THE youth have been encouraged to exhibit their first aid skills and renew their commitment to volunteerism in order to carry the movement and lifesaving mandate of the Ghana Red Cross Society forward.
Ghanaians have also been advised to recognise, invest in and empower the next generation with the understanding and knowledge of serving humanity.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), Mrs Yvonne Asare, made the call at the World Red Cross Red Crescent day celebration in Accra.
To mark this year’s celebration, dubbed: “Youth on the move: Saving lives through Volunteerism,” the GRCS recognised the contributions of young people and encouraged them to continue to do more and better.
The GRCS had supported millions of people in various states of vulnerability to promote good health, disaster response management and preparedness, promotion of peace and International Humanitarian Law (IHL), peaceful co-existence among people, improvement of livelihoods, health education, social mobilisation and first aid.
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| A coss section of members of the red cross in parade. Picture: Mary Ankrah |
The bulk of the work of the GRCS is carried out by the society’s corps of dedicated volunteers numbering about 60,000 with the youth making up nearly 60 per cent of the number.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Asare emphasised that in the face of major challenges in the world such as climate change, conflicts and violence, migration and urbanisation, young people across the world were showing their desire to be part of the solution.
She further said that the youth were helping their communities prepare for disasters, facilitating safe and equitable access to health care, accepting responsibility as agents of behavioural change and building a culture of peace.
“The youth around the world are exploring humanitarian law, enabling them as tomorrow’s leaders to take decisions preventing unnecessary suffering in times of armed conflicts and other situations of violence,” she said.
She observed that young people were already making a profound difference in the lives of the vulnerable people and had true capacity to become community champions to provide the needed expertise in the world.
For those reasons, she urged the youth to fill the positions of leadership within the humanitarian network, and said they should be afforded real support to advise on strategic decision-making of the movement in the country.
“The youth should increasingly become the face and the voice of the movement, allowing greater access to new generation of volunteers and leadership to come after them,” she observed.
For her part, a representative from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Idrissa Sow, pointed out that volunteers had been the backbone of the movement since its inception, assisting millions of vulnerable people in times of need yet most of the volunteers worked under harsh conditions.
He added that the volunteers would need support and good management to be able to make a difference in the country.
She, therefore, called on stakeholders to assist in addressing some of the challenges facing the volunteers.
The celebration was marked with a parade, blood donation and a first aid competition by children from different schools in Accra.
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