The British Council, in collaboration with the World Bank Group, has launched an awareness campaign on Ghanaian radio entitled Yєn Kyєfa. The campaign forms part of the British Council’s Debate to Action programme and will share ideas on how to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to the website, Yєn Kyєfa will be broadcast on Adom FM’s 106.3 Ofie Kwanso show 1600 - 1645 and aims to reach over two million listeners. It will identify and monitor the contributions that young people are making towards the development of Ghana, and thus share their skills and strategies.
Callers to the show will describe what they are doing in their communities to help achieve the MDGs and Ghana’s macro-economic poverty reduction strategy, known as GPRS II. Ten of the best projects will be chosen as finalists. Callers get to call in during the 2nd week of the campaign from 1630 - 1645. Each caller gets a minute to talk about their projects.
In a final show to be held at the British Council, project owners will defend their projects to a panel of judges. The winner will be awarded £1 000 to support their project.
Debate to Action project co-ordinator Sydney Tetteh Hushie says the campaign ‘will go towards supporting the goals of eradicating poverty and strengthening the youth capacity development drives that are currently being undertaken by government and other development organisations.’
Debate to Action is a learning programme designed to help young people who are active in their community to access information about development in their country.
The project is also running in Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
In this programme the British Council and the World Bank recruit part-time personnel to organise and train youth leaders on development issues and peer education techniques.
‘These include improving livelihood opportunities, addressing the growth of HIV/AIDS, improving literacy skills, and protecting the environment.’
| The United Nations Millennium Development Goals include the following: |
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Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
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Achieve universal primary education |
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Promote gender equality and empowering women |
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Reduce child mortality |
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Combat HI/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
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Ensure environmental stability |
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Develop global partnerships |
According to the press release marking the campaign launch, the British Council’s director in Ghana, Moses Anibaba, said the country needed to encourage young people to lead in turning debate and knowledge into sustainable action within communities.
For more information about Debate to Action click here. To read more about British Council events and programmes, please visit this page. Read our latest news here: News in Africa section.
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