Support Government To Fulfill Manifesto Pledges- NYA Boss

Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Mr. Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri has advised the youth of Ghana to continue to support the government of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to achieve the New Patriotic Party’s core mission
of providing jobs to the teeming youth of Ghana.

In his 2019 new year’s goodwill message to the youth, Mr. Asigri recalled the theme of the NPP’s manifesto for the 2016 general elections—“Change, An Agenda For Jobs” as having the youth as its primary focus and enumerated some notable interventions of the government such as the Planting For Food and Jobs, Planting For Rural and Export Development, Nation’s Builders Corps, One District; One Factory, as all worthy programmes geared at enhancing the welfare of the youth and tasked them to explore and take full advantage of these programmes to transform their lives and position them to contribute meaningfully to the nation building and development exercise.

Touching on the NYA’s contributions at promoting Ghana’s youth development agenda, Mr. Asigri recounted amongst others the numerous infrastructural projects undertaken thus far such as the construction of ten (10) Youth Resource Centers of Excellence across the country, which are at various levels of completion with a key objective to improve youth development through sports and entrepreneurship training. He proceeded to mention projects undertaken in the Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institutes (YLSTIs) which the Authority manages including a two 300 seating capacity multipurpose halls with kitchens at Sandema in the Upper East Region and Nalerigu in the Northern Region.

Towards enhancing the visibility of the Authority, the CEO mentioned the massive facelift that the national secretariat of the NYA situated at Kaneshie has undergone and said all regional and district secretariats and offices have been earmarked for rehabilitation works too. These upon completion shall enable the Authority absorb over 2000 personnel from the Nation Bulider’s Corps (NABCO) programme to augment the staffing situation of the Authority to enable it become fully functional in all 254 Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts.

On a policy document to regulate the activities of youth development in Ghana, Mr. Asigri said the National Youth Policy that was launched in 2010 has recently undergone a stakeholder consultative process that has seen inputs from women’s groups, persons with disabilities, youth leaders and other identifiable bodies across the country already solicited. A final collation of inputs elicited from the consultations will be done for the drafting of a comprehensive reviewed national youth policy that will take into account current global, continental and national development goals such as the UN SDGs of 2030, AU agenda 2063 and.

For this year, 2019, the CEO further stated that the Authority will continue to work to boost the capacity of the youth with skills that will equip them for the job market. In so doing, the Authority will continue to implement its flagship programme, Steps Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) that was launched in May 2017 targeting unskilled and semi-skilled youth and imparting them with artisanal trade competences and the street lights installation, repairs and maintenance Training Programmes. In the same vein, the Authority has entered into partnership with the Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to train and set-up ten thousand (10,000) young people in targeted marketable trades in such areas as metal/welding, aluminium fabrication, bakery, cosmetology, mobile phone repairs, tailoring/dressmaking, ICT (Apps development and online/digital marketing training) etc.

Concluding his remarks, the CEO reiterated that the public educational campaign against drugs and substance abuse notably tramadol that was launched as part of activities marking the 2018 International Youth Day and in partnership with EIB Network shall continue in earnest this year with community based programmes targeting high prone areas as well as second cycle institutions. He mentioned the Authority’s plans to establish rehabilitation centers across the nation to rehabilitate victims whilst providing them with skills training in fields of their choice.

Whilst wishing the youth a happy and prosperous 2019, Mr. Asigri entreated them to exercise restraint even in the event of extreme provocation and allow the institutions and agencies mandated to address such incidences to do so and to desist from taking the law into their hands and engaging in lawless conduct.
“Let’s be mindful to keep hope alive and to uplift the name of Ghana at all times and to make the necessary sacrifices for our common prosperity” Mr. Asigri went on to emphasize.