Ghana Beyond Aid Impossible Without Job Creation – CDD boss

General News of Monday, June 17, 2019

Source: 3news.com

2019-06-17

Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Development in Ghana (Ghana-CSD), observed that Ghana needed to develop its human resources in order to carry out the much discussed program of Ghana, Beyond Africa. ;help.

Professor Prempeh is of the opinion that the completion of the agenda of "Beyond Assistance in Ghana" will remain a mirage if one does not attach to build capacity in human resources, including creating jobs for young people.

At a CDD-Ghana breakfast meeting on youth unemployment, Professor Prempeh stressed that youth unemployment needed to be looked into more closely.

In particular, he stressed that the popular agenda of "Ghana Beyond Aid" could not be realized and maintained without paying attention to job creation and conscious investment in human resources of the country.

"Skills development and job creation need to be encouraged, innovations and entrepreneurial ideas need to be supported," he said.

Other speakers at the meeting agreed that Ghana would be able to contain youth unemployment if the government reconsidered its policies for creating jobs and entrepreneurship.

Organized under the theme "Creating Jobs and Entrepreneurs for an Autonomous Ghana", this event triggered a more in-depth discussion on how government and other stakeholders can harness the potential of young people, while taking a critical look at the various initiatives under way solve the problem of unemployment in the country.

Suggested solutions

Professor Prempeh believes that it is essential that young people have an interest in the economy because the dangers badociated with their inability to access employment opportunities can not be ignored.

The US Ambbadador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, also said that no country can prosper unless priority is given to young people and they are given the tools and support they need to create their own country. to come up.

Kristen Lord, President and CEO of IREX, said that while there is no silver bullet in youth employment, Ghana, like Many African countries already have the necessary structures to deal effectively with the problem.

"The good news is that most of the ingredients for success are already there. It's not about creating a whole new strategy, it's about making better use of the ingredients that are already available here, "she said.

That's why she encouraged the country's education system to introduce critical thinking and general skills development into the curriculum to help shape the students' minds and abilities.

Context

Statistics show that in 2018, the unemployment rate in Ghana was 6.7% for people aged 15 and over, which represents about 2 million unemployed Ghanaians, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). ).

Once again, the findings of the Afrobarometer survey also show that unemployment is the most important problem that Ghanaians want the government to attack and that among the UN's sustainable development goals, ODD8 focuses on promoting a sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full productive employment work for all, is the highest priority of Ghanaians.

Afrobarometer data show that four in ten Ghanaians have considered emigrating and that more than half (53%) of those who considered migrating wish to do so to find work.

It is therefore not surprising that citizens of all ages systematically evaluate the poor in their government for job creation.