By Tilda Acorlor
The maiden Ho Youth Policy Hackathon aimed at building a young people-inclusive city and supportive community, has ended successfully in Ho, the Volta Regional Capital.
The one-day trailblazing event attracted policymakers, students, community leaders, youth advocates, and representatives from local organisations.
The Ho Youth Policy Hackathon was on the theme “Building a Young People, Inclusive City through Private-Public Partnership”.
Young people of different classes were engaged through panel discussions and interactive breakout sessions on the challenges they face, especially, youth participation in city governance, mental health, happiness, sexual and reproductive health, and employability. They also proposed solutions for them.
The ideas and solutions generated during the panel discussions and interactive breakout sessions will be drafted into a document and handed over to policymakers for consideration in their annual plans for young people.
Programmes Manager for Node Eight, Perfect Amegboe, who was elated about the turnout and success of the event, is hopeful the ideas will lead to more and healthier policies for young people.
“We hope to see the solutions developed during the event implemented to create a healthier, more inclusive future for all young people in Ho.”
“The goal is to build a city where young people feel comfortable and safe and have opportunities and everything that they would need to grow.”
Managing Director for Node Eight, Courage Asase, described Ho as an emerging city smooth for growth, hence their decision to start the three-year funded project in the Volta Regional Capital, Ho.
Mr. Asase added that the objective of the Hackathon is to develop a youth policy that would be prioritized and implemented in the Ho Municipal Annual Plan.
“After the event, we will come out with a youth policy,” he noted.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Ho, Mr. Divine Richard Bosson, called for the inclusion of young people in decision-making. He said opportunities must be created for the youth to contribute to issues that directly or indirectly affect them.
“We must create opportunities for young people to participate in decision-making, especially the ones that affect them directly and indirectly,” Mr. Bosson said.
Mr. Bosson added that for young people to thrive, they would need a safe and conducive environment.
“For our young people to thrive, we must create a conducive environment that promotes youth welfare, safety, and security; this is where the concept of the youth-inclusive city comes into place.”
“The public-private partnership can succeed in providing the youth agenda if they’re able to pull resources and expertise of the two entities together to provide the necessary support for our young people,” he added.
The Executive Director of the Love Aid Foundation, Ms. Lovia Tetteh, urged young people to be inquisitive and united in their voices for an inclusive future.
“We young people are not inquisitive enough; it’s like we don’t care about what is happening around us. We don’t have a united voice, that is why the politicians always run to us for violence,” she noted.
“We need to have a united voice and be inquisitive to take part in policymaking,” she added.
The Ideas and solutions generated during the panel discussions and interactive breakout sessions will be drafted into a document and handed over to policymakers for consideration in their annual plans for young people.
The Ho Youth Policy Hackathon was organised by Node Eight, a digital innovation hub in Ho, and funded by Botnar Fondation, a Swiss philanthropic foundation working to improve the health and well-being of young people living in growing cities around the world.
The event was sponsored by the Ghana Education Service, Ho Municipal Assembly, and Love Aid Foundation. The initiative is scheduled to run for three years.
