The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has engaged the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment to strengthen collaboration and ensure that the needs, aspirations, and potential of young people are placed at the centre of Ghana’s Consolidated National Development Plan.
The engagement, held in Accra, formed part of NDPC’s ongoing stakeholder consultations on the plan, with discussions focusing on youth development, skills, employment, values, coordination, and resource optimisation.
Director‑General of the NDPC, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah, underscored the importance of broad‑based stakeholder engagement to ensure the plan reflects the realities and aspirations of Ghanaians while providing continuity beyond electoral cycles. “We should plan beyond electoral cycles to our generations,” she stressed, highlighting the need for long‑term thinking in national development.
Dr. Amoah noted that young people constitute a significant proportion of Ghana’s population, and their needs must remain central to planning. She pointed to issues of values, discipline, law and order, road safety, maintenance culture, integrity, and professionalism, and proposed the establishment of a Joint Technical Working Group between NDPC and the Ministry to provide technical input and strengthen coordination.
Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, Hon. George Opare Addo, emphasized the importance of positioning young people as active participants in national development. “The youth are not just the future; we have already said that they are the now,” he stated. He called for youth development to be mainstreamed across all national policy areas, noting that young people make up about 40 percent of Ghana’s population.
He outlined the Ministry’s five strategic focus areas: health and well‑being; skills training and education; economic empowerment; civic participation and community engagement; and personal development and growth. He further called for stronger institutional coordination to reduce duplication, optimise resources, and ensure complementarity of youth programmes.
Chief Director of the Ministry, Mrs. Emma Ofori Agyemang, welcomed the proposed Joint Technical Working Group, describing values as the common thread running through the issues discussed. She highlighted concerns relating to youth substance abuse, employability, volunteerism, and work attitudes, stressing the need for evidence‑based policy responses to emerging challenges.
The collaboration between NDPC and the Ministry is expected to ensure that Ghana’s Consolidated National Development Plan reflects the aspirations of its youth and secures their role as drivers of national progress.
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