Y-PES Ghana Research Reveals 91.2% of Youth Unaware of National Youth Policy

The Executive Director of Youth Placement for Employability Solutions Ghana (Y-PES Ghana) has revealed that a recent research conducted by the organization shows that 91.2 percent of Ghanaian youth are unaware of the existence of the National Youth Policy.

According to him, the lack of awareness among the youth has contributed significantly to their inability to demand accountability from duty-bearers and fully benefit from policies designed to protect and empower them.

He made the disclosure during a leadership training programme organized for elected student leaders from various senior high schools in the Upper West Region.

Addressing participants at the event, the Executive Director expressed concern over what he described as widespread ignorance among young people regarding their rights and responsibilities under the National Youth Policy.

“The teeming youth of Ghana are completely ignorant of their rights, not privilege, because what the youth policy really brings to them is a right and they are supposed to hold duty-bearers accountable for doing what they have to do or not doing what they have to do,” he stated.

He explained that many young people are unable to advocate for themselves because they are not informed about the contents of the policy document.

“So once they are supposed to hold duty-bearers accountable and they are not even privy to this very document, automatically they become completely ignorant and once you are ignorant, you know what it means. You are unable to make the best use of whatever that you should have had knowledge on,” he added.

The Y-PES Ghana Executive Director further noted that the lack of access to information on the National Youth Policy continues to negatively affect the development and participation of young people in governance and national development.

He stressed the need for intensified public education and sensitization campaigns to ensure that young people across the country become familiar with the policy and understand how to use it to advance their interests.

The leadership training programme brought together elected student leaders from different senior high schools across the Upper West Region and focused on leadership development, civic responsibility, and youth participation in governance.