Involve The Youth In Governance – Bless Makafui
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Youth representation remains persistently low in leadership believe me youth are grossly underrepresented in governance considering youth as potential agents of change.
Youth is not only the vital source of state but also a change agent. Evolvers of social, economic, political and cultural transformation and the driving force for change.
Youth in any country embodies the future of that country. Youth are not only the frontrunners of tomorrow but also the blessing of today. Youth is the backbone of the nation. As they say, Youth is the spring of life. The nation is confronting a massive set of problems, and I believe that the youths are capable of disentangling them.
Are young people too immature to be included in decision-making?
Globally, youth participation and representation in institutional political processes and policy-making is relatively low. People under the age of 35 are rarely found in parliaments, public administration, and decision-making bodies such as committees on peacebuilding and constitution building etc. From a political point of view, youth engagement is important because young people deserve the right to represent their own interests.
Involving young people in governance, is also critically important to prepare young people to be active citizens in a democracy and also prepare them for a better tomorrow. Youth concerns and needs have not been addressed in a satisfactory manner since independence even with the ratification of international instruments on youth affirmative action as well as the enactment of local and regional legislation on youth participation in governance affairs.
In particular, the youth have not been adequately involved in the designing, planning and implementation of policies and programmes that affect not only them but also the country at large.
Consequently, youth knowledge, skills and energy end up being underutilized. Access to information by the youth from the government has been a challenge concerning participation in governance affairs. Another challenge revolves around imposing youth programmes on the youth by the governments without prior consultation and involvement.
It is prudent for the relevant stakeholders and actors to involve the youth from project planning all through to implementation and monitoring in order to induce a sense of ownership and therefore enhance the sustainability of youth programmes in the long run.
The youths play a vital role in the constructive process of building social cohesion, economic prosperity and political stability in a nation in an inclusive and democratic way. The involvement of youths in the nation-building process is a must.
Hence, youths are ultimately the social actors of change and process. Youth must be made to have faith in themselves and their capabilities for they are a major asset both independently and collectively to lead us to our developmental aspirations.
Ghana can and will accomplish a lot more than what it already has and that entirely depends on us all, how we use our intellect and vision to develop the country of our dreams.
Ghana can and will accomplish a lot more than what it already has and that entirely depends on us all, how we use our intellect and vision to develop the country of our dreams.
In conclusion, the title role of the youth in nation-building is essential.