The 2030 Youth Alliance, a coalition of youth-led civil society organisation has congratulated all young people in Ghana and Africa for their positive contribution towards the promotion of peace and security.

A statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Ametepey, the Convener, 2030 Youth Alliance and copied to the Ghana News Agency said every year, August 12, was set aside by the United Nations as International Youth Day, in order to recognise the pivotal role of young people and encourage their participation in nation building.

It said on December 9 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security.

“This historic document is the first of its kind to acknowledge the positive role of young people in building sustainable peace, and further underscores the need for governments and other stakeholders to support the youth in this role.

“Subsequently, the UN Security Council Resolution 2282 (2016) further emphasises that the scale and challenges of building sustainable peace requires partnership among stakeholders, including young people and youth organisations.

“The African Youth Charter recognises the important role of the youth in promoting peace and non-violence and the lasting physical and psychological scars that result from involvement in violence, armed conflict and wars.

“The National Youth Policy of Ghana also identifies peace and security as essential prerequisites for development, the absence of which threatens good governance and nation building.

“The National Youth Policy of Ghana further identifies the critical need to promote conflict prevention among the youth as a major stakeholder in peace building and also oblige government in collaboration with other stakeholders to promote active youth participation in conflict prevention, resolution and in peace building.

“Towards this end, we consider the theme for this year’s celebration dubbed: "Youth Building Peace” as appropriate.

The statement said unfortunately, in Ghana, the potentials of the youth in peace building and conflict prevention has not been fully exploited.

For instance, the National Peace Council Act 818 (2011) makes no provision for youth representation and participation in peace building efforts.

It said a recent study conducted by the 2030 Youth Alliance also revealed that young people were recognised in Ghana as trouble makers; with majority of the respondents pointing to the activities of party vigilante youth groups as one of the greatest threats to the country’s political stability.

It said consequently, the youth were neither recognised as effective peace agents nor incorporated into both the traditional and formal peace architecture of the country.

“Hence, as we mark this special day, 2030 Youth Alliance wishes to call on government, traditional rulers, the peace council and other peace building agencies to streamline youth participation into peace building and conflict prevention processes in Ghana.

“On the other hand, to curtail the activities of political party youth vigilante groups, we further call on government to create more economic and livelihood opportunities for the youth through skills training while streamlining its social protection policies, such as the youth employment programme to benefit all young people in Ghana, rather than a section of …party youth.

“Finally, we call on government and the private sector to fully resource the National Youth Authority at the district level to deliver on their mandate to develop a strong and discipline youth imbued with the spirit of Nationalism, self-reliance, leadership, civic responsibility and a sense of public service and morality.

The 2030 Youth Alliance is a coalition of youth-led civil society organisations working to ensure that African youth drive the implementation of the United Nation`s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Africa.

The members are made of Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG), AKO Foundation, Centre for Development and Policy Advocacy (CEDEPA-Ghana), Kairos Ladies Network, Lord Agbavor Foundation, Arrows Communications and Media Consult and Youth AID Initiative Ghana.

The 2030 Youth Alliance is the convener of the First African Youth SDG Summit scheduled to take place from November 1- November 2, at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Center, Accra Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports with support from UNDP Ghana.