Team Europe Youth Sounding Board is a platform designed to ensure young people are actively involved and heard in shaping development cooperation between Ghana and the EU.

Composed of 20 youth selected through a nationwide application process, Team Europe Youth Sounding Board will serve as a consultative and co-creation mechanism, offering innovative ideas, validating policies, and providing feedback on EU-supported programmes in Ghana.

Mr Irchad Razaaly, EU Ambassador to Ghana, speaking at the launch, said the initiative was part of the EU's broader commitment to youth empowerment, inclusive governance, and participatory policy-making.

"The YSB is not symbolic. It is a working board that will help us shape our strategies in real time with the perspectives of Ghanaian youth at the centre," he noted.

The Ambassador stressed that the EU saw young people not only as beneficiaries but as equal partners in development.
He said: "With over a third of the population between 15 and 35 years old, your voice must 2 be at the heart of decision- making. That is why we say: we work with young people, not just for young people."

Mr Razaaly urged the youth leaders to use their platform boldly, speak with courage and push leaders to be better.
He said the leaders were counting on their ideas, creativity, and energy to make Team Europe's work in Ghana more relevant, more inclusive, and more impactful.

Mr George Opare-Addo, Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, said the Ministry was created to ensure young people's voices and aspirations were central to Ghana's national agenda and contribute to building the nation's future.

He advised the youth leaders that for them to succeed, it depended on discipline, evidence-based work, and solution- oriented approaches.

"The task before you is an honour and a responsibility. Your success will be measured by consistency, rigour, and credibility," he said.

Mr Opare Addo outlined Government's support for young people through flagship initiatives such as the 'Adwumawura' programme for youth entrepreneurship, the National Apprenticeship Programme and expanded interventions by the Youth Employment Agency.

Mr Osman Abdulai Ayariga, Chief Executive Officer, National Youth Authority (NYA), described the launch as "historic" and that Ghana's demographic profile made youth inclusion a national imperative.

With 57 per cent of the population under 25 and youth unemployment at 19.7 per cent, he said policies developed without young voices often failed to achieve their intended impact.

"The YSB addresses this critical gap by moving us from consultation to co-creation," he said.
He outlined three strategic roles the board would play, including validating policies with the communities they serve, piloting youth-led solutions for national scaling, and providing real-time accountability on programme impact.

Mr Ayariga pledged that the NYA would integrate YSB recommendations into its quarterly policy reviews, provide training on government systems and budget processes, and facilitate access to existing youth programmes and funding sources.

"In five years, I envision a Ghana where young people create opportunities rather than seek handouts, where youth voices are integral to policy formulation, and where our demographic dividend transforms into shared prosperity," he said.