Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns, has advised the government to make resources available to champion the course of the youth and women who represent the most vulnerable groups of people in society.
He said youth and women formed a chunk of the country’s population and studies had shown that chunk of population could be “a boom or a bane” to the nation’s development.
Dr. Chambas said this in Accra at the weekend in a speech at the “Active Citizen Lecture” on the topic: “Empowering Citizens, Enriching Nation Building: Fostering Active Citizenship for Sustainable Development in Ghana”.
This year’s edition of the annual lecture organised by the STAR Ghana Foundation (SGF) also marked the 5th anniversary of the Foundation.
Scores of people including Heads of public and private sector institutions, legal practitioners, social activists and advocates among others attended the lecture which sought to revitalise public-spirited participation in national development discourse.
“Significant investments must be made to empower the youth and women and give them space in the development process.
In this way we can harness their energies, skills and capabilities for the rapid transformation of Ghana”, Dr. Chambas explained.
The Ghanaian Diplomat observed that a “youthquake” awaited the nation if appropriate policies were not put in place to harness the full potential of the youth.
He said the current spate of migration of “some of its best hands and brains” could affect the country and Africa’s development potential if no measures were put in place to curtail that.
The former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and Head of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWAS), thus, said the youth should be given a rightful place in the leadership of the country.
Dr. Chambas explained that achieving sustainable development of the country was a collective responsibility of all irrespective of one’s political or ethnic orientation.
“It is the coming together of government, civil society, private sector, and, most importantly, our citizens.
It is a commitment to the betterment of our great nation, and it is a collective responsibility that transcends political, ethnic, and regional boundaries”, he asserted.
Dr. Chambas said that could be materialised by guaranteeing every citizen a voice in the decision-making process by creating “platforms for open dialogue where ideas, concerns, and aspirations can be freely expressed.”
Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye, the Chairperson of the SGF Governing Council, noted that the “Active Citizen Lecture” had chalked remarkable success over the five years of its inception.
She said the initiative had shown considerable lesions and the need for urgent action for active citizen-driven actions and participation in development discourse.
“…we’ve tried to fulfil that vision of a well-informed and active Ghanaian citizenry that will be able to contribute to transformational change, advancing democracy, accountability and social inclusion.
And we want to be able to do this in an equitable and inclusive manner so that we are able to involve Ghanaians from all walks of lives”, Dr. Abaogye explained.
She said the Foundation was working to achieve that through collaboration and inclusive dialogue, catalysing active citizenship and collective action and facilitating learning on an ongoing basis.
Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr, a subscriber of SGF, explained that active citizenship could be in any form but with a purpose.
“One of the things we miss is the basis of the activism. What are you active about? Where is it taking you? That drive should add to knowledge and understanding.
So, while we encourage activism we must also encourage understanding your situation sufficiently to be active positively in your interest”, Prof. Sawyerr explained.