Embrace volunteerism and impact society
The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, has encouraged Ghanaian youth to embrace volunteerism as a way of contributing to better the lives of the people in their communities.
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Acknowledging the fantastic work some of the youth were doing, the youngest son of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh said volunteerism would enable the youth to make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged.
Prince Edward made the call when he joined the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, to present the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award to 96 young Ghanaians at the Flagstaff House yesterday.
The award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award dates back to 1956 when it was established by Prince Philip, then Duke of Edinburgh.
Its aim is to help young people to develop a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities through self-reliance, perseverance and responsibility.
The concept of the award is individual challenge and runs in more than 140 countries. The award, which has attracted eight million participants, is open to people aged between 14 and 24.
In Ghana, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme is associated with the Head of State Awards Scheme.
The vision of the award in Ghana is to improve the participation rate from the current 0.1 per cent to two per cent of the youth population by 2020.
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Greater heights
Prince Edward expressed the hope that the award would encourage the recipients to aspire to achieve greater heights in life as they continued to take interest in community development.
While congratulating the awardees, he said, "Now you look back at your journeys and enjoy the experiences you gathered."
Each of the recipients completed one community project to qualify for the award.
Uplifting community
The Vice-President, Mr Amissah-Arthur, said the development of communities must not be the sole responsibility of the government but all the people.
In that regard, he challenged the youth to impact the development of communities and the nation at large since community development helped the youth to become more compassionate.
"The youth are the nation's future leaders and should cultivate values to become future leaders," he said.
Mr Amissah-Arthur gave the assurance that the government would continue to focus on youth development as a way of preparing them for a better personal future and national progress.
Prince Edward had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Vice-President at his office at the Flagstaff House.