The 3rd International Scout and Guide Fellowship (ISGF) Africa Regional Conference 2019, was held in Accra Thursday at the Abokobi Presbyterian Women Centre.
Held on the theme, “Discovering the Potentials in Africa; The Role of Adult Scouts and Guides Fellowship”, representatives from countries including Benin, Togo, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Senegal, converged in Ghana for the conference.
The main objective of the conference was to create awareness of the immense role the fellowship was playing to help Government and all allied youth institutions and organizations, to discover and to harness potential talents of the youth for the development of the Nation.
Speaking at the conference, the President of the ISGF, Mr Prosper Bani said the ISGF Ghana, was committed to working with the Scouts and Guides Movement in Ghana, to ensure that they build on the work that previous scout leaders in Ghana had achieved.
“It is my conviction that we as leaders of the scout movement have an opportunity to reignite the elements of scouting that can contribute to ameliorating the challenges confronting the youth of today,” he said.
Mr Bani underscored the need to reach out to the young people in schools and in communities to inculcate the tenets of patriotism, self-help, environment protection as in cleanliness, respect for the elderly, protection of community and state property, commitment to education, and the determination to achieve the best for self and nation.
“To achieve these with the youth, we have to speak their language, understand and appreciate their current challenges and to reassure the youth of our commitment to work with them to provide a secure environment that will provide them hope for a better world for the future,” he said.
Mr Bani encouraged the scout movement to embrace the increasing world of technology which is and will continue to drive regional and local development in all spheres of life.
He called on the media fraternity to work with the ISGF to bring back scouting forcefully to young people by partnering with the ISGF in its efforts to increase scouting in Ghana, Africa and globally.
The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Perry Okudzeto noted that expanding and creating the appropriate infrastructure was crucial to the overall development of every youth, therefore adding that the current Government has started the construction of 10 Multipurpose Youth Resource Centres across the country.
The resource centres, he said, will have a standard FIFA pitch, gymnasium, multi-purpose youth centre, an entrepreneurship centre and a counseling unit.
After completion, he stated that the centres will also serve as a safe haven to identify and monitor the development of young people at the grassroots level, while the youth will also be engaged in various strategic programmes and activities that will help them sharpen their skills and acquire new ones.
Perry Okudzeto then called for a collaboration between the Ministry and the ISGF to establish the scouts and guide fellowship in regions across the country, in order to imbibe discipline in the youth.
The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan also encouraged the members of ISGF to take up projects that will help develop the youth in the Region.
Background
The ISGF is a worldwide organisation for adults in support of Scouting and Guiding. It welcomes individuals who want to strengthen the dialogue between communities through community-oriented projects worldwide.
It is also opened to former members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), and to adults who did not have the opportunity to be scouts or Guides and active Scout/ Guide leaders who believe in their ideals.
Its objective in 2019 is to promote the rich Ghanaian and Africa Culture, arts and tourism to the world, in order to boost and create wealth for local businesses.
Meanwhile, the first and second edition was held in Zambia and Burkina Faso respectively.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
