Youth creativity and ingenuity crucial towards tackling coronavirus pandemic - NYA Boss

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has launched the 2020 International Youth Day (IYD) celebration, with the aim of tapping into the creativity and ingenuity of the Ghanaian youth towards finding solutions to the country's socio-economic challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a news conference to officially launch the IYD celebration in Accra, Mr Sylvester Tetteh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NYA, said the youth played significant roles in enriching institutions with their innovative ideas.

Therefore, the Authority will organise pre-event activities and series of dialogues to engage students, young entrepreneurs and Persons with Disability (PWDs), to tap into their intellectual property and ingenuity towards finding lasting solutions to the country's socio-economic, cultural and political challenges.

The global theme for this year's celebration is: "Youth Engagement for Global Action" with a local sub theme, "Promoting Youth Engagement in Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19: The Need for Youth Innovation and Creativity".

The International Youth Day is held annually on August 12 worldwide to recognise the contributions of the youth in national development efforts and to create awareness about their challenges, with the ultimate objective of finding solutions to them.

It is being organised by the National Youth Authority under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The NYA has lined up various pre-event activities and series of dialogues across the 16 regions to solicit the concerns of youth groups.

The NYA Boss stated that the Authority had categorised the dialogues into four thematic areas including Innovation and Creativity in Delivering Quality Education to the Youth, Business and Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Entertainment and Governance and Elections, which intended to provide holistic development to young people in the country.

He said, over the years, the NYA had collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to build the capacity of the youth in the country.

Mr Tetteh therefore encouraged the youth to participate fully in all the activities to enhance youth representation and engagement in national development.

Mr Ahmed Osumanu Halid, a Communication Consultant of the Youth and Sports Ministry, who represented the Sector Minister, said the National Youth Policy was being reviewed to meet the needs of the youth in the contemporary times.

He said the youth were the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore the Ministry's ultimate goal was to find solutions to their challenges including unemployment, access to quality education and economic opportunities.

"These issues featured prominently in the policies and programmes being pursued by the Ministry in order to find solutions to them," he stated.

Mr Osumanu Halid indicated that the government, through the Ministry, was constructing 10 multipurpose resources centres in 10 administrative regions to unearth talents and make them more profitable to the society.

The media launch attracted the two Deputy Chief Executive Officers of the NYA-Mr Nelson Owusu Ansah, who is in charge of Programmes and Operations and Mrs Akosua Asaa Manu in charge of Finance and Administration, as well as the Directors, a representative from the Board of Directors, members of staff and the media.