The Youth in Upper East Region on Tuesday held a Regional Dialogue in Bolgatanga, with a call on the Government to make provision for the disabled under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
They also stressed the need to separate the Programme from politics.
Organized by the Regional office of the National Youth Council, the forum was aimed at discussing issues of youth development with the view to finding solutions to the numerous challenges facing the youth and to increase their participation in Decision making in community development Programming.
Mr. Hillary Adongo who read the Statement on behalf of the Youth stated that the spate of armed robbery and other social vices among the youth could be attributed to the lack of employment, and appealed to Government to explore innovative ways of creating jobs for the Youth.
He pointed out that Youth Policies could be made illiterate-sensitive to cater for the masses of young people who were outside the formal education sector, and attention given to Technical and practical education to help empower the them to contribute meaningfully to Ghana's development process.
"Government policies regarding the youth should be given priority not only for discussion but for implementation", he emphasized.
The Regional Youth Coordinator, Mr. Daud Aban-Gos said as part of the Youth Forum, a number of programmes had been lined up including International Youth Day Celebration, Youth Camp, Voluntary work camps, Stakeholders Conference, discussion on Conflict Prevention, Peace Building, the environment, water and sanitation.
Mr. Aban-Gos appealed to the youth to exercise a high sense of discipline
both in their schools and out of school to encourage Government, parents and partners to invest more in their development. He also stressed the need for people who used the youth to perpetuate crime in order to achieve their selfish interests to desist from that.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo stated that the Government was more committed to the development of the youth, and that was why it had appointed a lot of them into Ministerial positions.
"The present Government is more committed to the development of a dynamic pro-youth , national youth policy to provide the appropriate platform for engaging the youth in matters affecting them and engaging them in civil responsibility debates as well as involving them in decision making", he said.
He indicated that given the important role of the youth as future leaders, there was the need to inculcate in them the art of good governance that would help lay a solid foundation to enable them to manage the affairs of the country in future without encountering many problems.