Director of public affairs of Ghana’s Parliament, Kate Addo, is in London, UK for a three day conference on inclusive politics and practice in the Commonwealth.
She is to present a paper during one of the conference’s breakout sessions on the topic, “young people in politics: changing perceptions”.
Her presentation is expected to focus on the inclusion of youth in Ghana’s parliamentary democratic processes, using the vehicle of youth parliaments.
The conference which is from March 4 to 6, 2020 is part of the COMMONWEALTH PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRACY (CP4D) PROGRAMME. The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is a key part of this initiative and it is on their nomination that Kate Addo is attending the conference.
The WFD is the UK’s leading democracy-strengthenig organisation that brings together parliamentary and political party expertise to support developing countries and countries transitioning to democracy. The WFD has been working very closely with the Public Affairs department of the Parliament of Ghana to ensure that the country achieves a truly inclusive and representative democracy, especially with regards to young people.
They have remained key partners in the formation and maintenance of youth parliaments in some selected universities in Ghana.
Some Completed Activities that has so far been undertaken by the WFD with support from the Public Affairs department of Ghana’s Parliament include
– Capacity Assessment of Six Students Parliaments
– Capacity Building of 22 University Students’ Parliaments
– Support to Parliament to organise a Roundtable Meeting on Youth Parliaments in Ghana at Koforidua;
– Preliminary Stage of Commonwealth Day Inter-Universities Debate and Quiz Competition
– Semi-Finals Stage of Commonwealth Day Inter-Universities Debate and Quiz Competition.
Some Upcoming Activities include
– The Finals of Commonwealth Day Inter-Universities Debate and Quiz Competition.
The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) was established in 1992 after the fall of the Berlin Wall as a non-departmental public body which operated closely with, but independent of the UK Government. The vision of the organization was to support democracy, to ensure inclusive governance.
WFD, since 2010 has been supporting the Parliament of Ghana through its Integrated Programmes.
Source: ghananewsonline.com.gh