains views from youth activists and civil society organisations, thereby representing the aspirations of the youth.
Happily, the President has, by some of his ministerial appointments, clearly demonstrated that the youth are an integral part of his policy and the government’s ‘Better Ghana’ agenda.
Given that scenario, we do not hesitate in predicting that the youth policy will succeed.
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