Ghana: West Africa youth network meets to build its political representatives.

 

BWI has adopted at its last Congress in Bangkok among others resolutions the Promotion of youth in trade unions and maintaining systems of education and training for them.
To this end, all trade unions shall create and extend networks or structures to allow young workers, grow through unions structures enrich and strengthen them, discover their own potential and make a serious contribution to decision-making processes and action.

To implement this resolution BWI Africa and Middle East Region decided to gathers West Africa youth from building, construction, wood and forestry unions to a network meeting with aim to build a political youth structure that represents West Africa Anglophone and Francophone sub region at AFRECO.
The youth network meeting was held in Accra, Ghana from 5th to 6th June and has gathered 19 participants from Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Nigeria and Ghana. In his welcome remarks Bernard Adjei, Deputy General Secretary of the Public Services Workers Union of Ghana and former West Africa youth representative at BWI AFRECO, summarized the path traversed by Africa youth in the process of their integration into the instance of BWI at the BWI last congress in Bangkok.

He encourages the new generation of youth to take up the torch to continue the fight for better integration of young people in BWI structures and activities and in their respective unions
Representing BWI Ghana affiliates, Michael Pius Quainoo, General Secretary of the Construction and Building Material Workers Union of Ghana, invited West Africa youth to keep vibrant in trade unions and united for the trade unionism future in Africa. Youth in Africa have many challenges among others unemployment, lack of vocational training and weak representation in trade unions. These challenges could not be solved without a real integration of youth in the trade union movement.

“AFRECO leaders are proud of Africa youth for the major role they played in the adoption at BWI Bangkok congress of resolution integrating youth into the BWI structures at regional and national levels….” Michael Pius said