Fight for Youth Confidence!

 

International Service and Youth Alive’s Fight for Youth Confidence

International Service is a UK based charity that train young adults between the ages of 18-25 and sends them to deprived communities for self-development and to support marginalised communities. As part of International Service in Ghana they work with Youth Alive.

Now what are the objectives of International Service and Youth Alive’s partnership?

1.       Eradication of poverty

2.       Discouraging child marriage

3.       Helping the youth in decision making

4.       Helping the youth to acquire skills

5.       Helping to protect and defend the rights of the youth

6.       Women Empowerment

This blog is focussing on Youth Confidence, an objective that the team are currently working on.

Youth Confidence

What is youth confidence?

Youth confidence is the trust that the youth have in themselves. The youth are the future leaders of every country; therefore, they need maximum attention from our society. They have the potential to contribute towards development, but their voices are not heard in Ghana.

So what are the main causes of lack of confidence in the youth?

1.       Religious laws – traditionally the youth and children are not allowed to take part in decision making, with the perception that they are ‘to be seen, but not heard’.

2.       Lack of knowledge about their rights

3.       Fear of punishment for speaking out from the elders.

4.       They are judged by their young age and not their knowledge.

5.       Cultural customs believe the youth have a lack of a voice

6.       The way they are brought up in their families or society

7.       Divided Youth Society. Together we stand, divided we fall.         

The International Service and Youth Alive partnership are working towards building the confidence of the youth. The channels which the youth can be empowered to make their voice heard are:

1.    Education

2.    Moral training

3.    Community involvement [clean up exercise or communal labour].

4.    Taking part in decision making

5.    Taking leadership roles

6.    Forming youth clubs

The team are advocating these channels through school sensitisations and radio shows.

I believe, if the above causes are well understood by the youth of our generation and the channels are acted upon, their voice will be heard as never before.  Thank You.

Blog Author: Asupah Raphael