The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has engaged the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment, to strengthen collaboration and ensure that the needs, aspirations and potentials of young people become central in Ghana’s Consolidated National Development Plan.

The engagement formed part of the NDPC’s ongoing stakeholder consultations on the development of the Plan, with discussions focusing on youth development, skills, employment, values, coordination and resource optimisation.

Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, the Director-General of the NDPC, during an engagement with the leadership of the National Youth Employment Authority, emphasised the importance of broad-based stakeholder engagement in ensuring that the Consolidated National Development Plan reflected the realities and aspirations of Ghanaians, providing continuity beyond electoral cycles.

“We should plan beyond electoral cycles for our generations,” she stressed, highlighting the need for long-term thinking in national development.

She noted that young people constitute a significant proportion of Ghana’s population, and their needs and potential must therefore remain central to national planning.

Dr Amoah mentioned issues including values, discipline, law and order, road safety, maintenance culture, integrity and professionalism.

She proposed the establishment of a Joint Technical Working Group between NDPC and the Ministry, to provide technical input into the plan and strengthen coordination.

Mr George Opare Addo, the Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, emphasised the need to position young people as active participants in national development, rather than merely as beneficiaries of the future.

He noted that young people constituted about 40 per cent of the population and called for youth development to be mainstreamed across national policy areas.

He outlined the Ministry’s five strategic areas such as health and well-being; skills training and education; economic empowerment; civic participation and community engagement, as well as personal development and growth.

He further called for stronger institutional coordination to reduce duplication, optimise resources, and ensure that youth programmes complemented one another.

Mrs Emma Ofori Agyemang, the Chief Director of the Ministry, welcomed the proposed Joint Technical Working Group, describing values as a common thread running through the issues discussed.

“The crux of what you have said is the issue of values,” she said, drawing attention to concerns relating to youth substance abuse, employability, volunteerism and work attitudes.

She stressed the need for stronger coordination and evidence-based policy responses to emerging challenges affecting young people.

NDPC is developing the Consolidated National Development Plan to provide a long-term strategic framework for Ghana’s transformation, ensuring continuity across electoral cycles.

The collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment is expected to embed youth priorities into the plan, positioning them as central drivers of national progress.