The project will engage the services of more than 50,000 youth to undertake charitable activities to improve the well-being of people.  Speaking at the launch in Accra, Mr Stephen Kwaku Darku, the National President of JCI Ghana, said the focus of the project was to empower the Ghanaian youth to contribute positively to national development.

He said the project would focus on four key areas: education and skills training; information and communications technology (ICT); environment and agriculture.

Under the education and skills training project, Mr Darku said the organisation would embark on community programmes to develop the skills of people, especially the illiterate, while under ICT the volunteers would work at providing well-equipped networked ICT resource centres in all districts to help the youth acquire ICT skills.

Concerning the environment, Mr Darku said the project would also ensure good environmental practices to address poor sanitation in some communities. Touching on agriculture, he said the volunteers would partner stakeholders to promote entrepreneurship in agriculture through the development of more strategic interventions to attract the youth.

“JCI Ghana will continue to foster global active citizens networking and partnerships among young people and provide the enabling development environment for mentoring young leaders to contribute to the various sectors of the Ghanaian economy, “he added.

Mr Clement Osei, the first Vice President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce, who was the guest speaker, called on active citizens to improve their skills and knowledge to analyse and recommend solutions to problems instead of blaming society and the government. “Our young active citizens must consciously see themselves as partners and stakeholders in nation building. In line with our national development agenda, vibrant private sectors that will drive growth and create jobs require unfettered contribution of young enterprising citizens,” he said.

Mr Alan Akakpo, the National Project Director of JCI Ghana, said the group would devote GHs600,000 to undertake development projects in selected communities in the country this year. He said most of the projects would focus on improving sanitation and health delivery.

JCI Ghana, since its re-establishment in 2006, has placed priority on programmes and strategies that promote young leaders and encourage corporate social responsibility.