The 2019 Life-Link Friendship Schools Ghana conference, a Non-Governmental Organisation youth empowerment programme, is underway in Accra.
The conference dubbed "Life-link Tertiary Model United Nations Conference" (LTMUN) is aimed at providing a platform for students to be vociferous, emulate representatives to the United Nations(UN) and also to remind them of their unflinching roles in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
The conference, which was organised under the auspices of the UN and National Youth Authority, is also to afford undergraduates and postgraduate students the opportunity to deliberate on pressing global issues that confront the world's economy and fundamental human rights.
The three-day conference was under the theme "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; A Collective Responsibility."
Mr Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the National Youth Authority said over 800 million people worldwide still leave in extreme poverty, adding that those in small, fragile and conflict-prone countries are adversely affected.
He said to this effect inequality and large disparities persist in access to health and education services, among others.
He underscored that it was the collective responsibility to deliver on the SDGs and not solely depend on Government's efforts in achieving the goals but that of individuals, state and non-state actors.
"Estimates of resources necessary to finance the SDGs runs in the trillions, which means that delivering on the SDGs is not only about public investments" Mr Asigri said.
"While the public investments is an important part of the solution, we should not lose sight of the importance of the vibrant a private sector participation"
The CEO emphasised on the need for both private and public players to play their respective roles in shaping the future, as government work create conducive environment for businesses to grow in the country.
He urged the participants to use the conference to take stock of progress, identify solutions and find ways of scaling up actions that would inure to the development of the 2030 Global Development Agenda.
Madam Anne-Claire Dufty, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Ghana, said the role of ambitious young people in the SDGs agenda cannot be overlooked since they contribute significantly with their ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship skills.
"There are a few issues in Ghana such as gender inequality, teenage pregnancy, and about 19 per cent of girls in Ghana get married before the of 18" she said.
Madam Dufty said the issues of sanitation and open defecation in the country were teething in nature; hence the ideas and contributions of young people in such areas must be considered.
The UNICEF representative called on the youth to be agents of positive change by putting into practice the ideas that would be acquired in other to achieve the SDGs.
Mr Gilbert kekeli Yao Dzeketey, the General Secretary of Life-Link Tertiary Model United Nations, said it was a shared duty to provide resources and expertise to issues facing the world and that nationalism is important as multilateralism.
The General Secretary urged all who were present to seek consensus building, as it is the only ways to enable communities achieve their goals.