In a landmark move that merges public health with youth empowerment, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) have entered into a strategic partnership that will see young Ghanaians trained and engaged as frontline advocates in the national fight against HIV.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed today by Acting Director General of the GAC, Dr. Kharmecelle Prosper Akanbong, and CEO of the YEA, Malik Basintale, outlines a plan to integrate HIV awareness campaigns into Ghana’s broader youth employment framework.
Under the agreement, hundreds of young people will be trained and deployed as HIV ambassadors tasked with raising awareness, promoting safe sexual behaviour, and encouraging testing and treatment—particularly in high-incidence regions.
But beyond health education, the initiative also serves as a dual-purpose vehicle for youth employment, creating new roles for young people while directly engaging them in a life-saving mission.
“This is not just an HIV response; it’s an opportunity agenda,” said YEA’s CEO Malik Basintale. “We are providing jobs while transforming our youth into agents of change and health champions within their communities.”
For Dr. Akanbong, the partnership signals a shift in strategy—placing youth not as passive recipients of health messages but as powerful messengers and peer influencers in a fight that increasingly affects their demographic.
“With more than a third of new HIV infections occurring among young people, it’s only right that we turn to them—not just to protect themselves but to protect others,” he said.
The program is expected to launch in phases, with training modules and region-specific deployment starting in areas identified as high-risk zones. By tapping into YEA’s vast mobilization capacity, the campaign hopes to cover urban and rural communities alike.
As Ghana works to stem the tide of HIV among its youth, this innovative partnership offers a new model—one that fuses job creation with public health for maximum impact.
