Government would commemorate this year’s International Youth Day with the launching of the National Youth Policy at Cape Coast on Thursday, August 12. “This would nail home government’s support to youth initiatives in Ghana and Africa,” Nii Richard Nortey-Dua, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports said in Accra. Nii Nortey-Dua announced this at the second African Youth and Governance Conference on Tuesday. The four-day conference under the theme: “Committing to the Youth Agenda: The Call for Action,” was attended by about 200 participants drawn from the West African Sub-region: Kenya, Swaziland, Ethiopia and Western Sahara. It was organised by Youth Bridge Foundation, a youth development oriented NGO with support from UNFPA and management of Newmont Ghana. Nii Nortey-Dua said launching of the policy would ensure the realisation of the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda being championed by the government. He urged African Youth to be more involved in developmental issues on the continent since available statistics indicated that young people between 15 to 24 years made up about half the world’s population. “Meanwhile, projections are out that by 2015 there would be three billion young people inhabiting the earth, out of which 2.5 billion would be living in developing countries,” he added. The Deputy Minister commended the participants for the positive roles they were playing in their countries as they formed the greatest resource and their active participation in developmental issues would enable the continent surmount its challenges. Mr Seth Oteng, Executive Director of Youth Bridge Foundation, appealed to foreign donors to make budget available for the implementation of youth oriented programmes and politicians to deliver on promises made during electioneering campaigns. “Governments are quick to make promises on political platforms regarding their commitment to youth development but their promises can be likened to water on the back of a duck which dries off like before,” he said. Mr Oteng bemoaned instances whereby corporate bodies which supported youth oriented programmes did not take interest in training programmes such as assuming responsibilities in Parliament, manage businesses and make critical decisions that affected people’s destinies. He called on African leaders to showcase their commitment to youth development by endorsing and adopting the African Youth Charter and come out with pragmatic youth policies to be implemented with all the seriousness. Mr Oteng commended US President Barack Obama for assembling 115 young Africans to deliberate on how to move the African continent forward. Mr Uriat Ugala, Ethiopian Ambassador to Ghana, appealed to the youth to desist from embarking on irregular migration and rather stay and help develop the continent. He commended the management of Youth Bridge Foundation for its activities aimed at developing the youth of Africa. Source: GNA