The National Youth Authority (NYA) has inaugurated Jirapa Municipal Youth Parliament to offer young men and women the needed platform to engage with duty-bearers in ensuring speedy growth and development of their communities.
The Youth Parliament will serve as a common voice in tackling key development issues and promote accountability and transparency in the implementation of programmes and projects with stakeholders.
It seeks to build a sustainable relationship between youth groups and governance structures in the decision-making process and influence development outcomes.
It looks especially into those issues that affect the development of youth directly such as; falling standards of education, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and security.
The Upper West Regional Acting Director of NYA, Mr Archibald Donkoh, told the Ghana News Agency that the platform would ensure that the youth contributed meaningfully to economic development.
He said it was imperative that an enabling environment was created and the youth empowered to effectively participate in the decision making process. The youth participation in the governance process, he said, especially at the local level would enable them to have direct and open access to discussions with duty-bearers.
Mr Donkoh refuted claims that the youth parliament was “political, pressure and vigilante groupâ€, saying, “The youth parliament is purely a development focused groupâ€.
He urged stakeholders to support the youth to enable them properly contribute their quota to the development of the Jirapa Municipality.
Mr Abass Caesar, the Acting Jirapa Municipal Director of NYA, added that the parliament was a tool for empowering the youth in the decision-making process in the Municipality.
He noted said the parliament was a tangible interface between the youth and duty-bearers on matters foundering young persons and the society.
The youth parliament would also be used as a legal tool in fighting against teenage pregnancy in the Jirapa area, he said.
Mr Arnold Bayor was elected as the speaker of the Jirapa youth parliament.
Source: GNA