To increase youth participation in local governance, promote civic education, enhance and build the capacities of youth leaders, Curious Minds has launched the Youth4Governance project in two communities in the Northern and Upper West regions. These communities are Jisonayili in Tamale Metropolitan district and Kperisi in the Wa Municipal district.

The team first visited, Kperisi and engaged chiefs, opinion leaders, union groups, women leaders and unit committee members to explore potential partnerships for implementation and to obtain endorsement and enthusiastic support from local stakeholders. Speaking at the stakeholder engagement, Alhassan Sumaila, a unit committee, expressed concern about the lack of commitment from young people in the community to the execution of policies and programs. He said that most organizations over the years have done a lot to improve the standards of development of young people in the community, but things are still not being done right.

The team then made a courtesy visit to some crucial institutions including the National Youth Authority, National Commission for Civic Education and Info Radio, a local station, who are very crucial to the development of young people. The purpose of these visits was to foster collaboration with these outfits which will lead to a long-term impact in the project implementation. “The work we do here is in line with what Curious Minds does which is geared towards young people including climate change issues and Sustainable development goals. We are happy to work with Curious Minds to address the issues young people face” said Gabriel Mwini, Managing Director of Info Radio.

Stakeholders from various levels of governance were also engaged in Jisonayili to discuss and seek their support and collaboration. The visits were conducted with the aim of garnering insights, support and commitments to enhance youth participation in governance processes. Among these stakeholders included the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Sagnarigu Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Hon. Mohammed Yakubu Ahmed, Zonal Council, Unit Committee, Assembly member and National Youth Authority (NYA). Outcomes of the stakeholder visits proved successful as majority of the representatives of these institutions expressed enthusiasm for the project’s objectives, and as well pledged to integrate project activities into community meetings and events. During the visit to the MCE, the project team presented the goals and objectives of the project, emphasizing the importance of youth involvement in local governance. The DCE expressed immediate interest and recognized the project’s potential to address key challenges facing youth in the district.

To wrap up, we organized a two-day capacity building training in the two districts for 30 selected volunteers (15 each) on basic broadcasting skills, advocacy, and local governance participation with the aim of increasing their knowledge in local governance and enhancing the zeal for volunteerism.

The presence of this project in these districts is to strengthen mechanisms for youth to hold leaders and institutions accountable through constructive participation and advocacy. In the next few months, the volunteers from each of the districts will be actively participating in weekly radio programs allowing them to air their views and opinions on democracy and leadership. They will also be engaging in social media campaigns and interacting with political leadership. The Youth4Governance project is implemented by Curious Minds with support from STAR-Ghana Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

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Written by Charles Okai Folley