CPP to tackle youth poverty and unemployment in Ghana – Oteng-Anane.

Mr Oteng-Anane, the National Youth Organiser of CPP and a leading youth advocate in Ghana left London for his homeland on Tuesday 29th May 2007 after a successful two week tour of Europe. He visit took him to UK, Belgium, Holland and France.

Drawing on some of the exchanges that he had with European Youth Associations, Oteng-Anane said giving open access to the youth to better education is the key to Ghana’s drive for middle income status.

Mr Oteng-Anane said the abject poverty in the 3 northern regions of his homeland is unacceptable and pledge that his party, The Convention Peoples Party would incorporate youth perspectives in CPP development strategies to ensure youth can access training and other vocational/academic courses.

Oteng-Anana said unemployment has social as well as economic consequences for the youth and explained that unemployed young people are forced to find alternatives to generate income. He said a large number of JSS students cannot continue due to lack of family resources find themselves engage in activities in the informal sector such as hawking or working as apprentices at the industrial slums, and in extreme cases, criminal activity.

Oteng-Anane said youth joblessness also implied missed opportunities in the use of human resources to produce goods and services. Oteng-Anane said a further implication is related to security. The Youth leader said if young people continue in secondary education the benefits not only include consequence in reduction of crime but also the nation gains in highly productive and skilled workforce.

Oteng-Anane, who has travelled the length and breath of his homeland to get young people involve in a whole lot of activities to uplift them from poverty said rather than accepting unemployed youth as a burden to society, the CPP would focus on youth employment policies and to mainstream them into the 7 year development strategy.

Oteng-Anane said the CPP Review Committee have drawn well targeted youth policies where this would be directed at specific projects to tackle youth unemployment in the rural and urban areas with particular emphasis targeted at the slum dwellers.

Oteng-Anane said the he encountered numerous young people who are compelled to perform jobs with no protection at all, even though they are among those who need most protection. In a parting comment Oteng-Anane said the NPP and the NDC failed Ghanaian youth and urged his compatriots to vote massively for the CPP. Addressing a packed press conference before leaving London, Oteng-Anane said under a CPP government, the party would encourage youth participation in decision making through such forums as youth parliaments, national youth councils and regional youth networks. Oteng-Anane it is time the youth of Ghana are given a voice and CPP is the party to do just that.