SAVE Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization, has convened a Regional Youth Forum to amplify the voices of youth, women and vulnerable groups in the Upper West Region.
The forum, held on February 20, 2025, as part of the HEARD program, brought together youth advocates, youth organizations, students from second-cycle and tertiary institutions, and queenmothers.
The HEARD (Heard Everywhere and Represented Daily) program, funded by Norsaac, aims to promote the voice, participation and inclusion of rural vulnerable youth and women in Ghana’s governance processes.
SAVE Ghana, since the inception of the HEARD activity, has been working with youth and minority groups including the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, Young Female Influencers, Fulbe Youth Association of Ghana, and the Upper West Region Queenmothers Association.
Mr. James Baba Anabiga, the Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, giving an overview of the project, said the HEARD project is focused on ensuring the voices of youth and women are not sidelined in government decision-making.
"This project seeks to ensure that the voices of the youth and that of women is actually heard everywhere, not just in a particular corner, but everywhere and not seasonal opportunity for our voices to be heard, but it should be heard every day and at every particular setting as far as Ghana's governance is concerned," he emphasized.
He underscored the importance of including the youth and women in the policy-making stages, saying it is unfair for policies to be created to solve a problem without consulting those directly affected by it.
Ms. Rama Rachael, the Project Lead for the HEARD activity, SAVE Ghana, highlighted the collaborative approach of the forum which brought together key youth groups and students, stressing the importance of ensuring broad representation in leadership as the project sought.
"This forum aims to ensure that the voices and ideas of young people and women are heard, and that they are represented in governance processes and decision-making," she said.
She noted that the resolutions from the forum would be laid before appropriate stakeholders and authorities, seeking their support in addressing the issues that promote the goal of the project.
“And so what we also want to do in the end is to at least what we discussed today, we are going to meet with the Regional Minister, put some of these things before him, and then we wait to see how far, he also helps us out in achieving the project goal," she noted.
Ms. Edith Dedixa, a participant and member of the Young Female Influencers, expressing her thoughts on the forum and project, said “The HEARD project is all about ensuring that the voices of young people and women are not drowned out but are heard loudly and frequently. We need not just seats at the governance table but decision-making powers that reflect our ideas, our concerns, and our priorities.”
She expressed optimism that, meeting the Upper West Regional Minister with the issues discussed at the forum, “with his support we can ensure that at the end of the day, women are well represented, young people are well represented, and the minority groups are also well represented in government structure, processes, and decision making as well.”
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