Dear Ghana,

Youth unemployment has become a malignant tumor plaguing the nation and will surely continue to become a stigma in Ghana if urgent action is not taken to reverse the trend.

The situation is even exacerbated by the falling value of the local currency, the cedi which is making life difficult and unbearable for the unemployed. Every year, thousands of graduates are churned out from our public and numerous private institutions of higher learning without any hope of employment.

I am not even touching on those thousands of people who did not have the privilege of higher education who have no jobs after years of leaving primary and secondary schools and their only option is crime and/or prostitution.

Young people like everyone else have rights, the right to education, the right to quality jobs and adequate social protection. Youth organizations, government, non-governmental organizations, members of parliament and citizens need to join forces to campaign for the youth in Ghana to be given better access to quality jobs.

It is so uncommon to hear government officials say it is not the duty of government alone to create jobs which I understand to a certain extent, but is it not their job to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive so as to create jobs for the unemployed? I believe it is!

I am convinced that if we join forces and build on the potential, energy and enthusiasm of our youth, it will be possible to improve the quality and efficiency of policies dealing with youth unemployment in Ghana. By improving our cooperation, we can do our utmost to ensure that Ghana is more responsive to the plight and needs of our youth.

It is also important to facilitate the youth's transition from education to employment, as well as to embrace a more realistic approach that promotes quality employment, vocational training and education, internship and apprenticeship. Don't want to take much of your time, so kindly extend my greetings to my brothers and sisters and I pray the cedi rises soon!

Fellow Citizen,

Kwame Boakye Gyan,

Founder, Walk2Learn International, MD, USA.