By Benjamin Adamafio Commey, GNA
Accra, July 23, GNA – The National Population Council (NPC) has launched Ghana’s 2026 World Population Day celebrations with a renewed call for increased investment in Ghana’s youth to accelerate sustainable national development.
The launch, done in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), highlighted the need for greater commitment to quality education, healthcare, skills development, entrepreneurship, innovationand youth participation in governance to enable young people to realise their full potential.
At the launch in Accra on Thursday, Mrs Angelina Osei Kodua-Nyanor, Acting Executive Director of the NPC, said Ghana’s youthful population remained the country’s greatest asset and required deliberate investment to harness its demographic dividend.
She cited the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which showed that about 12 million young people, representing 38.2 per cent of Ghana’s population, were between the ages of 15 and 35 years, presenting enormous opportunities to drive innovation, productivity, economic growth and national development.
Mrs Kodua-Nyanor, however, observed that many young people continued to grapple with unemployment and underemployment, limited access to quality education and market-relevant skills, gender inequalities, and inadequate access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and services.
She said this year’s World Population Day celebration sought to reaffirm the need for sustained investment in young people through policies and programmes that would empower them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
“The youth have a saying: ‘Nothing for us, without us, by us.’ Policymakers must hear from the youth and know what they want. It is time to bring them to the table to share their aspirations and ideas for the future,” she said.
The global theme for the 2026 celebration is: “Realising the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People: Today and for the Future,” while Ghana has adopted the national theme: “Investing in Ghana’s Future through Healthy, Skilled and Empowered Young People.”
Mrs Kodua-Nyanor said young people should not be viewed as a challenge but as innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders and agents of change whose energy and resilience were indispensable to Ghana’s future.
She noted that investing in education, health, employment, entrepreneurship and reproductive health would enable the country to harness its demographic dividend and promote inclusive and sustainable development.
Outlining activities to mark this year’s celebration, Mrs Kodua-Nyanor said a World Population Day float through the principal streets of East Legon and Madina would be held on Monday, July 27, to raise public awareness and encourage participation.
The float will be accompanied by free health screening, counselling, reproductive health services and a “Know Your Status” campaign.
A national commemoration will also be held on Tuesday, July 28, bringing together representatives from government, Parliament, development partners, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector, traditional authorities, the media and young people to discuss strategies for accelerating investment in youth development.
Additionally, Mrs Kodua-Nyanor noted that the Council would roll out a month-long public education campaign featuring media engagements, community outreach programmes, youth dialogues, digital campaignsand policy discussions across the country.
She called on development partners, the private sector, academia, civil society organisations, parents, traditional authorities and communities to work together to expand access to quality education, market-driven skills training, decent jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities, healthcare and digital inclusion for young people.
She also appealed to the media to support the campaign by giving extensive publicity to the activities, saying increased public awareness and informed national dialogue were essential to building a healthier, skilledand empowered generation capable of driving Ghana’s long-term development.
Dr David Wilfred Ochan, UNFPA Representative in Ghana, reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to supporting the Government and the NPC in placing population issues at the centre of national development planning.
He said Ghana’s greatest resource was its people, stressing that a youthful population would only become a demographic dividend when young people were healthy, educated, skilled and productively employed.
“This World Population Day, our message is simple: your hopes and aspirations are valid, and UNFPA is committed to reaching every young person, wherever they live,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
23 July 2026
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey