YMCA-Accra signs partnership agreement with YMCA-Lagos

The Greater Accra Regional Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) has signed a five-year renewable evaluation partnership agreement with YMCA-Lagos (Nigeria), as part of efforts to unite members on the Continent.

The agreement is a corporal exchange programme, which comprises staff internship and volunteer internship for young people.

Nana Odeneho Kwame Amponsah, the President of the Greater Accra YMCA, said the Association basically stands for the development of young people for African renaissance and, as such, concentrated on activities that helped develop their talent.

He said because they could not lose focus on what the YMCA Preamble stood for, they had already built some partnerships with Maritime YMCA of Togo.

“The YMCA is a community-based organisation so whatever programmes we decide to embark on is centred in the communities that would be able to touch and change lives in their countries or jurisdictions,” he said.

Nana Amponsah said the Association was going to put a standing committee in place from both parties to come out with a programme line-up for a two-year joint programme.

“Anytime there is a programme within the Lagos YMCA and the Greater Accra YMCA there would be a cross country delegation to represent,” he said.

He said the partnership commenced at the end of 2015 running through to 2017 where the Nigerian partners came to Ghana but the signing delayed until 2018.

Activities lined up for the end of the year include youth breakfast meeting and election, exchange programme to South Africa, teenage pregnancy awareness at Bukom Square, dinner, induction of new executives and awards.

Nana Amponsah said the YMCA encouraged initiatives that got young people engaged and commended the Government for introducing the Nation Builders’ Corps (NABCO) and expressed the hope that it would be expanded to recruit a lot more of the youth.

“We support and promote entrepreneurship and development, and young people and graduates must always be prepared to handle and acquire skills for themselves and be able to come out with innovative ideas that would bring them some income,” he said.

He appealed to the private sector to expand its enclaves and recruit more of the youth to complement government’s efforts at creating employment opportunities.

Mr Olakunde Ogundimu, the Acting Chairman of the YMCA, Lagos, said the partnership was basically what the YMCA was known for and it was all inclusive.

He said the Association was committed to the objectives of the partnership and ready to make it work, saying: “We need to make an impact together and make our countries better places.”

He expressed the hope that this partnership would be one that would touch the lives of people in their communities and encourage YMCA’s to form partnerships with other countries.