By Solomon Gumah, GNA
Tamale, Aug 13, GNA – The Northern Regional Chapter of Activista Ghana, the youth wing of ActionAid Ghana, has commemorated this year’s International Youth Day in Tamale.
The celebration was aimed at advocating stronger collective action to promote youth mental health and address the growing challenge of drug and substance abuse among young people.
Organised with funding support from ActionAid Ghana, the event was held under the global theme: “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations”, and locally commemorated on the theme: “Prioritizing Youth Mental Health: Breaking the Silence, Building Resilience.”
It brought together youth activists, civil society organisations, development partners, mental health advocates, media practitioners and other stakeholders to deliberate on mental health challenges confronting young people and ways to build resilient communities.
Mr Hamdan Amadu Wumpeka, the Coordinator, Northern Regional Chapter of Activista Ghana, speaking during the event, said the choice of mental health as the focus for the celebration was timely because many young people continued to suffer in silence due to stigma, limited access to mental health services and fear of judgement.
He said: “Our contexts may be different, but our aspirations are the same: to be heard, to be well, to be included and to build a future we are proud of.”
Mr Wumpeka said the celebration was not only an occasion for speeches but also an opportunity for young people to listen, learn, unlearn and commit themselves to creating supportive environments where mental health concerns could be discussed openly.
He urged young people to actively participate in conversations on mental health and support one another, saying prioritising mental health would contribute to building stronger young people and communities.
Madam Alia Mumuni, Programme Officer, Northern Regional Programme Office, ActionAid Ghana said although young people came from different communities, backgrounds, organisations and social groups, they shared common aspirations for lives free from poverty, injustice and exclusion.
She said young people also aspired to educational systems that helped them understand and develop their capacities, health systems that provided quality care, economies that included them and a climate that sustained their livelihoods.
Madam Mumuni said those aspirations could not be fully achieved if drug and substance abuse continued to affect the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
She described drugs abused among young people as worrying particularly against the background of existing stigma surrounding mental health and inadequate mental health infrastructure and services in many communities.
She identified curiosity, family breakdown and peer pressure among others as factors contributing to drug and substance use among young people.
She said ActionAid Ghana remained committed to investing in youth leadership, social justice, women’s rights and accountable governance in the Northern Region.
She said: “We work with young people to amplify your voice in policy spaces, from grassroots to national platforms” adding the organisation supported young people to understand their rights, claim them, demand accountability and lead campaigns.
Madam Mumuni said Activista Ghana had played an important role in mobilising young people to speak on critical issues including drug abuse and mental health while creating networks of youth leaders, who served as mentors, advocates and change agents in their communities.
She challenged young people to live with empathy, initiate conversations about drug and substance abuse in their communities and transform ideas generated at youth engagements into practical interventions.
Mr Peter Mintir Amadu, Executive Director, Total Life Enhancement Centre, an organisation advocating mental health, said young people in Northern Ghana demonstrated enormous resilience but that resilience should not become an excuse for society to ignore their suffering.
He said young people continued to navigate a range of pressures including poverty, unemployment, educational challenges, family conflicts, violence, discrimination, social exclusion, gender inequality, substance abuse, relationship difficulties, displacement and climate-related uncertainties.
He said: “These pressures have consequences for mental health.”
Mr Amadu explained that when mental health was compromised, it could affect education, relationships, employment, decision-making, physical health and participation in community life.
He called for a shift from treating mental health as an issue that began only when a person developed severe mental illness.
GNA
Edited by Eric K Amoh/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]