Mr. Asiamah (right) and Ms. Wickramanayake in a hearty chat
The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) is to begin the establishment of a total of 10 multipurpose youth centres with one situated in each region to serve as business and employment avenues for the youth by March this year.
The centres will comprise Information Communication Technology (ICT) sections, counseling centres, restaurants and sporting facilities which will be used and managed by the youth.
The Minster for Youth and Sports, Mr. Isaac Kwame Asiamah said this in Accra last week when the United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Ms.Jayathma Wickramanayake paid a courtesy call on him.
She was hosted by the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) as part of her five nation tour of Africa to advocate for the implementation of the African Union (AU) roadmap for harnessing Demographic Dividend for economic and social development in Africa.
Demographic dividend refers to the growth in an economy that is the resultant effect of a change in the age structure of a country’s population, where a change in age structure is typically brought on by a decline in fertility and mortality rates.
Before her arrival in Ghana on Wednesday, Ms.Wickramanayake had already paid a working visit to the Gambia and Senegal to advocate the need to put young people first to drive Africa’s development agenda forward.
Mr. Asiamah stated that Ghana’s young population deserves opportunities for national development and assured the youth that their future was guaranteed as government was working hard to create more jobs for them.
He said that the National Youth Authority (NYA) envisions enrolling about 60,000 youth on its youth development programme this year.
Ms. Wickramanayake said Ghana has a very robust population and must take full advantage of the opportunities that comes with it.
She lauded President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo for developing a strategic roadmap for harnessing demographic dividend in Ghana which is built on economy, education, health and good governance with each projecting five key actions to be taken.
The UNFPA representative to Ghana, Niyi Ojuolape observed that the age structure of Ghana’s population has steadily been changing over the past 20 years as a result of low birth and death rates and a decline in fertility rates.
These changes, according to him, has led to a broad based population pyramid with a shrinking population of children aged between 0 and 14 and an increasing population of the economically active population aged 15 to 64.
By Norman Cooper & Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
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