The National Youth Authority (NYA) has commended Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) and OXFAM for training some selected youth to be social media influencers.
According to the Authority, the objective four of the Youth policy is focused on youth participation governance and decision making adding that the training is in line with the youth policy.
The NYA launched the National Youth Policy to guide the development and empowerment of the youth in Ghana for national development.
“First let me commend FOSDA and Oxfam for organizing this very important training for the youth. You all agree with me that a training to sharpen the policy advocacy and influencing skills of young Ghanaians is critical today, given the times in which we are.
“We are in a time when more Ghanaian youth are getting education, we are also in a time of when there are more spaces for youth participation and inclusion. Let me also add that we are in difficult times as presented by the President of the Republic in his last state of the Nation Address,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the NYA, Mr. Nelson Owusu-Ansah stated in a solidarity message during the opening ceremony for the training in Accra.
He continued: “But the most exciting is that we are in the era of technology which gives us a bigger and stronger voice as people and individuals. Fortunately or unfortunately this very good tool like any other has both negative and positive sides. It is important we direct the youth to use technology and opportunities positively for both personal and national development.”
FOSDA who are the organizers of the training had 40 young people across the country on the youth participation in becoming young social policy influencers.
The youth participation training dubbed ‘Youth Policy Influencers Training Workshop’ is to train young people to be interested in social issues and also offer them what it takes to participate in social policies.
The training is aimed at harnessing the energies of social media influencers into social policies for youth development.
“The whole idea of this training is to give young people the capacity to influence social policies, especially those that matter to young people and their development. With regards to education, their health, their employment, their security, safety and job opportunities. As well as things that are of interest to young people and of course accountability and development in general.
“So, the idea is also to redirect and refocus the energies of young social media influencers into social policy issues,” the Executive Director for FOSDA, Theodora W. Anti explained in an interview with Starr News.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
