Upper West Regional Youth Parliament holds capacity building training for youth and women

The Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, a pioneer youth parliamentary model in Ghana established in 2010, has held a capacity building training on civic participation and social accountability for young people and women in the Upper West Region.

The training, held on September 25, 2026, formed part of the implementation of the second phase of the Heard Everywhere and Represented Daily (HEARD) project, being implemented in partnership with SAVE-Ghana and Norsaac.

The HEARD project seeks to promote the voice, participation and inclusion of rural and vulnerable youth and women in Ghana’s governance structures and processes, in response to the persistent neglect of rural populations, particularly youth and women, in governance and decision-making spaces.

The training brought together young people from various electoral areas, youth groups, religious bodies and ethnic minorities, as well as queenmothers from traditional authorities.

Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, Ms Samira Salifu Napiini, said there could be no meaningful development without the voices and perspectives of young people and women, especially those in rural and vulnerable contexts, being heard and taken seriously.

She said the training “therefore provides us an opportunity to learn, share our experiences and identify and address challenges hindering young people and women’s participation in local governance.”

Speaking at the capacity building forum, the Presiding Member (PM) for the Wa Municipal Assembly, Hon. Abdul Wahab Nuhu, took participants through social accountability approaches and the monitoring of public services and development projects.

He noted that contractors executing public projects are required to put up signposts containing information about the projects, including the contract sums and duration, to enable the public to monitor and track progress and assess value for money.

Hon. Nuhu also informed participants that citizens can request public information from Assemblies through the appropriate channels, adding that the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC), a quasi-judicial body chaired by the Presiding Member, exists to adjudicate matters including those relating to access to information.

Sharing her experience after the event, the Queenmother of Babile, Pognaa Rose Haku, said youth voices are essential for the holistic development of society and urged that young people be given opportunities to speak wherever they find themselves.

She noted that “some young people may make more sense than an elderly person,” and urged that denying young people the opportunity to speak amounts to burying valuable perspectives that could help transform society.

President of the Fulbe Youth Association of Ghana (FUYAG), Upper West Chapter, Mr Salifu Ahmed, said the training was enlightening, particularly in helping him understand how young people can make their voices heard respectfully and how to access information and seek redress through the PRCC of the Assembly.

“Indeed, our capacities are built. From learning how to have our voices heard and seeking information and also lodging complaints for redress with the PRCC, I would say the training was very useful,” he said.

A participant from the Kperisi Electoral Area of the Wa Municipality, Mr Abdul-Salam Angaamwini, said one of the highlights for him was learning that contractors are expected to put up signposts detailing information about projects under execution to enable the public to better understand and monitor the work being done.

He added that “today, I have come to be aware that the RTI, Right to Information, is in force and I can use it to access information.”