National Youth Fund to be operational soon- Joe Mante

Accra, Feb.19, GNA- Mr Joe Mante, National Youth Co-ordinator on Thursday said the National Youth Fund (NYF), which had been inactive for sometime now would become operational soon.

He said the fund would be used to assist youth groups to make them self-sufficient.

Mr Mante was addressing a workshop organised by the National Youth Council (NYC) to review the new National Youth Policy (NYP), drafted last year in Accra.

Participants at the workshop were drawn from the District Youth Co-ordinating Councils and youth groups in the Greater Accra Region. Mr Mante called on civil society, NGO's and stakeholders to partner the government in the implementation of the policy.

He also urged the youth to be pro-active in their endeavours because the success of the policy implementation would depend on them. Mr Evans Young Amenumey, Greater Accra Regional Youth Co-coordinator said an assessment of the socio-economic situation in Ghana showed that the youth and women were more marginalized than other social groups.

He said empowering the youth required the creation of enabling condition under which they could act on their own.

Mr Amenumey said the youth were finding it difficult to enter the labour market due to limited access to resources and had therefore, not been able to participate effectively in the informal sector. He said youth empowerment was not the sole responsibility of government but required the concerted effort of all stakeholders including the government, private sector, educational institutions and the family.