The Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has stated that unless the youth are equipped with the relevant skills, their potential nurtured and their functions guided, the nation risks missing out on the greatest resources it has for transforming society.

She, therefore, stressed the need for the youth to be given the opportunity to pursue their interests, be it in agriculture, arts, tourism, technology, teaching or entrepreneurship.

“I want to encourage us to work together to create sustainable jobs and decent work for the youth in all sectors. No sector is better than the other,” she said.

Ms Gomashie said this at a programme organised by the National Population Council (NPC) to mark World Population Day 2025.

July 11 each year is commemorated across the world as World Population Day to create awareness of global population trends and their implications for development.

The global theme for this year’s celebration, “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world,” calls for ensuring that the youth have the right tools and opportunities to shape their futures.

The NPC in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and in collaboration with other stakeholders marked the day in Ghana on the national theme: “Empowering the youth to create quality families in an inclusive society.”

Youth empowerment

Ms Gomashie said empowerment was not merely motivational, but structural, adding that it meant creating systems that enabled the youth to take charge of their lives.

She called on governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, religious bodies and traditional leaders to work together to create sustainable jobs and decent work for the youth in all sectors.

For policy makers, she charged them to craft youth-centred national plans that were measurable, inclusive and backed by real resources.

To educators, she urged them to identify the strengths of the youth and help nurture and improve them.

The acting Executive Director of the NPC, Angelina Kodua Nyanor, stressed the need for the youth to be continually empowered with the right tools, which included knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, values in terms of adulthood and care of the elderly.

She also called for spaces where the youth could learn about healthy relationships, parenting, mental health, gender equity and civic responsibilities.

There were solidarity messages from various stakeholders including the Ghana Health Service, UNFPA and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

The event was also used to honour some journalists who have promoted issues of population in their writings.