Youth of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly, Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, have identified issues in the locality and found homegrown solutions to those matters, called theory of change.
The two-day co-creation workshop for youth development in the New Juaben South Municipality was held from Wednesday, October 16 to Thursday, October 17, 2024 at the Capital View Hotel in Koforidua.
Participants were drawn from the various youth groups in the Municipality, including the Youth Parliament, Kofkro, and assembly members.
The NJSM Chief Executive, the Municipal Coordinator and the Member of Parliament for the New Juaben South Constituency were all present for the workshop and gave brief messages to encourage the youth, as well as the Eastern Regional Minister, who spoke through a representative.
The Head of Programmes at Star-Ghana Foundation, Eunice R. Agbenyadzi, reminded the participants that “it takes people, commitment and action to get work done and achieve progress.”
She urged participants to embrace their roles as active citizens, pushing for accountability from duty bearers and constructively contributing to development efforts.
IDEAS
The youth groups agreed on varieties of ideas, including vocational skills training and how improved access to and affordable healthcare.
Among others, the youth, as part of the KofKro project, funded by FondationBotnar, agreed to improve digital skills training for the youth by creating access to digital infrastructure such as ICT laboratories.
They also want to improve digital skill training for the youth by partnering with Tech Hubs.
They also discussed the need to change the mindset of the youth to ensure their active participation in governance by sensitising them through workshops and others.
The workshop was moderated by Dr. Ernestina Korliki-Tetteh and Raymond Danso of the Star-Ghana Foundation.
In her closing remarks, Dr. Ernestina Korliki-Tetteh said the youth had gathered to create what she called the theory of change.
She indicated that she was impressed with the participation of the youth, attributing it to their love for the Municipality and also thanked FondationBotnar for the partnership.
Some of the participants shared their experiences after the training. While some said the workshop had built their confidence to engage constructively, others said that the workshop reminded them about the need to actively participate in the development of the Municipality.
IMPRESSION
Speaking with The Chronicle after observing the two-day workshop, the Partnerships Coordinator of the FondationBotnar, Zur Oren, highlighted the commitment of the youth to the project.
According to him, the commitment drove the passion to bring out realistic plans as a youth-focused working document to improve life in the municipality.
Zur told this paper that he observed a shared understanding among the youth on what was good for them and how to implement and own it themselves.
“I think that there is a shared understanding in the room of what it is that we want to do and the importance of the local drive, the local ownership. And for me, this is a huge success,” he remarked.
On the collaboration between stakeholders, Zur was impressed, as he spoke highly of them, that the level of engagement was distinct as compared to other places.
He said “the fact that they’re working together, that there is an engagement and it’s a positive one, it’s very promising. And it’s not such an easy thing to achieve within such a short term. I think they’ve been working here only a year and a half.
“And in other places, it took much more time to see this level of engagement between the different stakeholders. So, overall, I’m extremely positive. I think that we will create a beautiful…,” he added.
To FondationBotnar, Zur said the positive collaboration between the stakeholders meant that “we have selected the right partners, the right city and that I feel, and I hope that our partners here also trust us, that we will be here for them in this journey.”
After the brainstorming, the partners are to refine the ideas in a way to produce a strategic document of the vision and the theory. This is to help stakeholders understand which of the visions are actionable.
When asked about the next step of the FondationBotnar with regards to the Our Koforidua project, Zur indicated that the actionable steps will determine whether the existing grant from FondationBotnar already has the means to support it so that the project can start.
“If not, we will need to go to the next round and allocate the funding that is needed to make things happen,” he explained.
He encouraged that youth that they have the strength, imagination, vision, belief, and care for their community.
“So, keep on dreaming and keep on doing. And don’t give up on your dreams. Everything is possible. Really, everything is possible if you will take the action and make it happen.,” he said.
FondationBotnar has a ten-year commitment to the city of Koforidua through its Our City project. During this time, the city must create actionable ideas for FondationBotnar to fund it through its partners.
