Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

The Young NIMD delegation, comprising representatives of three political youth organizations from The Netherlands (CDjA, Jonge Democraten and Perspectief), met with the youth branches of the four largest political parties in Ghana. The delegates visited the parties’ headquarters in Accra, met with policy makers at the ministry of Youth and Sport and participated in a youth congress in the city of Aksombo.

At the congress, the Dutch held a presentation about the relations between political youth organizations and their mother parties in the Netherlands, where parties receive funding earmarked for youth branches from the government. De presentation resulted in the adoption of a resolution by the Ghanaian youth in which they demand government funding for political youth organizations in Ghana. The resolution was supported by two members of parliament representing Ghana’s two largest parties at the congress.

The Young NIMD delegates were impressed by size of political youth organizations in Ghana, which have millions of members. Ghanaian youth can therefore exercise quite some influence within political parties. This in contrast to the Netherlands where, as one of the Dutch delegates put it, ‘youth are a minority so they have to make more noise in order to be heard’.

In 2007, Young NIMD will welcome Ghanaian youth in The Netherlands, where they will attend a number of youth congresses and training workshops.