Voices of Youth1.0 Project Summary
Given rising concerns over insufficient attention to critical issues affecting youth in Ghana and the lack of structures for mainstreaming youth into national policy-making, YES-Ghana and partners are providing an opportunity for youth to articulate their concerns and to make policy input through the ‘Voices of Youth’ project.
The overall development objective is to increase attention and investment on critical youth issues in Ghana's development agenda. More specifically, the project seeks increased youth participation in public policy decision-making in the country. These will be achieved through the development of a ‘Youth Manifesto’ – a comprehensive compilation of youth policy options and proposals to place youth issues and perspectives at the heart of Ghana’s 2012 elections agenda. The ‘Youth Manifesto’ will be developed by youth themselves through broad consultation with and participation of other stakeholders under the umbrella of a ‘Youth Manifesto Coalition’ to be established.
Other major activities of the project include: youth dialogue with presidential and parliamentary candidates; youth conference on oil and gas; national ‘Voices of Youth’ conference; national youth policy dialogue; high-level meeting on financing youth development in Ghana; among others. Members of the Youth Manifesto Coalition will benefit from capacity building training and action in youth advocacy and active citizenship, participatory community radio and social media production, peace-building and conflict prevention, as well as listing in a new directory for youth development.
The project will thus result in the creation of a long-term mechanism to draw attention to the concerns of youth, and ultimately make Ghana a more inclusive society, where otherwise marginalised youth are seen and heard in public policy discourse, thereby reducing the social, economic and political risks of exclusion.
2.0 Timeline:
January 2012 – June 2013
3.0 Partners
Implementing agency:
• Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES-Ghana)
Funding partners:
• United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF)
• Crossing Borders, Denmark (with support from The Project Fund financed by The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and administered by PATC)
Other partners:
Aside from youth groups and associations from all ten regions of Ghana, the project will benefit from active engagement with other major stakeholders, including:
• UN and international agencies
• civil society
• National Youth Authority
• Political parties
• Religious and traditional institutions
• Media organisations
• Academic and research institutions
• Private sector companies
Voices of Youth: Towards inclusive public policy decision-making in Ghana
