The Youth Interreligious Parliament is a vibrant group of young people from varied ethnic, political, and religious affiliations all driven by a shared passion to foster a peaceful and prosperous Ghana. Facilitated by a 2023 Kofi Annan Changemaker and ASFIT, a youth-led peacebuilding NGO with the support of the Kofi Annan Foundation, the parliament serves as a safe space for constructive dialogue, convenes 60 young people from 10 communities to co-create ideas and share recommendations with the relevant stakeholders.
As members of the parliament jointly lead advocacy efforts in their communities, a team from ASFIT engages them to understand their challenges, updates and how to effectively support them to lead peace efforts in their communities.
Some of the challenges identified including resistance from stakeholders, negative perception of young people being inexperienced and should not be involved in ‘sensitive’ issues, capacity gaps, logistical issues such as lack of projectors, banners etc. Through the Youth Interreligious Parliament initiative, ASFIT remains committed to support Youth Members of the Parliament to co-create and jointly implement peace initiatives in their communities; becoming positive examples and making recommendations to stakeholders for action.
