NYC TO INTRODUCE YOUTH PARLIAMENTS IN SCHOOLS (PAGE 13, JULY 27, 2010)

THE Upper West Regional office of the National Youth Council (NYC) is to introduce youth parliaments in all second cycle and tertiary institutions in the region.
This is to serve as a regular platform for the youth to state their case as far as national issues and policies geared towards the youth were concerned.
The Regional Coordinator of the NYC, Mr Sulemana Mumuni, who announced this, appealed to policy makers to make the issue of youth empowerment a national issue of priority.
He said that was the only way to get many of the country’s youth into productive ventures so that they could be empowered.
Mr Mumuni was addressing the third of a series of regional youth dialogue in Wa in the Upper West region.
It was attended by students from educational institutions in the region and was on the theme: “Building regional capacities for youth mobilisation and effective coordination in a better Ghana agenda.”
“The development of every country revolves around its youth, therefore, it is about time we became realistic in our efforts at building their capacities and also empowering them,” he stressed.
Touching on the youth dialogue, Mr Mumuni expressed the hope that the workshop would address some of the peculiar challenges confronting the youth in order to pave way for reactivating and reorganising the Federation of Youth Associations of Ghana (FEDYAG) which, he said, was an umbrella body which coordinates the activities of youth associations in the region and the country at large.
He said the role of FEDYAG can not be overlooked as it collaborates with the NYC in its quest to seek the welfare of the youth of the country.
He was not happy about the lack of financial support for FEDYAG to be able to effectively carry out its mandate.
Mr Mumuni called on all stakeholders including opinion leaders, representatives of district assemblies and traditional leaders to liaise with the NYC to help develop the youth.
On the upgrading of the Youth Leadership and Skill Training Centre at Issa, the regional youth coordinator reiterated calls to the government to facilitate efforts at extending electricity to the institute to enhance academic work.
A representative of the Upper West Regional Minister, Madam Fati Koray, stressed the resolve of the government to improve the lot of the youth.
She said it was based on this that the government had introduced many programmes such as youth in agriculture and block farming, among other interventions, to empower the youth.