The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), a non-governmental organisation, held its annual learning seminar in Accra yesterday, with a call on the public, to prioritise youth empowerment.
The event, sponsored by the MasterCard Foundation brought together representatives from academia, parents and students, to deliberate on issues that support young people’s livelihoods.
It was held on the theme ‘Supporting young people’s livelihoods: exploring post-secondary school opportunities.’
In his address, the National Director of CAMFED Ghana, Mr John Asibi Ali indicated that, it was important to create sustainable opportunities for the youth to transit into employment so that they could access the means to sustainable livelihoods.
He explained that the high number of Free Senior High School (FSHS) beneficiaries expected to complete secondary school by 2020 and beyond may compound the unemployment situation, as many of the school leavers would not be able to successfully transit into the tertiary institutions.
He stressed that it was, therefore, important for the government to implement measures that would help improve the situation.
According to Mr Asibi, the MasterCard Learning Summit would go a long way in culminating in decisions that would address the current and post-secondary youth unemployment situation in the country.
A representative of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Stephen Amponsah, mentioned that “no matter the good intentions of government, the fact still remains that government alone cannot solve the unemployment challenges facing the youth in the country.”
He added that the government, therefore, appreciated the efforts of organisations such as CAMFED and the MasterCard Foundation whose intervention in education and women’s empowerment had positively affected the lives of many girls and young women.
He assured that the sector ministry would continue to collaborate and work with CAMFED and other developmental partners for consultations and information sharing, to promote development.
He reiterated that youth unemployment remained one of the biggest challenges facing governments all over the world, saying, “Despite the challenges, together, we can make Ghana a better place for generations to come.”
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
