By
Prosper Hoetu

Government recently launched an action plan for the implementation of the National Youth Policy. It is sad to observe though that it has a little over four years to develop and launch the plan given the fact that the National Youth Policy was launched as far back as 2010. Nevertheless, as the saying goes-better late than never. There are many people who wonder what at all this youth policy business is about. This article provides some justification for a youth policy and highlights some of the issues government and other stakeholders must consider for effective implementation of the National Youth Policy.
The 2010 Population and Housing Census reveals that the youth constitute majority of Ghana’s population. This critical mass of our population is faced with numerous difficulties. While many miss the opportunity to get an education, many others have no skill to undertake any meaningful venture to support themselves and their families. Even though some are highly educated they are unemployed hence they lack the opportunity contribute effectively to national development. Various statistics available clearly demonstrate the quandaries the youth face. Over the years, reports from the Ghana Prisons Service have shown that majority of prisoners are youth. Some of whom are in jail for misdemeanors for which they could be engaged in community serve instead of custodial sentences. Health statistics also show the vulnerability of youth in many respects and there is a growing trend of substance abuse among young people. This does not mean however that nothing is being done with regard to youth development. In fact, a lot is being done by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies. In addition to that, many Non-Governmental Organizations, Development Partners and youth groups and organizations themselves undertake several initiatives to promote youth development. The problem has always been the approach. Most of these programmes and interventions are scattered all over the place and in most cases they are undertaken without recourse to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and for that matter the National Youth Authority.

Until 2010 when the National Youth Policy was launched, there was no clear framework that articulated government’s vision for youth development. For this reason, these stakeholders only defined what in their estimation are problems facing youth and developed their own interventions and implemented them and in many cases, without consulting the youth. This trend has however not changed even with the launch of a National Youth Policy whose rationale is to provide guidelines and direction for all stakeholders involved in the implementation of policies, programmes and projects for the development of the youth and also provide the opportunity for government to engage the youth and other stakeholders in meaningful partnership to develop appropriate interventions and services for youth empowerment.

The Constitution Review Commission puts this phenomenon in a clearer perspective. In their report submitted to the President in 2011, the Commission observed that “…at present there are a lot of Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Department of Social Welfare, the National Youth Employment Programme, the National Service Scheme, the National Youth Council (Authority) and numerous youth organizations – formal and informal, registered and unregistered, all addressing youth-related issues in an uncoordinated manner.” The Commission further noted that “… issues relating to the youth of Ghana are very important to the people of Ghana and this is evidenced by the existence of an entire Government Ministry in charge of the Youth. It, however, appears that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is more vibrant in its sports programming than its youth programming”. The Commission also acknowledged the existence of the National Youth Authority and indicated that with the right leadership and adequate resources, the Authority was capable of coordinating youth development programmes, projects and activities.

The analysis of the state of youth development in Ghana as contained in the Medium-Term National Development Framework -the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) in very succinct but apt. According to the GSGDA, “Systematic development and mobilization of youth for sustainable national development deserves focus. The main policy related issues include: uncoordinated policy and institutional framework for youth development, few vocational and skills training facilities, fusion of vocational/apprenticeship training with formal education, persistent growth of unemployment for both school completers, school dropouts, and those who never attended, increasing street children phenomenon and crime, under-mobilization and utilization of youth talents, continuing growth of youth unemployment, increasing street children phenomenon and crime, channeling of youth energies into antisocial activities”

It further stated that “Policy objectives to address the concerns of youth development include mainstreaming youth development into national development policy framework, ensure the implementation of the recently formulated youth policy, equip youth with employable skills, and introduce new initiatives for youth development” This analysis is apropos and offers justification for a National Youth Policy Action Plan for the effective implementation of the policy. However, the plan period of the GSGDA elapsed in 2013 and unfortunately, very little has been done to effectively mainstream youth.

It is important to note that discussions on youth policy is not just a Ghanaian issue. It is also an issue that has attracted global attention over the years with Ghana making commitments at various fora to develop and implement a youth policy. The African Youth Charter which Ghana signed and ratified enjoins state parties to develop youth policies and action plans for their effective implementation. The Lisbon Declaration by Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for youth in 1998 also committed Commonwealth member states to develop youth policies by the year 2000.
At the recently held First Global Forum on Youth Policies convened by the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Youth with the support of UNDP, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, Ghana was identified as among 122 countries that have been able to develop youth policies since the adoption of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond in 1995. The forum brought together youth workers, experts, researchers, development partners and governments to discuss progress made on the development and implementation of youth policies and also share best practices on how to overcome challenges.
Much as many young people and youth workers did not miss any opportunity to advocate the need for a national youth policy implementation plan, it is prudent to at least acknowledge the efforts of a few people who were directly involved in the process. Mrs. Sedina Tamakloe Attionu deserves a pat on the back for her tremendous effort by providing the needed leadership for the development of the youth policy action plan. Indeed, she took over the management of the National Youth Authority several months after the launch of the youth policy when nothing had been done about the action plan. What was more refreshing and constitutes best practice was that the entire process was youth-led. Mrs. Attionu took a deliberate decision to offer young people the opportunity to participate fully and also lead the process albeit with the guidance of some experts. For the first time in my over a decade of involvement in youth work, such an important policy document meant for the youth saw the youth themselves discussing and making very useful inputs. Leaders of youth groups in all ten regions of Ghana including youth representatives of political parties, community youth groups, National Union of Ghana Students, Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students among many others participated actively. Special commendation goes to people like Mr. Victor Kisseih, Hon. Dr. Omane Boamah, Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, and the entire team at the Ministry of Youth and Sports who contributed in diverse ways to support the youth policy action plan process. Mr. Mensah Etsibah, Mr. Prince Derek Adjei, Rev. Lartey, Alhaji Nabila, Mr. Ernest Amoako and many others at the National Youth Authority who supported the process also deserve commendation. The active advocacy and contributions of youth leaders like Samuel Kingsford Seglah, Chibeze Ezekiel, Serwah Tawiah and many others cannot go unrecognized.
Mr. Ras Mubarak the current C.E.O. of the National Youth Authority and his team equally deserve commendation for completing the action plan and finally launching same.
Moving forward, it is important to indicate that it is not enough to rejoice that we have a national youth policy action plan. It is the effective implementation of the policy to empower young people to support national development that matters. For this reason the following issues must be considered carefully by government and other stakeholders in youth development.
Given the delay in the launch of the action plan, it will be prudent to quickly put in place the necessary implementation mechanisms and hit the ground running. As a matter of necessity, the team responsible for the implementation must take steps disseminate the plan to key stakeholders and make it more accessible to as many of them as possible.
Government must demonstrate enough political will to ensure the full implementation of the policy by ensuring, first of all, that adequate resources are allocated for the implementation of the policy. Again, government should consider issuing budget guidelines to MDAs for the implementation of the policy. Unfortunately, it appears we have missed the opportunity in the 2015 budget as programmes and interventions targeting youth development in the budget do not appear to be in sync with what is contained in the youth policy and its action plan.
The lead agency for youth development, the N.Y.A. must also be adequately resourced to coordinate the implementation of the policy and execute its mandate effectively.
In addition to the above, government must demonstrate to development partners, youth focused NGOs, Faith-Based Organizations and youth groups themselves that the National Youth Policy and Action Plan represent government’s vision for youth development and for which reason they should be made reference points for youth development programming.
Youth participation is equally critical to the implementation of the policy however, there exist no platform for youth organizations to engage with stakeholders. Immediate steps must therefore be taken to create opportunities for regular participation of youth in decision making at both local and national levels.
The need to prepare young people to become responsible adults and to harness their creative energies for national development cannot be over-emphasized. Government and other stakeholders must therefore work together to effectively implement the national youth policy which seeks to mainstream youth into the overall national development agenda.