Forum discusses youth involvement in Agenda 2030

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by United Nations Member states in 2015 to provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for humanity, now and in the future.

It contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are an urgent call for action by all countries, both developed and developing, for sustainable development globally. The goals recognise that for the world to know peace there should be no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education and gender equality by the year 2030.

Other goals include clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry and innovation.

The rest are sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals.

Youth involvement

To get the youth involved in the globally set target to determine the future of the world, and to promote youth involvement in agenda 2030 in Ghana, the maiden Annual Senior High School (SHS) Forum on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Ghana), organised by UN Youth Ghana and supported by Millennium Promise Alliance, has been held at Aburi in the Eastern Region.

The forum, on the theme: Promoting youth involvement in agenda 2030 in Ghana, brought together a number of students from different SHSs, including Odorgonno SHS, Wesley Grammar, Presbyterian Boys’ SHS (PRESEC) Legon and Achimota SHS, to enlighten them on the 17 SDGs and to discuss the roles they can play in attaining the goals of the SDGs.

Addressing the forum, hosted by Aburi Girls SHS, the Minister designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, said it was time for Ghana to deal with gender inequality in order to achieve the full inclusion of women’s economic potential, since the 2018 World Bank Report indicated that the global economy lost $160 trillion in wealth due to earning gaps between men and women.

Gender equality

“It is evident from experience that without gender equality countries cannot achieve their full potentials. We cannot end poverty by excluding the economic potential of the woman,” she said.

Mrs Morrison added that although Ghana was performing well in terms of gender representation in the political sphere, there was still more that could be done, especially in other sectors of national development, to push the national development agenda foward.

In her address, the Headmistress of Aburi Girls SHS, Mrs Alice Prempeh Fordjour, urged the youth to get involved in the process of changing the world because the goals were set in their interest.

“If there is a message I will like to leave with you, it is; daily actions and continuous commitment to the development process. So live with the passion to make a difference wherever you go,” she said.