Koforidua, Aug. 12, GNA - The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has assured the youth that the NPP government was determined to make a difference in youth empowerment by continuing to commit more time and resources on youth training and employment.

He mentioned initiatives such as the registration of the unemployed and underemployed leading to job creation and placement under the Skill Training and Employment Programme(STEP) through which 3,600 people have acquired various skills from the first phase which began in February, this year.

Alhaji Mahama was addressing a national youth rally organised by the National Youth Council (NYC) at Koforidua on Tuesday to mark this year's International Youth Day with the theme: "Maximising youth potential for national development: prospects and challenges."

He announced that the government had made available for disbursement 10 billion cedis out of the 50-billion National Youth Fund for pilot projects in 30 districts to be identified jointly by the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment and stakeholders to ensure that the Fund made the desired impact before being extended to other districts.

Alhaji Mahama, who made it clear that the Fund was not for free but as a self-sustaining revolving fund for the benefit of many needy youth, therefore, asked the Fund managers to be circumspect in its disbursement and monitoring to ensure the maximum benefit. He said the government was pursuing national-based programmes such as the provision of basic infrastructure meant to redress the imbalances and improve the quality of life in all communities to check the rural-urban youth and make "streetism" unattractive.

Alhaji Mahama further mentioned the President's Special Initiatives on garments, textiles, agribusiness, forestry plantation and other initiatives aimed at promoting increased levels of employment for the rural and urban poor.

On efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS through information dissemination and education of the people, especially the youth, he said the government had contracted a 25-million-dollar loan from the International Development Agency(IDA) of the World Bank for the Ghana AIDS Response Project.

He, therefore, stressed the need for youth leaders and peer groups to play active roles in the efforts to limit the spread of the epidemic. On his crusade for greater discipline, he called on all sections of the society to join hands in the crusade by condemning wrongdoing and ensure that the right thing was done.

The Minister of State for Education, Youth and Sports, Alhaji Rashid Bawa, announced that the government was to increase the number of Youth Leadership Institutes from seven to ten to cover all the regions. He said sites had been acquired for such institutes at Wassa Amenfi and Ajumako-Afranse in the Western and Central regions, respectively, whiles work on the rehabilitation of some abandoned structures at Nalerigu in the Northern Region was going on to make it the 8th Institute by February, next year.

The Minister said computer training centres have been opened at the Afienya and Sandema Institutes as part of the expansion of the subjects to meet modern trends, adding that courses in leadership training and entrepreneurial development skills had been introduced in all the institutes.

The Minister hoped with the celebration of the Day, all would bear in mind that the empowerment of the youth was a collective responsibility which required that all would support government's effort to respond to youth needs and aspirations.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, in a welcoming address, noted that the youth were facing some serious problems, which threatened their ability to live socially and economically productive lives in self-fulfilment.

He mentioned them as the scourge of HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, early marriage and parentage and drugs, which should be tackled with seriousness if the youth are to make positive strides towards national development.

The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebere Dr Oti Boateng, who chaired the function, stressed the need for the integration of quality education and good health delivery in the effort to meet the needs and aspirations of the youth to contribute to national development. 12 Aug. 03