By Albert Allotey, GNA
Accra, Aug. 5, GNA – The Ministry for Youth Development and Empowerment (MYDE) has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with two institutions to empower the Ghanaian young people with the skills, values, and opportunities they needed to succeed in life.
The institutions are the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), and the Design and Technology Institute (DTI).
The event which took place at the MYDE conference room in Accra on Tuesday was on the theme; “Rebuilding Values, Inspiring Patriotism: Empowering the Youth in the Digital Age.”
This followed earlier engagements between the MYDE, CCG, and DTI at the formation of the Ministry on the challenges of the youth such as limited mobility and opportunity on the labour market.
The others were limited access to information, technology and start-up support for the youth, skills mismatch, and youth health and well-being.
Mr George Opare-Addo, the Minister for Youth Development signed on behalf of Government, Rev. Dr Cyril Fayose, General Secretary/Chaiman on behalf of CCG, and Ms Constance Elizabeth Swaniker on behalf of DTI.
The Minister in a speech said despite the challenges, government recognised the youth as the greatest national asset and therefore the signing of the MoUs reflected a shared commitment.
He stated, saying, “Investing in youth development is not only a social responsibility but also an economic imperative.
“This is why partnerships such as the one we are committing to today are essential to achieving our vision of creating a skilled, innovative, productive, and resilient youth population.”
The Minister lauded the CCG for playing a significant role in promoting national development, peace, social justice, and moral leadership.
“Through its extensive network of churches and communities across the country, the Council has consistently championed initiatives that strengthen families, promote responsible citizenship, and support the holistic development of young people,” he added.
Mr Opare-Addo said with the signing of the MoUs the Ministry would leverage on Council’s huge presence across the country to co-create and implement programmes such as awareness campaigns in schools, churches, and communities.
Others include the training of peer educators, teachers, clergy, youth workers, and community volunteers, establish and strengthen school clubs, youth clubs, and community support groups.
He said the Ministry as part of the MoU would collaborate with DTI to advance relevant national programmes, initiatives and government priorities that contribute to youth development and empowerment.
“These will include improving access to quality, industry aligned skills training for Ghanaian youth- (precision quality, productivity and work readiness), support the integration of DTI training and internship modules into national youth development and employment programmes- (soft skill, internship, employability and life skills development), “the Minister stated.
He called on all partners to collaborate and remained committed to translating the agreement into tangible programmes and measurable outcomes that would positively impact the lives of young people across the country.
He expressed gratitude to the Christian Council of Ghana and the Design and Technology Institute for their vision, commitment, and willingness to collaborate with the Ministry.
“I am confident that together, we will build a stronger foundation for youth empowerment and national development.”
Rev. Dr Fayose on his part assured the Ministry of the Council’s full cooperation to implement the objectives of this partnership over the next five years.
“On behalf of the Christian Council of Ghana, I respectfully present five priority areas that we believe can help translate this partnership into measurable national impact,” he stated.
They included the leveraging of digital technology to promote ethical leadership and positive mindset transformation.
“Our goal should not simply be to produce digitally connected young people, but digitally responsible citizens. Digital literacy programmes should therefore include online safety, civic responsibility, ethical leadership, and responsible digital citizenship. Ghana’s digital transformation must be anchored in strong values,” stated.
He called for the harnessing of Ghana’s demographic dividend through youth-centred policies and that the large youth population should not be viewed as a burden but as an economic asset.
“This requires coordinated investment in entrepreneurship, agribusiness, green industries, innovation, and skills development, while strengthening collaboration among government, the private sector, faith-based organisations, and development partners,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei