By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, Aug. 20, GNA – The Northern Regional Chapter of Activista-Ghana, a youth advocacy organisation, has commemorated this year’s International Youth Day (IYD) with a call for intensified efforts to enhance inclusivity in climate change advocacy in the country.
The event, organised with funding support from ActionAid Ghana, an international NGO, was on the theme: “Climate Justice and Digitalisation for Sustainable Development.”
It was attended by district-level representatives of Activista-Ghana, youth groups, and smallholder farmers including women among other stakeholders in the Northern Region.
Mr Issahaku Abdul-Latif, Northern Regional Coordinator of Activista Ghana, speaking during the event in Tamale, said it was part of the organisation’s commitment to advocate active participation of young people in addressing pressing needs of communities, including climate change.
He urged participants to intensify advocacy on climate change to help improve agricultural activities and livelihoods.
Dr Kodimah Siita, the Executive Director of the Centre for Opportunities and Rural Development (CORD-Ghana,) underscored the need to promote climate justice campaigns that addressed the loss and damage of the green economy, to enhance resilient communities and livelihoods.
He expressed concern about the long-term effects of climate change, and called for equitable distribution of climate resources, especially to vulnerable communities, to help mitigate its impact.
Dr Siita also called for a more pragmatic approach to tackling climate change and empowering smallholder farmers, including women in the agribusiness sector.
Dr Arnold Mashud, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Tamale Technical University, who spoke on the importance of climate justice and digitalisation for sustainable development, called on authorities to monitor and curb the excessive use of digital devices that posed a serious threat to the environment.
He said it was unfortunate that Ghana had become a dumping ground for most of the world’s digital devices, describing it as a digital colonialisation.
He called on the waste management organisations to put in place mechanisms that could handle e-waste materials being dumped in the country.
GNA