Accra, April 28, GNA - Mr Seth Oteng, Executive Director of Youth Bridge Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has hailed the "The Better Ghana agenda" of the government as a critical governance programme to propel investment in the youth.

He noted that the policy has the potential to sustain the development agenda, and "more importantly, move it to higher heights". Mr Oteng who made this known in a statement he issued in Accra on Tuesday and copied to the Ghana News Agency observed that "the road map to the destination of hope is conspicuously absent or not well disseminated for the youth to jump on board".

He expressed the hope that the National Youth Policy (NYP) would be the answer to the dilemma. He said the NYP should "nurture and develop the youth into people with self-confidence, high-level of education and equipped with life skills, strong moral values and discipline for.accelerated national development. Mr Oteng said the on-going National Policy Fair must offer an excellent platform to disseminate clear policies towards positive youth development in Ghana.

He said the African Youth Charter was adopted by the African Union (AU) in July 2006 as a legal instrument for youth empowerment. He said it was also a framework for youth development programming across the AU members states.

"The African Youth Charter priorities youth development in the African Union's agenda and ensures that challenges relating to youth development are adequately address.

"Ghana initiated her commitment to the Charter by signing it on January 15, 2008 but has since not gone any further," he said. Mr Oteng said Ghana's ratification of the charter was long overdue since the country was trailing behind Rwanda, Gabon, Mauritius, The Gambia, Niger, Libya, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Togo, Djibouti, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso.

He expressed the hope that a number of the youth would have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with policy makers on issues like the national budget, poverty alleviation, work ethics, human rights, civic duties, and Ghana's status of the Millennium Development Goals. "This would mean that such policies should be communicated in very simple terms and the role to be played by the youth in realising these goals emphasised.

"It is only when these are done can we be sure that Ghana can in the near future take pride in the workforce that understand Ghana's dream and work at making the dream a reality.