Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Osman Abdulai Ayariga, has called for youth development to be mainstreamed across all sectors of Ghana’s economy and governance.

He said youth development could not be left solely to the National Youth Authority and the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment because policies across sectors have direct consequences for young people.

Speaking at the National Youth Forum at UPSA on Wednesday, August 19, Mr Ayariga said education, agriculture, employment, health, trade, technology, housing, climate, and local governance policies must all deliberately take the interests of young people into account.

“Youth development cannot be the responsibility of the National Youth Authority or the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment alone,” he said.

According to him, youth considerations must be integrated into the policies, budgets, programmes and monitoring frameworks of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

He said the emerging Regional and District Youth Committees would provide structures through which stakeholders could coordinate youth development programmes, identify priorities, reduce duplication, and monitor interventions at the local level.

Mr Ayariga also highlighted the Ghana Youth Federation and the Ghana Network of Youth with Disabilities as important components of the emerging national youth development architecture.

He said the ongoing development of a Legislative Instrument to operationalise the National Youth Authority Act, 2016 (Act 939), would further strengthen the institutional framework for youth development.

“We are confident that, once completed and approved by Parliament, the LI will strengthen the Authority’s institutional foundation and significantly improve the effectiveness, coordination and delivery of our programmes and operations,” he said.

He said the ultimate objective was to establish a system in which youth development was systematically planned, adequately resourced, effectively coordinated and regularly monitored.