Compassion International Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has encouraged the youth to remain focused and pursue their visions and aspirations no matter the limitations.

The organisation was of the view that ‘the youth are the seed for tomorrow’ and must be nurtured well to stand the test of all obstacles and take up the leadership role of the country.

This was in statement signed by Dr Ike Tandoh, the Public Relations Specialist, Compassion International Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, ahead of the International Youth Day Celebration on August 12.

This year’s International Youth Day Celebration is on the theme: “Safe Spaces for Youth Development”.

He expressed concern about factors inhibiting the intentional development of the youth such as inadequate mentoring opportunities which lead to weak moral, social, cultural and religious values in the youth, negative peer influence leading to uninformed choices, and lack of access to quality education.

Dr Tandoh noted that it was imperative for all stakeholders to prioritise issues concerning the youth and provide the enabling environment for their progression and career development.

He said the greatest resource of any family or nation was its youth population, adding that globally, about one quarter of the world’s population was from the ages of 10 to 24, while the youth of Africa constituted about 40 per cent of the population.

Dr Tandoh said statistics revealed that, as at the beginning of 2016, young persons under 24 years in the country were about 57 per cent of total population and that it was believed that the ambitions and achievements of those energetic youth formed the backbone of the development of any nation.

He said as part of the NGO’s commitment to the development of the youth, their outfit had partnered about 298 local churches in the country to run holistic youth development programmes to release young people from poverty.

Dr Tandoh said current registered beneficiaries of the programme stood at 75,266 of which 34,574 beneficiaries constituted the youth group of 12 years and above, representing 45.9 per cent of total registered beneficiaries.

“By the end of June 2018, a total of 3,428 beneficiaries were supported to complete Basic Level Education and 2,017 students received support to successfully graduate from various Senior High Schools”, he added.

According to him, the organisation with its partners was supporting 547 beneficiaries to pursue various undergraduate programmes in tertiary institutions with four of them completing their programmes this year.

He added that over 300 of their young men and women were getting support to undergo technical and vocational skills training in their respective communities.

Other services provided for the youth are; the Discipleship and Leadership Development programmes, career assessment and coaching sessions, adolescent reproductive health programmes and QAVAH training, a resources mobilisation tool that enable young people to act as agents of change in their respective communities.

He said Compassion International Ghana would continue to strengthen partnership with both existing and upcoming churches and facilitate them to prioritise youth development at their respective centres.