Ghana represents Africa at the UN International Youth Day Festivities in NYC

A New York based Ghanaian ethnomusicologist and percussionist, Okyerema Kwabena Prekese-Akyampon and his multicultural performance group, Africussion International were selected from a lot of groups to represent Africa and to be one of the highlights acts at this year’s International Youth Day festivities held in New York City at the weekend.

International Youth Day is a special day set aside that gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies. The International Youth Day also aims to promote awareness, especially among youth, of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond. The World Programme of Action calls for action in 10 priority areas: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, and full and effective participation of youth in the life of society and in decision-making.

The United Nations defined a youth as those in the age group between 15 and 24 years old. They make up one sixth of the world’s population. The majority of these young men and women live in developing countries, and their numbers are expected to rise steeply into the twenty-first century.

Activities for this day takes place in most major cities and towns around the world as the UN recommends it. That of New York City’s was sanctioned by its own Mayor Bloomberg who issued a proclaimation adopting 12 August as International Youth Day in the city.

A city-wide basketball and soccer tournament culminated in final championship matches being played on 12 August at the Robert Moses Playground near the UN Headquarters. Performance acts from China and Mexico were conducted to enliven the event.

It was at this program that the group, Africussion International were engaged to represent Africa and be one of the star attractions groups. Africussion, according to the artistic director Okyerema Prekese-Akyampon, takes inspiration from Africa and it’s good communicative values in discussion. Africussion,therefore stands for diversity, unity and respect through music.

Thus, Africussion becomes the face of diversity, unity, tolerance in the metropolitan New York City. To achieve that multicultural look, Africussion has Okyerema from Ghana, Isaac Aliou Dialo from Congo, Kofi Opare from New York, Keiji from Japan,Jean from Haiti, Nick from US, Ron from Bronx, Jose from Spain and Andres from Trinidad. Africussion plays every genre of music from Afro-pop to Zouk with strong percussion base but with no drumset and no vocals. At the program, they had almost all the audience dancing or tapping their feet to the pulsating beats.

The Executive Director of the host organization,Directions for Our Youth, Dr. Carywood Goodman as well as other city officials lauded the group for their excellence in their presentation.

Other activties for the day included Young people and others who contributed their images and ideas to a Peace Wall at the event.The young people were also advised to take inspirations from the goals of the program and to grow to be successful and good future leaders.