<<Print>>

The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) wishes to announce to all of its stakeholders and the general public, the introduction of its new innovative, employable and self-sustaining programs that are aimed at redirecting the narrative of the Agency, serve as a fortune for beneficiaries and a panacea to all exit challenges faced by the beneficiaries of the Agency.

These programs; Job Centre, Artisan Directory and the Regional and District Agric-based Flagship projects have been developed after thorough review and value for money audit of the existing modular programs which the Agency has been engulfed with in the last twelve years of existence.

The unemployment situation in the country necessitated stop gap measures that will train and give hands-on experience to young people and make them academically and practically ready for the Job Market. The Agency over the period has done very well in this direction by implementing Community Health Workers module, Community Protection Assistants module, Prisons Service Assistants module, Fire Service Assistants module, Community Education Teaching Assistants module among others. However, a major challenge identified after the review is the fate of beneficiaries who exit the modules. Even though some get absorbed by mother institutions, the figures are woefully inadequate, leading to a bulk majority of them finding their way back unto other modules, and the rest going back into the labour market unemployed.
Existing data also suggest that notwithstanding the immense contribution of these traditional modules, there is still a lot that can be done to facilitate sustainable employment for young people.

This can be achieved through skill development, mechanised agriculture and extensive partnerships with both the public and private sectors.

There is the need for an end to the seeming recycling of unemployment.

The Agency has therefore put forward and will within the next month launch its three new initiatives

1. The Job Centre 2. Artisan Directory and 3. The Regional and District Flagship Programs

⦁ The Job Centre is a platform (online and physical) that will connect job seekers to employers of all fields within the public and private sectors across the country. It will capture all formal and informal employers as well as graduate and non-graduate job seekers. The platform comes with three main components:

I. Online portal: this is a virtual platform that allows job seekers to search and apply for jobs advertised by employers while employers on the other hand enjoy the convenience of advertising vacancies online and placing a request to the Job Centre for the supply of goal oriented personnel.
II. Walk-in Centres: these are localized offices across all districts in the country designated to supporting and guiding job seekers and employers alike. It is a face-to-face centre where advisory, counselling and mentoring services will be provided.

III. Training Hub: will be temporal centres set up to provide quality training, skill upgrade and matching to give job seekers a heads start in the job market.

⦁ Second is the Artisan Directory. This is a skill development program that will build the capacity of artisans and craftsmen and train new ones in various crafts like carpentry, tiling, hairdressing, fashion design, plumbing etc. They will be put together in a common database where clients can easily access their services online. They will be monitored and supported till they become full blown entrepreneurs on their own.

⦁ Our third self-sustainable program is the Regional and District Flagship Program. This project is premised on the peculiar Agro-Business needs of the various districts across the country. Our district offices are being supported with funds to venture into viable Agricultural projects that will thrive within their communities while providing employment for its people. Some projects in the offing include Mechanised maize farms in the Bono Region, Aqua-Culture project in the Volta Region among others.

The Agency believes these are viable and self-sustaining projects that individually have the potential of expanding and employing more youth across the country who will eventually become permanently employed.

As we inform the public of our initiatives, we are by this press release calling on all Ghanaians and especially the corporate world to support these remarkable initiatives in our quest to reduce unemployment to the barest minimum.

For further details contact the Corporate Affairs Director Kwasi Afriyie on 0240770624 or the PRO Awal Mohammed on 0243201093/0577727069
Thank you.

Signed
Emmanuel Kwasi Afriyie
Director, Corporate Affairs