The Duchess of York, Sarah Margaret Ferguson, has hinted at a potential visit to Ghana to embark on a cleanup campaign with the GUBA Foundation.

The intended visit by the Duchess, was disclosed at this year’s Commonwealth Youth Day celebrations in London, where she met the President of GUBA Enterprise, Lady Dentaa Amoateng MBE.

“Dentaa, I know you are the queen of philanthropy in Ghana and I wish to join you soon for a cleanup campaign there” said, Sarah.

Sarah is an advocate for climate change and plastic pollution.

The Duchess plan to visit the country sparked excitement among Ghanaians at the Youth Day celebration with Lady Dentaa adding, “this is definitely good for the country to leverage the ideas and expertise of this global climate champion”.

“GUBA is excited to be at the forefront of this important visit and we cannot wait to learn and tap into the Duchess’ knowledge and experiences as climate change ambassador” Lady Dentaa said.

The Commonwealth Youth Day

On August 12, 2024, the Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with the Khalili Foundation and Peace One, hosted Youth Live, a six-hour broadcast at Marlborough House in London to celebrate International Youth Day.

The day, which was hosted by Lady Dentaa and actor Dara Sing Khurana, is a global platform to recognise the vital role young people play in fostering peace, democracy and sustainable development.

Representatives from youth, peace-building, community, civil society, faith, and advocacy organisations participated in the event, coupled with an online broadcast which featured young people doing extraordinary projects, sharing inspiring stories and opportunities and transformational initiatives.

The broadcast, which was live on the Commonwealth Secretariat’s website, YouTube channel and the Commonwealth Youth Programme’s Facebook page, has 2.6 million views on YouTube and streamed in over 80 media houses globally.

Acknowledging the challenges young people face in today’s technology-driven world, Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC said: “I am always inspired by the energy, vision and determination of the Commonwealth’s young people. During the Commonwealth Year of Youth, we have found various ways to uplift, amplify and empower them. This broadcast is another way to showcase the work that they are doing, provide them with powerful opportunities to transform their lives and give them avenues to engender meaningful change and promote peace”.

The Commonwealth Youth Programme has supported member countries with youth development work for over 50 years and young people will continue to be a focus leading up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa later this year.

Acknowledging the role young people play in fostering peace, the Executive Director of the Khalili Foundation, Waqas Ahmed, said: “At the Khalili Foundation, we enable peacebuilding through art, culture and education. Over five decades of working in this area has convinced us that peace is best achieved when driven and sustained by the youth of any given society. So, we are proud to be supporting Youth Live in partnership with the Commonwealth and we use this opportunity to encourage all youth with ideas for sustainable peacebuilding to apply to our Youth PEACE Awards as part of the Commonwealth Faith Festival.”