National Youth Authority to review youth policy

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has organised a day’s stakeholders engagement to solicit inputs from women’s groups for the revision of the National Youth Policy (NYP).

The stakeholder engagement, which also brought together some gender-based youth groups and individuals, according to the NYA, was aimed at ensuring that the revised NYP would become more gender sensitive as well as promote gender equity in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NYA, Mr Emmanuel Asigri, in his address said the review of the NYP had become necessary because after 18 years of its existence, the policy needed to be realigned with the government’s development agenda and with relevant international development protocols and frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

The NYP was developed in 2010 on the theme “Towards an empowered youth, impacting positively on national development” and was intended to provide guidelines for all stakeholders involved in the implementation of policies, programme and projects for the development of the youth.

The NYP

The 27-page policy, with 12 sections, was also intended to help the country demonstrate its commitment to all international conventions and charters it had signed.

However, Mr Asigri said the policy in its current state was “not fit for the purpose”.

According to him, data in the existing policy was outdated as it was based on the 2010 Population and Housing Census, saying there was the need to capture recent data using the 2010 census to reflect current trends.

He was of the view that considering the dynamic nature of society, issues particularly related to the youth needed a review.

That, he said, would help respond to the changing need and emerging issues affecting youth development such as gender and youth with disabilities.

In separate statements, two gender experts from the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), Ms Patricia Essel, and Mr Frank Bodza, who took the participants through an introduction of gender, emerging issues and the key challenges to the development of women, said the old policy had gaps when it came to gender equity and social inclusion.

Writer's email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh