YEfL Ghana [Youth Empowerment for Life] a leading youth development organization with operational areas across the five regions in the northern ecological zone through a release copied to media houses commends the president, H.E John Dramani Mahama for the establishment of a Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment.
This call has been long overdue from CSOs, Youth Groups and well-meaning individuals partly due to the overconcentration of the Youth and Sports Ministry on sports and the National Youth Authority programmatic focus not living up to expectation.
Of a truth, recent years allocation to the Ministry of sports which leaned towards sports development by extension the National Sports Authority as over the National Youth Authority for youth related services posed a worrying trend to holistic youth development. Consistently, the then ministry underfunded youth development. In the last five years, the following allocations were made by the ministry: Compensation and Administration allocated 41% and peaking at 90% in 2022 whereas Youth Services received 2% peaking at 23% and sports development 8% and peaking at 39%.
In spite of this trend, and following the introduction of the 5% DACF to address funding deficits to the NYA for youth related services, an intriguing revelation uncovered how the under resourced National Youth Authority continued to allocate substantial funds exceeding four [4] million Ghana Cedis towards sports infrastructural development. Thus, resources intended for youth-focused initiatives were, in part, being directed towards sports-related infrastructure. This misallocation of funds not only diverges from the primary intention of the 5% DACF but also indicates a potential disconnect between funding objectives even by the institution ceased with the mandate to facilitate youth development.
In this regard, with the establishment of this ministry to focus on addressing the challenges of the teeming young people of Ghana, we are hopeful that government will show much greater commitment towards youth development. We expect to experience and see a clear departure from the practice of pseudo cosmetic youth empowerment interventions clothed with beautiful names but with less resource commitment where in the last five [5] years, the state has only contributed 46% of the total fund towards youth development and donor agencies augmenting that with 54% financing. Giving a clear picture of the critical role CSOs and NGOs have played in complimenting government’s shortfalls particularly in youth development. To this end, we look forward to a practical approach from the Youth Ministry with its agencies where youth development does not get caught in the web of overcommitment but underinvestment.
On this backdrop, a critical area for the incoming minister to pay close attention to is the allocation and utilisation of the 5% District Assembly Common Fund [DACF] by the National Youth Authority [NYA]. Consequently, working closely with the District Assembly Common Fund Secretariat to eradicate bureaucratic delays in the release of the DACF and hence, 5% to the NYA.
These delays coupled with a worrying execution rate of below 40% hinder the timely execution of youth development projects which can adversely affect the Ministry’s capacity to fully implement very effective initiatives through the NYA.
Also, data from a number of studies including a comprehensive analysis of youth development priorities, the Youth Education and Skills Compact Paper and the Ghana Youth Manifesto point to the fact that Economic and Financial Empowerment, Youth Participation and Governance, Youth Health and Wellbeing, Skills Training and Development, and Cross-cutting issues such as climate change, peace and security among others are areas of significant interest for the young people of Ghana. Prioritizing these and having youth at the fore leading these interventions will be an essential step toward empowering the youth and building a resilient and prosperous future for Ghana.
We implore the incoming Minister of the Youth Development and Empowerment to take a cue that the challenges the Ghanaian youth face in terms of development and empowerment are multi-sectorial, multi-faceted and multi-dimensions and to overcome these challenges and unlock the full potential of Ghana’s youth, a multi-dimensional approach is required. This approach must involve coordinated efforts from the government, private sector, civil society, and development partners.
YEFL Ghana with our firm belief that, investing in the youth of Ghana is not only a matter of social responsibility but also a strategic imperative for sustainable development, economic growth and overall progress of the nation; as a development partner shall continue to offer our support and readily share our knowledge and expertise to the Ministry. We also sound a clarion call for support to this new ministry of youth development and empowerment to ensure it finds firm foot and lives up to expectation for the benefit of the aspirations and future of Ghana’s youth.
Thank You.
YEFL Ghana
Tamale – Northern region
PoC: Emmanuel [+233540959305]
For more information about YEFL Ghana kindly visit – www.yeflghana.org