Civil society organization for youth empowerment, BudgIT Ghana has officially launched its Youth Participatory Forum (YPF) as a step towards creating an avenue to encourage the youth in actively participating in decision-making processes that shape national policies.
The initiative aims to empower young minds with the knowledge and tools necessary to actively participate in governance processes and promote transparency within the system.
The official launch of the YPF took place on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at the University of Ghana’s Kofi Drah Auditorium. The launch was held under the theme ‘Empowering Young People to Build a Just and Equitable Future through Active Citizenship.’
In attendance were partners from Emerging Public Leaders (EPL) and Oxfam, the President of UPSA Law School, BudgIT Ghana Staff, YPF executives and members, as well as students from Pentecost University.
The YPF is presently operant in other tertiary institutions in Ghana, including the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Wisconsin International University College, and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
In an introductory address at the launch, Country Lead for BudgIT Ghana, Jennifer Moffatt expounded on the need for the forum’s launch, citing youth involvement in national economic decisions as a factor.
”If you’re a student or you’re a resident of Ghana, you play a role in the drafting and expenditure involved in the national budget. So that brought to light the launch of the movement, Budgit Youth Club, which we have renamed the Youth Participatory Forum.”
At the launch, the guest speaker, who is the Executive Director of Revenue Mobilization Africa, Mr. Geoffrey Kabutey Ocansey urged the youth to raise their voices with unwavering conviction and harness the power of social media as a tool to amplify their message.
“You can use [social media] to address the present now … You just need to start a conversation. Young people, that’s your power! We have needs!” he veered.
Nonetheless, Mr. Ocansey also advised the youth to be modest in their approach in engaging government over certain policies.
“Look at your energies and use your energies wisely. To make a point, prove that point, shoot the issue and we can achieve something.” he cautioned.
In an exclusive interview with UniversNews, the President of the YPF-UG Wing, Mr. Joshua Acquah Addo laid emphasis on the club’s mission to harness the potential of young people and facilitate the constructive communication of their concerns to governmental authorities.
“It’s a platform where the youth are going to develop themselves. We are going to harness the potential in them, make them better people and give them direction because the youth are full of so much exuberance that we actually tend to not know where to channel that energy or to channel that power, if I may put it that way. So this is a platform where we guide people to channel their energy, power, and youthfulness into something meaningful that will develop them.”
He further assured that YPF would give the leverage for the youth to point their voices to the right addressees.
“It will also serve as a platform for the youth to actually have their voices directed to the correct sources; where their voices are supposed to be heard. When they speak, their opinions will be appreciated and acknowledged because they go directly to the people who need to hear their voices and their opinions.”
During the launch, new executives for the forum were sworn in for a commencement of a new tenure. They pledged to harness the platform’s purpose and use it to create an avenue for the youth to effectively engage in decisions pertaining to national development.
The event saw a fantastic turnout, with some members sharing their experiences and program highlights. Being chanced with the avenue to contribute their quota to national development, their delight knew no bounds.
The Youth Participatory Forum is a dynamic youth activist group dedicated to promoting budget literacy, transparency, and accountability in the management of national funds.
BudgIT Ghana established the Youth Participatory Forum (YPF) as a visionary convergence platform to empower Ghanaian youth across all disciplines at the tertiary level, and the entire youth demographic, with the goal of coaching and training these young minds to advance the vision of budget literacy, transparency, accountability, and activism.
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Story by: Fauzia Salim | univers.ug.edu.gh
