The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), introduced in October last year by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, has marked its first anniversary.
The National Coordinator for the programme, Mr. Leo Kabah Aloweh indicated that the programme which was initially tagged as belonging to the NPP is now seen as an antidote to the country's massive unemployment situation.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra to mark the anniversary, Mr. Kabah called on Ghanaians to help sustain the programme, and urged youth who have not registered with it to do so.
He stated that for the period it has been in existence, NYEP has offered employment to 105,000 out of a target of 175,000 unemployed youth.
He explained that with its 3-year plan, the programme is expected to employ about 500,000 youth in various sectors of the economy, as stipulated in its modules.
Enumerating various modules under the NYEP, the Coordinator revealed that 8 modules are so far in operation, namely Agri-business, Community Education, Community Protection, and Health Extension.
Others are Waste and Sanitation, Intensive Module for Graduate Unemployed, and Youth in Agriculture.
He said other modules which are yet to be implemented are Trade and Vocational Skills and ICT Skill Training.
Mr. Kabah disclosed that under the Community Education model, 24,000 youth were employed as teaching assistants and posted to the rural areas, where their services are needed.
He hinted further that for the National Afforestation aspect, about 1,150 people were employed and are currently embarking on programmes in various parts of the country, and added that in collaboration with the National Service Scheme, NYEP has employed 8,551 people who are serving in various capacities.
Dilating on the delay in the allowances of personnel, the National Coordinator admitted that there was a backlog of allowances to be paid, and assured employees that by the close of next week, all outstanding salaries would be cleared.
He attributed the delay to cash flow problems, saying since the inception of the programme, about ¢150 billion has been used on allowances out of the programme's annual budget of ¢1.1 trillion.
For his part, the deputy National Coordinator in charge of Communications, Mr. Seibik Bugri said some private organizations such as UNDP and Meld Water had expressed their preparedness to support NYEP.
He maintained that Meld Water from Norway for instance, in collaboration with NYEP, has employed 30 youth who would be trained in computer software.
He said after their 2-year training, the youth would be equipped to start their own businesses.
By Simmons Yussif Kewura
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