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President John Dramani Mahama says the government believes that investing in young people is the best legacy that the country can give them. He said it was partly for that reason that the government has established the Youth Enterprise Development Fund with initial seed money of GH�10 million to ease the burden on job seekers and first-time young business men and women to access capital to establish and expand their businesses. Addressing the second edition of the Head of State Award Gala and the 11th Gold Awards ceremony in Accra last Friday, the President said the government believed that investing in young people was the best investment the country could give them. The event was on the theme: �Celebrating the contribution of corporate institutions to youth development�. �We have managed to create employment for over 20,000 youth nationwide since government assumed office in 2009,� the President said. Awards In all, 37 young people were given the National Gold Award, while 11 others were also awarded for dedicated service, with three corporate institutions receiving the partners in youth development awards. The Head of State Award Scheme (HOSA), Ghana is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh�s International Award Foundation that engages young people in self-developing programmes worldwide. It also provides leisure time activities and a rewarding agenda that fills the gap left by formal tuition and equips young people with life skills, builds their confidence and engages them with their communities to make a difference to themselves and the world at large. The President encouraged the awardees to reach out to their peers in the communities to enable them to also cultivate the positive attitude towards development and values. Corporate bodies Mr Mahama said it was commendable that corporate institutions were focusing their activities on youth development in the country. He said that the country needed more corporate institutions to support the awards scheme for more young people to be equipped to develop their communities as responsible citizens. In his address, the Executive Director of HOSA, Ghana, Mr Peter Akai Anum said the awards programme continued to play a vital role in the sub-region and the world at large in terms of impact and best practices. �We continue to help shape global youth polices through participation in international youth forums, trainings, as well as serving on important committee and councils,� he said.