Mrs Frema Osei Opare, Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, on Thursday charged Ghanaians to inject patriotism in their activities by rekindling the spirit of volunteerism to move the country forward.
She was contributing to the topic: “Youth Volunteerism: Harnessing the Power of the Youth for Nation Building“ at the on-going 62nd Annual New Year School organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra.
Mrs Opare observed that Ghanaians were culturally and historically inherent-volunteers citing communal labour, baby sitting, pounding fufu, fetching water by the riverside as examples of errands some Ghanaians offered free of charge.
She decried the fact that the spirit of volunteerism was ‘dying out’ among the citizenry, particularly the youth.
Mrs Opare called for the institutionalisation of youth volunteerism and stressed that the effort needed to be supported.
She called for a review of the Labour Act to create a conducive environment where marginalisation, based on a person’s gender, would be eschewed.
Mr Vincent Senam Kuagbenu, Executive Director of National Service Scheme (NSS), said the youth must be assured that their efforts and sacrifice on national issues were appreciated.
“We must nurture their assets and turn them into formidable instruments for national development,” he said.
Mr Kuagbenu reiterated the contributions of the Scheme to national development stressing that his outfit had spearheaded agricultural activities in rural areas.
He said the NSS would augment its activities in the agricultural sector to create regional farms in the country by 2012 to contribute to the national food basket.
Dr William Ahadzie, Executive Director of National Identification Authority, underscored the importance of volunteerism, saying it supplemented normal workforce and added quality to procurement services.
He called for the creation of a special fund to support volunteerism.
Dr Ahadzie suggested that corporate bodies that engaged the services of volunteers needed to be given tax incentives to encourage public and private participation in national volunteerism.