Mr Asiamah, who made the call at the opening of the third annual forum of National Volunteer Agencies in West Africa in Accra yesterday, said young people were at the forefront of change and innovation and, therefore, must be given the space to persevere and excel.

He urged volunteer agencies to look deeper into their selection processes to ensure that young people were considered during recruitment into the agencies.

He also stressed the need for the agencies to mobilise the youth to develop a sense of ownership and awareness of the volunteer initiative to expand its reach to more young people, as it instituted effective monitoring mechanisms to maximise the impact of the programme.

The minister further called on conveners of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) youth volunteers’ programme to widen the scope of the programme to ensure that it would become a resource for the delivery of sustainable development.

Forum

The two-day forum, which is to evaluate the level of achievement of resolutions of the last meeting, among other objectives, was on the theme: “Volunteerism for peace and security”.

Roles

Highlighting some positive contributions of the youth to national development, Mr Asiamah said: “We have witnessed how valuable the voices of the youth are in promoting security in the places where they live and work.”

For instance, he said, “400 young people were selected by the NYA to contribute towards community development and also promote patriotism among the youth”.

The minister said those young people were engaged in various activities, including the construction of classroom blocks, the cleaning of beaches, the replanting of mangroves and the construction of Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds and district courts across the country.

“Most often, the youth are associated with unruly behaviours and rarely seen as partners in promoting peace in their communities and in their respective countries. I am clear in my mind that ECOWAS is on the right track to change this narrative with this programme,” Mr Asiamah added.

Background

This is the third of the annual forums of National Volunteer Agencies in West Africa. The first was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, two years ago, while the second edition was held in Accra.

The ECOWAS Volunteers Programme was initiated by the ECOWAS Commission in 2004, with support from the African Development Bank and the United Nations Volunteers Programme, under the ECOWAS Peace and Development Programme.

Among its objectives, it is to create a pool of young people from the ECOWAS region who are united in their conviction that peace and reconciliation can be used as a tool for development.

The initiative was launched in Monrovia, Liberia, in 2010 with the deployment of about 170 volunteers under a pilot programme in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Significance

The Chief Executive of the NYA, Mr Emmanuel Sin-Nyet Asigri, said volunteerism led to community service and eventually harmonised relationships.

He, therefore, advised communities not to downplay the positive effects of volunteerism but to hold on to its principles.

A Special Representative of the President of ECOWAS in Liberia, Mr Babatunde Ajisomo, described the youth as key partners in the sub-region’s quest for peace and said participants must exchange ideas and share experiences on happenings in their respective countries.