Story by Kahlan Boatemaah Frimpong
A sense of hope filled the main auditorium of the Sunyani Technical University (STU) where some 95 adolescents, representing 19 constituencies in Sunyani gathered to brainstorm and collate views on practical measures needed to ensure a brighter tomorrow for residents of Sunyani.
Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), an NGO, organised the forum for adolescents and other stakeholders to seek their inputs into the Youth Manifesto being drafted to address key developmental challenges of the youth.
It formed part of the Resilient City for Adolescents (RCA) project, being implemented by GLOMEF and a consortium of partners, including Citizen Watch Ghana.
Participants were split into four groups, with each group tasked to come out with key developmental gaps that require the attention of city authorities and fashion out effective strategies needed to make Sunyani more welcoming to adolescents, youth and the physically-challenged.
Some of the issues that took centre-stage during discussions were the lack of job opportunities for the youth, poor road network, lack of adequate learning and teaching materials for schools, lack of state-of-the-art health facilities, poor sanitary conditions in the city and many others,
Some of the participants noted poor educational and health facilities in the city do not augur well for the effective growth and development of the youth in the area and called for urgent steps to address these teething challenges
Organizers said recommendations from the groups will be used as a Manifesto and sent to the Sunyani Municipal Assembly. The program ended with a call for unity and collective action.
(The writer, Kahlan Boatemaah Frimpong, is a 15-year-old Citizen Journalist in Sunyani).
