Overview of Youth Development in Ghana
Over the past two decades, Ghana has improved its social, economic and political structures and reduced inequalities across its population. Nevertheless, a variety of socio-economic issues still have a particular impact on the youth demographic, including underemployment, a lack of access to quality education, poverty, crime, migration and low civic participation. As the majority of Ghana’s population is under the age of 25, improvements for this demographic have the potential to facilitate a more sustainable and resilient society long-term. This book presents pragmatic policy- and programme-related recommendations for how Ghana can move forward, mainstreaming youth issues in its development strategies. For each socio-economic issue, it provides a baseline evaluation that can inform revisions of current policies as well as support the creation of new policies to ensure future success in youth development.
Contents
Foreword by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Ghana
Statement by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority, Ghana
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Boxes
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Summary
1. Introduction
1.1 Youth development and the evolving prioritisation of youth in policy and action
1.2 Youth leadership and engagement in development
1.3 Rationale and purpose
1.4 Theoretical framework: Positive Youth Development and capabilities
1.5 Approach to the report
1.6 Structure of the report
1.7 Ghanaian youth demographic profile
2. Youth and Vulnerabilities
2.1 Social protection strategy
2.2 Key vulnerabilities
2.3 Summary points
2.4 Recommendations
3. Education and Skills Training
3.1 A vision for Ghana’s education growth
3.2 Centralising and democratising education policy in the early 2000s
3.3 Current policies addressing educational access and quality in Ghana: The Education Strategic Plan
3.4 Looking forward to the Sustainable Development Goals (2020–2030)
3.5 Summary points
3.6 Recommendations
4. Information and Communication Technology
4.1 ICT and youth development in Ghana
4.2 Gender
4.3 Summary points
4.4 Recommendations
5. Health and Well-Being
5.1 HIV/AIDS
5.2 Sexual and reproductive health
5.3 Mental health
5.4 Substance use
5.5 Other non-communicable diseases and disability
5.6 Nutrition
5.7 Summary points
5.8 Recommendations
6. Sports and Recreation
6.1 Positive Youth Development and sports
6.2 Football
6.3 Current policy initiatives in sports and recreation
6.4 Gender and sports
6.5 Summary points
6.6 Recommendations
7. Economic Labour Force Participation and Skills Development
7.1 The current state of Ghana’s youth labour market
7.2 Expanding on the determinants of employability: Literacy, location and gender
7.3 Youth employment instability
7.4 Review of Ghana’s existing labour market
7.5 Employment and the informal sector
7.6 Climate change and the green job market
7.7 Youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy
7.8 Laying the foundations for SDG 8
7.9 A review of existing youth-related employment policies and programmes
7.10 Youth and agriculture
7.11 Summary points
7.12 Recommendations
8. Financial inclusion
8.1 Importance of financial inclusion among youth
8.2 Challenges to financial inclusion
8.3 Opportunities for financial inclusion
8.4 Summary points
8.5 Recommendations
9. Active Citizenship and Participation in Democratic Governance
9.1 Mechanisms, processes and structures for youth participation in governance
9.2 Policies supporting youth civic engagement
9.3 Youth participation in governance and challenges
9.4 Summary points
9.5 Recommendations
10. Youth and Crime
10.1 Defining youth crime
10.2 Juvenile justice legislation in Ghana
10.3 Factors influencing youth crime
10.4 Access to legal representation
10.5 Robbery
10.6 Criminal justice process
10.7 Life for juveniles after prison
10.8 Summary points
10.9 Recommendations
11. Youth, Conflict and Peace-Building
11.1 Conflict in Ghana
11.2 Defining youth violence
11.3 Sites of violence
11.4 Factors contributing to youth involvement in conflict
11.5 The cost of violence
11.6 The role of youth in peace-building
11.7 Summary points
11.8 Recommendations
12. Youth Volunteerism
12.1 Volunteerism in the context of sustainable development
12.2 Volunteerism among Ghanaian youth
12.3 Summary points
12.4 Recommendations
13. Culture, Religion, Life Skills and Tourism
13.1 Youth and religion
13.2 Culture
13.3 Human rights violations and indigenous practices
13.4 Youth and tourism development
13.5 Summary points
13.6 Recommendations
14. Youth and Environmental Sustainability in Ghana
14.1 Mining and deforestation
14.2 Agriculture
14.3 Oil
14.4 Green alternatives
14.5 Blue growth
14.6 Electronic waste
14.7 Policy gaps
14.8 Summary points
14.9 Recommendations
15. Youth and Disability
15.1 Persons with Disabilities Act 2006
15.2 Ghanaian youth and disability
15.3 Summary points
15.4 Recommendations
16. Youth Migration and Mobility
16.1 Ghanaian migration policies
16.2 Youth migration
16.3 Main factors related to migration
16.4 Immigration to Ghana
16.5 Impact of migration
16.6 Diaspora
16.7 Return migration
16.8 Summary points
16.9 Recommendations
17. Moving Forward: Getting Youth Policy Right in Ghana
17.1 Youth policies that fail young people
17.2 Understanding youth policy priorities in relation to country context
17.3 Getting youth policy right
17.4 Conclusion
Annex 1. UN Resolutions on Youth
Annex 2. Ghana Youth Development Scorecard: Adaptive Indicators for Monitoring and Evaluation
Annex 3. Institutions and Numbers of People Interviewed
Browse subjects
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