Ghanaian/German Centre Launches Community Works Training And Start-Up Support In Bono Region
Nsoatre, February 6, 2020: The Ghanaian German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (GGC) is providing skills apprenticeships and self-employment support for 150 young people in five communities in the Bono Region with the launch of its project ‘Community Works Training and Start-Up Support’.
The project, which has a budget of 48,000 Euro and funded by German Development Cooperation, is aimed at reducing youth unemployment by providing self-employment opportunities. Through this, it will provide alternatives to irregular migration whilst at the same time support the successful socioeconomic reintegration of returning migrants into their host societies.
The GGC, which is implemented by GIZ Ghana, is part of the German Development Cooperation with Ghana, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Through its collaboration with the Ministry for Employment and Labour Relations and its Labour Department, the GGC provides individual counselling services and advice for both returning migrants and the local population in Ghana, economic and social (re)integration support, information on vocational and educational prospects, and employment opportunities including entrepreneurship (self-employment). Also, the GGC advises on regular migration, raises awareness on the challenges of irregular migration, whilst offering capacity-building support for the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
According to a Senior Advisor at the GGC, Mr. Kwaku Yeboah, inability to access employment opportunities among the youth is widely cited as a major contributory factor to the decision to leave family and friends in search of opportunities abroad. He added that, “in partnership with other German Cooperation projects such as the Program for Sustainable Economic Development under the Migration and Employment Promotion Component (MEP-PSED), the GGC has provided 34,665 opportunities (direct employment, entrepreneurship support, counselling among others) to the Ghanaian youth and diverse reintegration support schemes for returning migrants.”
The apprenticeship programme shall train 150 unemployed youth, including returning migrants in the Bono Region (a focus region of the Ghanaian German Centre’s services) in readily available community and district demand-driven services such as Tiling, Masonry, Plumbing, Tailoring, Dressmaking, Hairdressing and Cosmetology etc. The beneficiary communities are Nsoatre, Odumasi, Chiraa, Fiapre and Kwasibourkrom in the Jaman South Municipality. The beneficiaries and vocational areas were selected through a comprehensive stakeholder engagement and training needs analysis (TNA). The GCC will support the trainees to form cooperatives to help promote their services better.
The Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC)
The Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs and Reintegration (GGC) is part of the global project “Programme Migration for Development” (PMD), which is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR). GGC’s objective is to support Government’s effort at improving living conditions and provide opportunities to enhance job prospects, now and in the future. This entails activities to promote education, training and employment opportunities. The support is aimed not only at the local population and internally displaced people, but also at those returning home from Germany.
About GIZ
As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries all benefiting from our services. We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party.
Currently, GIZ promotes sustainable development in Ghana via about 50 programmes and projects. Our activities cover currently four priority areas: Economic Development, Agriculture, Governance and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Additionally, our portfolio extends to other areas such as environment, peace and security. Another focus of GIZ’s work is linking business interests with development-policy goals. Most of the programmes and projects we support in Ghana have successfully brought together national and international private companies, the public sector, and civil society groups to collaborate on development initiatives.