By Michael Kofi Kenetey
In order to promote opportunities for over 10,000 youth in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region, an advocacy-oriented, community-centred, and youth-led non-profit group, Anchito Foundation for Education and Self-Help, AFES-Ghana, with support from the New Juaben South Municipal Assembly and Star Ghana Foundation, has launched the Koforidua Youth Manifesto Project.
The project is to help promote the voice of the youth in the municipality to ensure that policies that will be implemented in the Municipality will be youth-centered. The project is also aimed at building the capacity of the Assembly members, youth, persons with disabilities, and unit committee members from the various electoral areas in the Municipality.
In an interview with the media, the Executive Director of AFES-Ghana, Esther Nketiah, explained that the Koforidua Youth Manifesto Project is to help improve the living conditions of the youth in Koforidua. Madam Nketiah noted that the project, which will be put in a document, will serve as a guide for the political leaders in society to know what the youth want and policies that will benefit the youth.
The Akwadumhene, Nana Owusu Agyare, speaking on the theme “Voice of the Youth: Catalysing Youth Participation in Koforidua City Governance”, noted that the project will help in the acquisition of knowledge and the development and utilisation of talents and potentials for self-reliance in society. Nana Owusu Agyare commended the efforts of AFES-Ghana for their initiative to help improve living conditions, adding that the project will complement government’s efforts in creating jobs for the youth in the country.
The New Juaben South Municipal Chief Executive, Isaac Appau-Gyasi, noted that the Assembly will offer the needed support to the project to ensure the vision and dreams of the project are achieved.
He noted that projects like this will make the youth understand the processes of the local governance system and how to take advantage of such processes for their benefit. Some of the Assembly members who were present at the Manifesto Project launch noted that the project has served as an eye-opener for them.
The project saw the presence of Assembly members in the Municipality with their youth representatives from the electoral areas in the municipality.