Youth at the centre: NDPC and Youth Ministry join forces on national development plan
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, engaged the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment to strengthen collaboration and place the needs, aspirations and potential of young people at the centre of Ghana’s Consolidated National Development Plan. The engagement formed part of the NDPC’s ongoing stakeholder consultations on the development of the plan, with discussions focusing on youth development, skills, employment, values, coordination and resource optimisation.
The Director-General of the NDPC, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, emphasised the importance of broad-based stakeholder engagement in ensuring that the Consolidated National Development Plan reflected the realities and aspirations of Ghanaians and provided continuity beyond electoral cycles. “We should plan beyond electoral cycles to our generations,” she emphasised, stressing the importance of long-term thinking in national development.
Dr Amoah highlighted the significant proportion of Ghana’s population made up by young people, noting that their needs, aspirations and potential must therefore remain central to national planning. She highlighted issues including values, discipline, law and order, road safety, maintenance culture, integrity and professionalism. She further proposed the establishment of a Joint Technical Working Group between the NDPC and the Ministry to provide technical input into the plan and strengthen coordination.
The Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, Hon. George Opare Addo, emphasised the need to position young people as active participants in national development, rather than merely as beneficiaries of the future. “The youth are not just the future; we have already said that they are the now,” he stated. He noted that young people constitute about 40 per cent of the population and called for youth development to be mainstreamed across national policy areas, rather than treated as an add-on.
He outlined the Ministry’s five strategic areas as 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 the use of resources and ensure that youth programmes complement one another.
The Chief Director of the Ministry, Mrs Emma Ofori Agyemang, welcomed the proposed Joint Technical Working Group, describing values as a common thread running through the issues discussed. “The crux of what you have said is the issue of values,” she observed, while drawing attention to concerns relating to youth substance abuse, employability, volunteerism and work attitudes. She stressed the need for stronger coordination and evidence-based policy responses to emerging challenges affecting young people.
