Participants in the Annual New Year School have urged the Ministry of Local Governments, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to identify all economic activities carried out in the various districts and communities, and develop a sector-based regional 24-hour framework around them.
They said business activities in sectors such as agriculture, health care and services must be provided with the needed support to ensure the regionalisation of the 24-hour Economy policy.
“This support should include robust security as promised, a reliable network, uninterrupted power supply, and human capital,” a communiqué issued at the end of the conference in Accra last Wednesday said.
It said capacity-building and training for entrepreneurs should be standardised and mainstreamed into the municipal and district assembly objectives.
Again, it said, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be provided with capacity-building training and prepared to scale up through access to affordable capital and collaboration tools.
The communiqué, read by the Director of the 77th Annual New Year School and Conference, Prof. Simon-Peter Kafui Aheto, said the Ghanaian tax base must be run through digitising the informal sector.
Accountability
Measures of accountability, it said, must be strengthened through agenda, trust and patriotism, while young people should be involved in such discourse to come up with sustainable solutions.
It said immediate policies or legislation should outline how products from the digital and youth-focused training programmes would be willingly engaged.
“One potential approach is to explore opportunities for skills exports to maximise their employment prospects,” it said.
The communiqué said formal platforms should be created to increase young people’s participation in policy formulation and implementation at the district, regional and national levels.
The Ministry of Education, it said, should consider the launch of a national talent hunt programme across groups and communities to identify valid skills in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship
The communiqué said youth entrepreneurs must be honest and provided with the requisite funding, technical training, regulatory compliance, and logistical support needed for the assessors.
It said social enterprises in which young people were engaged were indicators of alternative sources of job creation and opportunities, which should be encouraged to effectively address unemployment.
It said there was a need to revitalise Ghanaian sports and take advantage of the opportunities available to the youth in the sports industry.
It said inter-school sports competitions must be reinstated, expanded, and a dedicated time allocated on the academic calendar for physical education and sports activities.
Investments, it said, should be made in ultra-modern sports facilities at the community and school levels to encourage participation and talent development.
It added that an independent sports ethics committee should be established to monitor governance in the sector and eliminate corruption in sports administration.
Health
The communiqué said recognising health as a necessity for human capital, health education should be integrated into school curricula from early childhood education with a focus on nutrition, hygiene, and preventive health care.
It said community-based health campaigns should be run to promote good public health.
The communique said promoting justice in the country’s democracy was vital and required strict adherence to the rule of law and the fair distribution of justice to all individuals.
It said leaders who violated the law should be prosecuted to set a strong example and reinforce public trust in the government system.
It said the strengthening of local governance and decentralisation required establishing up-front data systems for district assemblies and modernisation of community digitalisation through the use of technology.
Bills
It said the various bills before Parliament, namely the Conduct of Public Officials Bill and the Public Traveller Bill, should be passed to address the problem of corruption at the level of leadership.
It said technology must be leveraged to drive industrial growth by harnessing innovation and digitalisation.
“While simultaneously promoting local content and interpretation through support of the SMEs and local industries, public-private partnerships are essential for achieving this,” it said.
It is a nation where manufacturing processes are eco-friendly, and there are effective waste management strategies.
And there we practise effective waste management strategies. It said robust supply chain management must be developed by fostering partnerships with local suppliers, ensuring improved logistical support.
The Provost of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences of the University of Ghana, Prof. Sandow Mark Yidana, who chaired the event, said the conference had demonstrated that the annual event was a national platform for constructive dialogue.
For his part, the Executive Director of the Annual New Year School and Conference, Dr Andrews Jack Dotsey, said: “Building the Ghana we want begins with you and me”.
This year’s event was on the theme: “Building the Ghana We Want Together for Sustainable Development”.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh