Youths want say in acquisition of long term loans

The Ghana National Children and Youth Advisory Board has appealed to the Government to consider the views of the youth when contracting long term foreign loans for the country.

The children expressed worry that most foreign loans contracted by government were usually meant to be paid in the next twenty to thirty years when those who secured them might have died.

This leaves the burden of repayment on children and youth who had no say in the acquisition of these loans.

Mr. Dalo Puobaar Dong-bene, President of the Board, said this at the launch of the Board at Wa on Monday, which was on the theme, “Be seen, Be heard’

The Ghana National Children and Youth Advisory Board was established with the support of Plan Ghana during a five-day workshop held in Winneba

The decision to form the Board was Plan Ghana’s response to an international conference in Ghana which brought together seventeen countries and India organised by the United Nations with focus on improving children and youth participation in the decision-making processes of its member states.

Mr. Dong-bene said the formation of a children and youth advisory board that would serve as consultative assembly of young people from all parts of the country was the key recommendation of the conference.

Mr. Richard Boadu. Programme Unit Manager of Plan Ghana, said children also had the right to participate in decision-making and the Advisory Board would therefore serve as a valuable platform for children and youth to ventilate their views for the building of a prosperous nation.

He said Plan Ghana would equip 1,000 youth with employable and business skills within the next five years, to enable them to be on their own without relying on the government for employment.

Since Plan Ghana started operating in the Upper West region, 1,000 pupils had benefited from its scholarships many of whom were now in the country’s universities and other higher institutions of learning, he stated.

Alhaji Duogu Yakubu, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, urged the children to endeavour to maximize all opportunities open to them to the fullest in their quest to succeed in life saying “nobody will go for a failure for any responsibility; he will lead you to failure”.

He commended the work of Plan Ghana for helping the Municipal and District Assemblies to initiate and implement child-centred programmes.