HOW CAN YOUTH MAINSTREAMING WORK IN GHANA? Youth Policy is a cross-sectoral or horizontal policy area that affects several sectors. A policy area as such is not responsible for the funds necessary to achieve the political goals. Instead, implementation must take place via vertical sectors and areas that control resources. Ghana's National Youth Policy sets the tone for youth mainstreaming. In all, seventeen(17) priority areas have been identified as follows: Education and Skills Training; Science, Research and Tech­nology; Information and Communication Tech­nology(ICT); Youth and Employment; Entre­preneurial Development; Youth in Modern Agriculture; Gender Mainstreaming; Environ­ment; Health, HIV and AIDS; Networking and Partnership; Mentoring; Arts and Culture; Govern­ance, Democracy, and Leadership; Sports and Recreation; Youth in Conflict Prevention and Peace Building and National Youth Week. The next level is to create opportunities for young people themselves to engage, and before the youth can engage, they need the capacity to do so. There is therefore the need to facilitate the creation of a national youth platform that comprises youth groups and organisations of national character taking cognisance of their areas of interest per the respective priority areas in the youth policy. This youth platform should be replicated at the regional and district levels. The above approach to youth development requires high level of government commitment, availability of committed youth and development workers and other youth-related non­governmental organisations, strong management systems, adequate funding for implementation of the programmes, focused programme development which addresses real needs and a conscious attempt to institutionalise youth programmes CONCLUSION The policy also outlines clear objectives for each of the priority areas above. First of all, it is important to develop an implementation plan. This must involve the identification of all stakeholders from the various ministries, departments and agencies, development partners and non-governmental organisations involved in youth development and youth themselves. These stakeholders will then appreciate their respective roles in the implementation of each of the priority areas, set timelines, allocate resources for implementation and set up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. All organisations both state and non­state actors that deal with youth issues should be encouraged to consider youth perspectives in their work by engaging with young people Young people are also seeking their own alternatives. They present the vision of a social order struggling to emerge despite repression and economic hardship, and seeking to have a voice in societies whose basic structures are not conducive to listening to young voices. Nevertheless, the reality is that today's youth no longer accept or respect those structures and increasingly demand a voice of their own. The popular cliché that youth are the future leaders raises an important question as to the quality of investments being made in young people to prepare them for their role as leaders. Mainstreaming youth is the surest way of achieving effective youth development. Contact Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung P. O. Box KA 9722 Tel: 030 2 772471 761535 772687 Fax: 0302 772990 Web: www.fesghana.org ISBN 9988-572-96-4 About the Author Prosper Hoetu Executive Director Youth Network for Human Rights& Democracy P.O. Box GP 2381 Accra E-mail: pyhoetu@gmail.com ©Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Ghana, April 2011 Disclaimer The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert­Stiftung or of the organisation for which the author works. PARLIAMENTARY BRIEFING PAPER MAINSTREAMING YOUTH: THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA Prosper Hoetu INTRODUCTION Young people constitute a major source of human capital base that hold and drive the socio-cultural, economic as well as political development of their countries all over the world. Their intellectual abilities coupled with their productive acumen when properly harnessed underpin social progress. In a demographically young continent like Africa, young people represent immense potential, as both threat and opportunity. Political leaders demanding change and those seeking to defend the existing order, seek to mobilise young people to their side. In effect, the energies and abilities of young people are exploited positively through various activities that promote development and negatively through their involvement in violent conflict and other social vices that undermine social progress. In many countries in Africa, the population growth rate among young people is higher than the national averages. Even though a large youth cohort reduces labour market opportunities for the youth(World Bank, 2008) this phenomenon is not necessarily problematic. With appropriate policy interventions and institutions African countries could transform this challenge into opportunities by reaping the so-called demographic benefits which come from a large labour force. The enormity and the complexity of the challenges that confront young people create the panic in policy makers and government functionaries in charge of youth programmes with regard to the right approach to use in addressing such challenges and where to begin. The situation cannot be seen as hopeless after all. DEFINING YOUTH A persistent challenge confronting work with youth is defining who they are. The meaning of youth and how society perceives youth is subject to variations of time, space and societies. Functionally, youth is used to describe the transition period between the social categories of childhood and adulthood which is characterised by rituals and other physical changes. However, there are other important perspectives to defining youth. Culturally, the definition of youth relates to the role that individuals play in a given social context. In addition to this is the gender dimension in