The World Fellow and Forum Planning Committee Chair, Mr. Albert Essien, has expressed the need for the country to invest heavily in the youth.

According to him, investing in the youth is the best decision a country can make to enhance its development, adding that ‘young people of every nation are the trustees of her posterity’.

“Equipping young people with the appropriate skillset, experiences and values for life, and helping them to find their true potential, has never been as crucial as in a time such as this. Empowerment on an individual level makes a difference to their lives and on a collective level has the power to truly transform the fortunes of a country,” he said.

Mr. Essien, said this in his address at the launch of FORUM 2018, to be hosted by The Head of State Awards Scheme (HoSA) recently held at the Jubilee House in Accra.

Themed: “Shaping the future; shaping our world,” this year’s awards seek to discuss issues affecting young people, how to reach all young people between the ages of 14- 24 years, giving them access to life opportunities and to positively impact themselves and their communities.

Forum 2018 will discuss amongst other things, government policies on education, investment, youth development and employability, and the award’s impact around the globe.

According to Mr. Essien, this is an important moment for us to build on our success and demonstrate our commitment to the growth and development of young people in Ghana, therefore we need to compliment the efforts of Government to ensure sustainable youth development policies in our country.

He explained that there are approximately 1.8 billion young people aged 10-24 in the world today, making the largest youth generation in the history of the world. They however face a broad range of challenges as they step out to find their place.

Mr. Essien, further stated that his donation as a World Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme over the last three (3) years has impacted the lives of many young people in the areas of skills development, entrepreneurship and youth community action initiatives.

“A donation of $10,000 transforms the lives of 375 young people. This qualifies you to be a member of our prestigious Executive Club. We further welcome corporate sponsorships for the Scheme and the upcoming forum in our quest to impact a minimum of 100,000 young lives annually, from our current average of 35,000 young people,” he noted.

For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Head of State Award Scheme, Mr. Henry Morgan Minski, expressed that The Head of State Award Scheme is a programme designed to challenge young people between the ages of 14 to 24 years to develop into active citizens, learn new practical employable skills and be properly prepared to succeed in life.

According to him, “through the scheme, young people get the opportunity to discover the world they live in, improve their leadership qualities and become national heroes and patriotic citizens at a very early age, a quality we really need for the development of our country”.

He also disclosed that since its inception in November 1967 in Ghana, HOSA has challenged and impacted on the lives of thousands of young people with practical life skills to succeed in life.

“It has inspired many young people with its unique feature of bringing together practical experiences and life skills to create committed global citizens and equipping young people for life,” he said.

Over 300 delegates from the 130-member countries from various governments, private sectors and civil society including our high net-worth philanthropic business leaders are expected to attend Forum 2018 in Accra from 31st October to 4th November, 2018.