Established in 2002 with a vision to enable self-reliant and self-sufficient youth, to live in a more equal, healthy, and prosperous society and a mission to support and empower the youth to achieve their full potential in their personal life, professional development and contribute to a sustainable environment, Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, as part of its 20th anniversary has launched a 5-year strategic plan.
With the new 5-year strategic plan the organization has planned to expand beyond the borders of the Upper East Region which will now serve as its headquarters to other regions including Greater Accra, North East, and Ashanti Regions.
The 5-year strategic plan which is under the theme; “Unleashing the power of the youth against poverty and social injustice” has six key goals the organization hopes to achieve.
Goal 1 is focusing on access to quality education for all.
The others are, to create a safer and more protective environment for adolescents to claim their sexual and reproductive health and rights, create employable skills opportunities for the youth through entrepreneurial skills development programs, support smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods, ensure a sustainable and safe environment through climate-smart activities and improve strengthening and development.
The 20-year-old organization has over the years succeeded in contributing to the development of a national guideline for comprehensive sexuality education in Ghana, and worked to empower over 10,000 young people annually both in and out of school with Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights information and linked them to youth-friendly services, built a vibrant Harvest Youth Movement that offers opportunities for the youth to lead advocacy actions and undertake youth activities in rural communities, established a girls’ remedial school in 2014 that has provided second chances for over 200 deprived, poor rural girls to re-write their failed core subjects.
The organization has among other things supported over 5,000 young people and women groups with skills development through entrepreneurship training, mentoring, and startup capital.
In her address at the launch of the 5-year strategic plan, the Executive Director of Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, Priscilla Nyaaba notes that its plan of expanding will see them work with more senior high schools beyond the Bolgatanga Municipality.
“Goal one is focusing on access to quality education for all. If we say quality education for all, we mean inclusive education for all because education is the foundation for every young person. We also want to continue to create a safer environment for adolescents to claim their sexual and reproductive health and rights. We are going to expand to more schools.
Currently, we are in five senior high schools within the Bolgatanga Municipality. So, we want to expand to more schools. Goal 3, is to create employable skills opportunities for the youth. We know the unemployment situation in the country. So, we want to introduce them to the skills and that is why goal three will focus on. Among other things, we will support smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods.” She explained.
The Founder and senior adviser of the youth-centered organization, Dr. John Kingsley Krugu, has been detailing the journey thus far.
“I think that in the past 20 years, a lot has happened and what you see has been years of hard work. There have been times I worked for Youth Harvest without a salary and for us; the most important contribution to development has been in the area of development.”
