Youth urges govt to address challenges in the North

Wa, Sept. 18, GNA- A coalition of youth associations in the Wa Municipality has appealed to the government to take urgent measures to address the development challenges of the three Northern Regions to bring them to a comparable standard.

The coalition also drew the attention of government on the plight of the people and advocated for appropriate policies that would reduce poverty and hunger in the three Regions.

This was contained in a communiqu=E9 issued and signed by eight youth representatives of the various political, religious, ethnic and civic organisations in the Wa Municipality after a three-day civic education workshop.

The Tamale Ecclesiastical Provincial Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) a Catholic NGO organised the forum, which was on the theme: "Challenges of development: The role of the youth".

They discussed the potentials, constrain and challenges of the roles of the youth in the socio-economic development and urged the government to mobilize the youth irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious affiliations to discuss issues on governance at regional and national levels.

The coalition also urged the government to establish a youth study and action group to act as a watchdog against all forms of social vices and promote healthy interaction with District and Regional authorities to enhance social accountability.

The youth appealed to religious leaders to inculcate in the youth issues of good governance at the various places of worship and on radio discussions.

The government should also support them to carry out voluntary services, especially in the area of cleanup exercises to reduce malaria and other communicable diseases. They urged the government to provide the Wa Municipality with an ultra modern Regional hospital to cater for the health needs of the people.

The coalition called on the government to sensitise the youth and politicians to carry out decent political campaigns devoid of the use of provocative language in the 2008 polls.