The Executive Director of the Springboard Road Show Foundation, Comfort Ocran, has described the International Youth Day celebration as a call to action.
She said it was a reminder that young people were not only leaders of tomorrow, but the changemakers of today, adding that “the future is here, and the future starts now”.
Mrs Ocran urged the youth to take the global goals and make them real within their respective communities.
The UN theme for this year was “Local youth actions for the SDGs and beyond.” The day was observed at the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church yesterday.
It also marked the launch of Teenpreneurship Bootcamp on the theme: “Next Is Now”.
The programme, designed to equip teenagers with the skills, mindset and confidence to act immediately, was organised at no cost to 300 participants.
Ghana Grows
There was also the unveiling of the second edition of impact stories under a Ghana Grows programme dubbed “Rays of Hope”.
The stories celebrate the resilience and achievements of young women and men transforming agriculture, breaking barriers, and creating local solutions with national and global relevance.
Through the programme, over 448,000 young people have been impacted.
In all, 76 per cent of participants were young women, and 1.91 per cent were persons with disabilities. Under the initiative, 20,000 young people have secured jobs and sustainable livelihoods, while more than 2,400 Youth Ambassadors have been trained to champion agriculture and entrepreneurship nationwide.
In addition, an extended Empower 360 component of the programme had equipped more than 1,116 young women with practical skills and provided 156 young participants with startup kits to launch their own businesses.
The programme is being implemented by Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with a consortium led by the Springboard Road Show Foundation.
It aims at highlighting the opportunities available in the extended value chain for agriculture, agribusiness and ATVET.
The Lead, Market to Impact at the Mastercard Foundation, Joseph Boateng, said: “The SDGs are not distant targets set in boardrooms, they are lived realities in our villages, towns and cities.
Take action
The Technical Director of the Springboard Road Show Foundation, Albert Ocran, also encouraged the participants to take deliberate action.
“Inspiration without execution is only a dream.
What you do today, the projects you start, the risks you take, the ideas you pursue, will define the world you live in tomorrow,” he said.
