Seventy per cent of women in the Ashanti Region are expected to gain employment in the hospitality industry under the Pathways for Sustainable Employment for Women and Youth in Ghana (PASEWAY) project.
The three-year project seeks to train and employ 30 per cent youth and 70 per cent women in the hospitality industry in the region.
It is being carried out in collaboration with Plan International Germany through Plan International Ghana, and being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The partners are Youth Opportunity and Transformation in Africa (YOTA), Vocation Training for Females (VFT) Foundation, and Regional Advisory Information Network System (RAINS).
Mrs Diana Mante, Project Officer, said the initiative was being implemented in the construction industry in the Greater Accra and Northern regions, and in the hospitality sector in the Ashanti Region with various interventions to provide young people with employable skills.
She was speaking at a day’s media engagement workshop on advocacy strategies and plans for the hospitality industry, at Kyirapatre, in Kumasi.
It was aimed at bringing the attention of journalists to challenges confronting the hospitality sector in the region.
According to the project coordinator, the project was working closely with stakeholders in the hospitality sector in the Region to improve conditions of young people and employers of the value chain
Mrs Mante said the project was focusing much on women since they were vulnerable when seeking for job opportunities.
“The project is focusing 70 per cent on women in the hospitality industry, since they were vulnerable when seeking for job opportunities in the country,” she disclosed.
She said that the project would be implemented at Mampong District, Sekyere South, the Asokwa Municipality, Kwadaso, Suame, Bekwai and Obuasi municipalities among others.
Mrs Mante said the project targeted Junior and Senior High tertiary graduates between the ages of 15 and 35 years.
She said stakeholders are Business Advisory Consult, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Ghana Hotel Association, Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kumasi Technical University, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Mr Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Corporate Vision Consult, said the project sought to improve the hospitality sector.
He called on the government to invest in the tourism sector in the region to create jobs.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
