Accra: The National Population Council (NPC) has launched Ghana's 2026 World Population Day celebrations with a renewed call for increased investment in Ghana's youth to accelerate sustainable national development.
According to Ghana News Agency, the launch, done in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), highlighted the need for greater commitment to quality education, healthcare, skills development, entrepreneurship, innovation, and youth participation in governance to enable young people to realise their full potential.
At the launch in Accra, Mrs. Angelina Osei Kodua-Nyanor, Acting Executive Director of the NPC, emphasized that Ghana's youthful population remained the country's greatest asset and required deliberate investment to harness its demographic dividend. She cited the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which indicated that about 12 million young people, representing 38.2 percent of Ghana's population, were between the ages of 15 and 35 years, presenting enormous opportunities to drive innovation, productivity, and economic growth.
Mrs. Kodua-Nyanor acknowledged the challenges faced by the youth, including unemployment, limited access to quality education, gender inequalities, and inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health services. She stressed the importance of sustained investment in young people through policies and programmes that empower them to contribute to national development.
The global theme for the 2026 celebration is "Realising the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People: Today and for the Future," with Ghana adopting the national theme "Investing in Ghana's Future through Healthy, Skilled and Empowered Young People." Mrs. Kodua-Nyanor emphasized that young people should be seen as innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders essential for Ghana's future.
Outlining activities for this year's celebration, Mrs. Kodua-Nyanor announced a World Population Day float through East Legon and Madina's streets on July 27 to raise public awareness. The event will include free health screenings, counselling, and a 'Know Your Status' campaign. A national commemoration on July 28 will bring together various stakeholders to discuss strategies for youth development investment.
Additionally, the NPC will conduct a month-long public education campaign with media engagements, community outreach, youth dialogues, digital campaigns, and policy discussions. Mrs. Kodua-Nyanor urged partners across sectors to work together to expand access to education, skills training, jobs, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and digital inclusion for young people. She also called on the media to support the campaign through extensive publicity, highlighting the necessity of informed national dialogue.
Dr. David Wilfred Ochan, UNFPA Representative in Ghana, reaffirmed the Fund's commitment to supporting the Government and NPC in prioritizing population issues in national development planning. He emphasized that a youthful population could become a demographic dividend when young people are healthy, educated, skilled, and productively employed. "This World Population Day, our message is simple: your hopes and aspirations are valid, and UNFPA is committed to reaching every young person, wherever they live," he stated.