The National Youth Authority (NYA), in a bid to involve the youth in the country’s democratic process, has designed a concept that will enable the youth to comment on bills tabled in Parliament. “An electronic platform has just been designed on the NYA website to enable the youth of Ghana to express their views on the bills tabled in Parliament that are of concern to them,” it said. The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Clement Kofi Humado, made this declaration at the Pre-eight African Governance Forum (AGF-VIII) Policy Dialogue on the theme, “Democracy, Elections and Management of Diversity” in Accra on Monday. He said a team at the NYA would be responsible for collating views and inputs of the youth at the website, as well as reaching out to student parliaments and other identifiable groups in society. “These views will be collated, summarised and presented to the respective parliamentary committees to which Madam Speaker refers, bills on the youth submitted by the Executive arm of government,” he stated. Mr Humado also said the government was currently working with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities to establish district youth forums that would enable the youth to discuss matters of common interest ill their respective districts. He observed that for any nation to develop, the youth must be considered as the major factor whose participation made it possible for stability and growth. “We need the youth. In fact, the government of Ghana considers the youth as a crucial segment of society who deserve unique attention and investment in order to harness their God-given potential for the achievement of our better Ghana agenda,” he pointed out. He said Ghana could now boast a lot of development and growth, especially in elections, because of the active participation of the youth, stressing, “It is their consistent and regular involvement that has ensured peace and growth in the country.” According to him, empowering the youth means that they are involved in the whole process of elections. Mr Humado called on international agencies and development partners to contribute to improve on youth participation in the electoral process; youth development and the management of diversity. The Head of the Youth Development Division of the African Union Committee, Ms Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, speaking on the empowerment of the youth, said the African continent must make it part of its agenda for development to strongly impart morality and values in the youth. “African leaders must inculcate strong values in the youth and engage them in diverse ways, especially in elections,” she said. She expressed worry over the negative exploitation of the youth by" some politicians, adding, “The manipulation of the youth will only lead to chaos and conflicts like many nations are currently facing.” Ms Sandhu-Rojon called on the leaders to emulate the examples of Ghana and advised Ghanaians to refrain from activities that would jeopardise the peace and destroy the youth. The main forum will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2012 and over 29 countries are expected to participate in it.