Gambian delegation understudies Ghana's NYEP

Accra, Sept. 28, GNA - The Government of Ghana and other development partners are fashioning out an exit plan for National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) workers to enable them to earn a decent living.

"We believe that after training there should be employment for the youth," Nii Nortey Dua, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, said on Monday and pledged Ghana's preparedness to share her experience and ideas with other countries.

Nii Nortey said this when a 10-member Gambian delegation paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.

The delegation, headed by Ms Ada Gaye, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Trade Industry and Employment of The Gambia, is in Accra on a study tour.

The study tour being organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) would also enable the delegation to understudy the NYEP and share ideas and knowledge with their Ghanaian counterparts. Nii Nortey said under the NYEP, the youth were employed to work at the 10 different models for two years.

He said the issue of youth unemployment was a global one and any country that failed to address it did so at the peril of its development.

Mr Abuga Pele, Coordinator of NYEP, said the programme was very crucial to national development and he was happy that the ILO had put measures in place to share ideas and see the way forward for the youth of the two countries.

He said about 100,000 unemployed youth were produced every year and Ghana had registered 700,000 unemployed youth, warning that "the earlier we start tackling the issue the better for the country".

Ms Gaye said they went through the programmes of most countries' on youth development and realized Ghana had the best practices on the issue hence their decision to come and learn from the success story. She said The Gambia Government had initiated a programme to address illegal migration of the youth and assured their Ghanaian counterparts of their commitment and readiness to learn and collaborate with them. Mr Mambanyick Njie, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Youth and Sports of The Gambia, said if a country failed to engage her youth meaningfully, "the devil" would engage them negatively. He cited ethnic and civil wars on the continent and said it was all because the governments of those countries failed in their responsibilities to engage their youth meaningfully giving the detractors the chance to give them tools to kill each other. Mr Njie announced that under the National Enterprise Programme, The Gambia government provided a two-week intensive training for the youth to instil in them sense of responsibility.

He said after training, the youth and women were given seed money to start a business, adding, "We believe the youth are the future leaders and have a responsibility to safeguard the momentum." "Development starts with the preparation of the human mind to understand that he or she can achieve success when others failed. The youth are the engine of growth and cannot afford to disappoint leaders of today," he said.

While in the country the delegation would meet the management of the NYEP to discuss the models, visit Zoomlion a waste management company, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Ridge Hospital. It would also meet the Inspector General of Police to discuss issues on community policing and the Minister of Health.