AfriYAN Ghana calls for greater youth participation in local governance

AfriYAN Ghana has urged districts to involve more young people in local governance and incorporate their priorities into plans and budgets. At a stakeholder dialogue in the Volta Region, AfriYAN Ghana, LoveAid Foundation, and UNFPA tackled ways to integrate youth views into district development planning. Participants agreed that youth needs should progressively be integrated into Medium-Term Development Plans and annual assembly budgets.

LoveAid's Joshua Tettey Ayayi emphasized the dialogue's role in the Adolescent Girls Project, which aims to empower girls and strengthen youth involvement in governance. He stressed that meaningful youth participation is vital for sustainable community development and ensuring policies reflect actual young people's needs. Akatsi North District Assembly's Patrick Kwame Ahiabu called on assemblies to strengthen youth engagement through their Public Relations and Complaints Committees (PRCCs), which currently lack adequate funding and effective functioning.

Ahiabu urged assemblies to allocate sufficient budgets to PRCCs to enable effective community engagement on development projects. The dialogue also aimed to protect adolescent girls' rights and wellbeing, with LoveAid focusing on educating and empowering girls to protect against gender-based violence while creating platforms for young people's community decision-making.

AfriYAN Ghana is a youth-led organization working on health, rights, and wellbeing of young people, collaborating with development partners like UNFPA on issues like youth participation, sexual and reproductive health, gender equality, leadership, and empowerment.