The Greater Accra/Volta Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana, She-Vera Anzagira has charged the youth to rise up to expectation, mobilize themselves and take up the bold initiative to occupy the vacant ‘safe spaces’ created for them under the various levels of governance in the country.

She averred that the youth are supposed to network, develop themselves and seek the knowledge required to be able to occupy the safe spaces that are being created for them but regretted they are not living up to expectation.

“When you look at Ghana, there are so many spaces there for us the youth to occupy but we have to ask ourselves, have we actively and collectively engaged these safe spaces”? she quizzed.

She-Vera Anzagira was speaking at the launch of Activista Greater Youth Chapter which coincided with a 2-day Youth Camp meeting to mark the 2018 International Youth Day(IYD) on the theme: “Safe Spaces for Youth”.

The event was initiated by ActionAid Greater Accra Regional Programme to support Activista Ghana in its quest to mobilize the youth towards achieving its objectives.

It witnessed 75 youth activists (participants) drawn from various youth groups and organizations in the Greater Accra Region who converged at Jamestown Community Centre in Accra from August 10-11, 2018.

Activista Ghana is the network of young people who are dedicated to advocating and campaigning for a just, equitable and sustainable world in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, freedom from poverty and all forms of oppression.

Currently, Activista has seven chapters established already in 6 regions in the country namely; Northern Region, Upper East Region, Upper East Region, Volta Region, Ashanti Region and Brong Ahafo Region and has now added the Greater Accra region making it a total of seven (7) chapters.

Executing the launch of the Activista Greater Accra Chapter, Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid, She-Vera Anzagira incited the participants to endeavor to mobilize themselves up quickly, drive the agenda and support youth activism in a bid to create enabling opportunities, and occupy the free spaces being created for them.

She identified various Municipal Assemblies in the country as some of the safe spaces being created for the youth, citing the Accra Metropolitan Assembly as an example.

Mad. Anzagira reminded the participants that Activista stands for networking which ActionAid is helping to create.

She urges the membership of the Greater Accra Chapter to rally behind each other towards achievement of Activista’s objectives.

For her part, Mrs. Jane Afua Ntiforo, the Metro Youth Director of the National Youth Authority(NYA), acknowledged the importance and significant contributions of the youth towards national development globally.

While touching on the global theme set up by the UN towards the commemoration of this year’s International Youth Day(IYD); “Safe Spaces for Youth”, she encourages the youth to take action and look out for the free spaces specially created for them to shape their lives.

Deputy National Coordinator of Activista Ghana, Mr. Daniel Nii Ankrah who conducted the 2-days workshop with support of other executive members in his concluding remark maintained, he is delighted to see the Activista Greater Accra Regional Chapter duly launched.

He called on all members to rally behind him to steer the affairs of the network successfully.

The IYD is a day set aside by the United Nations to General Assembly in 1999 to particularly celebrate young people’s view and initiatives and provide the platform for advocacy on issues affecting them.

It also marks the day where countries worldwide, recognizes the importance of youth efforts.

Ghana as a nation has marked this year’s day with various activities on both the national and local level where the youth partake in large numbers. One of them is the Youth Camp staged by Activista and its staunch partner ActionAid Ghana.