Child and Youth Finance Week commemorated in Ghana

Ghanaian children and young adults are being exposed to a global platform which empowers them with the tools and knowledge to keep and manage their finances.

The World's Financial Challenge, also known as WOFCHA.org, is a movement that believes every young person should have access to a safe place to save money.

It is an initiative of Child and Youth Finance International, a non-profit organization based in The Netherlands.

The web-based platform enables the youth to share ideas with other teens the world over about their financial issues. The community challenges young ones to take their financial future in their own hands.

In Ghana, Bright Generation Community Foundation is spearheading the commemoration of the Child and Youth Finance Day/Week, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service, the National Youth Authority, and other financial and corporate institutions.

Executive Director, Bernice Dapaah tells Luv Fm about 400 children and some have been targeted for the pilot project starting from March 15, 2012.

She says the initiative will help young people learn the skills to manage their resources, instill positive financial habits and allow them to make smart financial choices.

“The children and young adults will be tutored in financial discipline, whilst clubs are formed in schools to inculcate the spirit of savings. As part of the week celebration, they will be paying visits to financial institutions to familiarize with the banking system”, she told Luv Fm.

The goal of the WOFCHA.org movement is to ensure financial access to 100 million young people by 2015, by offering forums and facts dedicated to the financial matters of today's youth.

Child and Youth Finance International coordinates celebrations for the ChildFinance Day/Week in multiple countries to ensure that 100 countries have an action plan for introducing ChildFinance activities nationally.

Children and youth make up almost half on the world's population, yet only one country mandates financial education as part of its formal curriculum, and no country has special regulation for savings products specifically catering to children. In most countries, the minimum age for children to have full control over their own accounts is 18 years old.

The WOFCHA movement seeks to create linkages among central banks and regulatory authorities to engage in the topic of children's financial education and access.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv Fm/Ghana