Guild of Youth development against splitting of five percent youth fund

The Guild of Youth Development Practitioners (GYDP) has expressed displeasure over the decision to split the five percent allocation for National Youth Authority and the National Sports Authority.

The Guild considers the agenda and machinations sinister and counters Youth Development.

“We, therefore, call for a halt in any attempt by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and for that matter, the government’s decision to split the five percent allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), for youth development work between the National Youth Authority and the Sports component of the Ministry.”

A statement signed by Mr. Emmanuel Papa Asan, the President said the strategic advantages that Youth Development Work and Service Delivery offered as a contribution to National Development and Growth was enormous.

The National Youth Authority (NYA) was reinvigorated to pursue the inculcation of key values of nationalism and patriotism among other national aspirations to create a human resource base of productive and responsible citizenship.

The Act was enacted per the National Youth Authority Act, 2016 (ACT 939) to provide a dedicated source of funding, the functions of the Authority, Section 17 provided 5 sources of which the (b) five percent of the “District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF)” stood out tall.

This is because since it is not uncommon knowledge that resources between the two-component Agencies of the Ministry, Youth and Sports have skewed about Eighty percent in favour of the latter.

In recorded instances, budgetary allocations to the NYA have been used as emergency buffer to enable the Ministry to meet its international sporting obligations.

It is against this background that the GYPD and its partner groups and agencies in the foregoing that the GYDP and its partner groups and agencies find it “abnormal” that such plans have emerged to repeat what ought to be rectified if the government is fixed on “effective and innovative youth development paradigms” to meet globally advanced youth development practices.

The GYDP is a fraternity of professionals in all aspects of youth development whose experience cut across a wide range of the youth population.

Also, GYDP seeks to ensure that youth development services meet the aspirations and goals of the youth to become independent citizens whose servants and leadership orientations are not clouted in partisanship, ethnocentrism, cronyism, passionate and cabalism; but a youth resources base equipped with practical tendencies to solving the “national question” of social inequalities and distributive injustices.

“The Guild is, and will NOT, be convinced by any stretch of arguments in favour of the intended decision as a result of our conviction that when the Ministry talks of sports the premium is on football and particular reference the Black Stars.

The National Youth Policy (2010) has Priority Area 14, “Sports and Recreation” which, is yet to be implemented to meet the goal of promoting youth participation in Leisure time “productive” activities; by the NYA.”

The GYDP’s stake in Priority 14 of the Youth Policy is the “Recreation” pole; which is the fulcrum of our humble resistance to the surreptitious attempts to split the NYA resource.

In youth development workings, “Recreation” encompasses all aspects of activities towards the youths’ personality mould including sports.

We, the GYDP calls on stakeholders in youth development and the Ghana Youth Federation and its representatives who serve(d) on the Governing Board to stand up against any syndication to divert 2.5% out of the NYA 5% legislated funding source to the detriment of youth development in the face of “dynamic turbulences” in our national and global youth development enterprises, the statement said.

It also challenged the Parliamentary Select Committee responsible for youth affairs to right the “wrongs” of the Ministry of Youth and Sports preying on youth resources for purposes other than fundamentally established.

In the same vein, we appeal to all Youth Development Stakeholders including dispassionate followers of Sports, who are disgusted at the many longstanding infractions characteristics in their fold to stand up for objectivity and rally behind the GYDP and its affiliates in this noble cause to protect youth development resources, it added.