The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Nationwide Youth Authority (NYA), Ms Vera Allotey, has emphasised the pressing must put money into the youth and equip them with the knowledge and expertise to change into advocates on gender-based violence (GBV), reproductive well being rights (RHR), and civic engagement.
Talking at a one-day coaching workshop yesterday in Koforidua and funded by the United Nations Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA), Ms Allotey mentioned the rising instances of GBV, widespread misinformation round reproductive well being, and the declining curiosity of younger folks in governance needs to be handled as nationwide considerations, not simply statistics.
“There’s a want to coach our youth to know these crucial points,” she acknowledged, including “They have to have the ability to establish GBV, communicate up towards it, educate others on reproductive well being rights, and actively interact in nationwide and native governance. Their voices matter.”
The coaching introduced collectively members of youth parliaments in Koforidua with the aim of empowering them to change into knowledgeable advocates able to addressing social challenges.
Ms Allotey pressured that such engagement was important for shaping a future technology of leaders who had been daring, knowledgeable, and committed to optimistic change.
“If these points have gotten extra alarming, then we should rise to the event by getting ready our younger folks to confront them,” she mentioned.
“By constructing their capability and giving them a platform to talk, we’re nurturing future leaders and problem-solvers who will transfer this nation ahead,” she added.
She additional famous that empowering youth wouldn’t solely assist tackle these challenges but additionally contribute to nationwide development by producing a technology of considerate and efficient leaders.
The Jap Regional Director of the Nationwide Youth Creatority, Ms Evelyn Enyonam Lotsu, emphasised that the coaching aligned with the Nationwide Youth Coverage and several other Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDGs).
She highlighted SDG 3 (Good Well being and Nicely-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Robust Institutions) as key pillars of the initiative.
“What we’re doing right here in the present day goes past the objectives,” Ms Lotsu defined. “We’re investing in human capital, creating younger minds to change into brokers of change and champions of inclusive governance.”
She described the coaching as a strategic effort to make sure younger folks had the data and instruments they wanted to deal with GBV, promote reproductive well being rights, and engage meaningfully in governance.
Ms Lotsu additionally inspired contributors to be proactive of their communities, ask tough questions, and demand solutions from leaders.
“By doing so, you change into a part of the answer and drive the sort of change that’s urgently wanted in your communities,” she mentioned.
Ms Lotsu expressed gratitude to UNFPA for its continued halfnership and unwavering assist in empowering the youth and selling gender equality, noting that their efforts had been making an actual distinction throughout the nation.
FROM AMA TEKYIWAA AMPADU AGYEMAN, KOFORIDUA
