Community leaders at Abura in Cape Coast have fashioned out a way to use sports to empower youth.

They say where there’s rising unemployment, not only in their area but across the entire country, it’s only an innovative way through sports that could deal with the issue.

At the launch of the Abura Community Football Gala 21, CEO of Kwesi Afful Foundation (KAF), Kwesi Afful, indicated that a lot needed to be done to battle not only the rising unemployment in the area but also the increasing crimes in the area as well.

Mr Afful said the intervention of the Foundation was to provide the basic needs of the youth through skills training:  handcraft, carpenter, masonry, among others to motivate them to improve their standard of living.

He stated: “It’s said about 70 per cent of the youth in Abura were unemployed, meddling around leading to an increased rate of crimes, teenage pregnancies, and other social vices hence the launch of the Foundation.”

He further stated that about ten youths in the area have been trained on youth apprenticeship training such as hairdressing, sewing, beads making, and others where they have started working already.

He mentioned that the Community Gala 21 was to keep the unemployed youth busy to restrain them from engaging in unproductive activities that hinder their effort to attain greater heights in life.

Mr Kwesi Afful said there would be prize money on the gala, a cup, and other goods that would support the team that wins to motivate others in the area.

He was convinced government alone cannot absorb or reduce the unemployment rate in the country and called on corporate bodies, individuals to come on board to assist in that regard.

“If we don’t support the youth today, tomorrow they will be wayward and come after us”, he lamented.

He called on the Ministry of Youth and Sport to construct an AstroTurf for the community, stressing that more talents and footballers in the area would become stars when supported.

Veronica Donkor, a beneficiary, applauded the Kwesi Afful Foundation (KAF) for the intervention and pledged to use the acquired skills to impact the community.

She called on the government to implement skills training programs for the youth in the national budget and focus more on youth development to improve the economy.

“In so doing, the rate of teenage pregnancies, crimes and other related incidences would reduce drastically in the country,” she said.