The 5th Cohort of YoLe Fellows in a group photograph with staff and personnel of the UNFPA Ghana Country Office.

Formally inaugurated in 2018 in line with the new UN Secretary-General’s Strategy on Youth, the Youth Leaders (YoLe) Fellowship Program prepares young people to lead meaningful careers in all spheres of society within Ghana and the global community. Following successful rollouts of the first, second, third and fourth cohorts, the Country Office welcomed again another set of young leaders to undergo a year of professional development training and engagement with UNFPA as an organization within the United Nations (UN) System.

Addressing staff and personnel of the Country Office at a brief meet-and-greet session to welcome the new youth leaders, the Country Representative, Dr. Wilfred Ochan, congratulated the YoLe Fellows for making it into the Fellowship, adding: ‘We hope to benefit from your youthful energy and potential, as we also assist you with knowledge of the work we do to build your capacity.’

So far, since its inception, the Fellowship has brought on board a total of 124 young people for training and professional development. Out of this number, there have been more females as a strategic way of empowering girls and bridging the labour and skills gap in gender. A number of the Fellows since the end of their respective period in the program have gone on to work with other UN organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and the private sector. Some have also gone on to pursue higher education programmes in institutions across the world.

The 5th Cohort of YoLe Fellows have come in at the beginning of the implementation of the 8th Country Programme of Cooperation (2023-2027) UNFPA signed with the Government of Ghana. The 5th Cohort of YoLe Fellows are expected to build on the legacy of preceding cohorts by designing innovative solutions to accelerate development programming by the UNFPA Ghana Country Office for the benefit of the people of Ghana, especially women, adolescents and young people.