The youth have been encouraged to champion
the development of their communities and the country by building their competencies and skills in modern trends of development.
This can be achieved by taking their education seriously and striving to imbibe high moral values like truthfulness, integrity, courage, loyalty and a high sense of responsibility crucial for building a healthy and
progressive nation.
Mr Sulemana Nyadia Nelson, Programme Coordinator of Youth Empowerment for Life (YEfL), a non governmental organisation, made the call at the Fifth Annual Youth Forum organised by the NGO at Dalun in the Tolon/Kumbungu District on Tuesday.
The forum, which was on the theme: �Navigating Youth Contribution to Government Policy,� brought together 150 youths from Tolon/Kumbungu, Savelugu/Naton, Tamale Metropolis, East and West Gonja Districts, West
Mamprusi, Karaga and Nanumba North and South Districts.
It was to create a platform for the youth to share ideas, discuss issues affecting them and inspire one another to champion development for
the betterment of the youth.
Mr Nelson noted that the youth where confronted with issues such as; unemployment and poverty, health problems, conflict, lack of access to information for decision making and youth exclusion from local and national policy debates.
He therefore charged the youth to use the forum to examine the issues that affected their development and explore ways in which they could
influence and change policy to enhance a brighter future.
Mr Ziblim Shaibu, Regional Youth Coordinator, in a presentation made on his behalf, said due to unemployment, some of the youth engaged in political violence, armed robbery and drug abuse.
He said to minimise those negative tendencies, government should consider passing the national youth policy without further delay and create a separate ministry for youth affairs, employment opportunities for the youth, and ensure sufficient budgetary and logistics support for their activities.