ILO Inaugurates SPGE in Gomoa West

Apam (C/R), Nov. 11, GNA - The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has inaugurated its Sub-committee on Production and Gainful Employment (SPGE) in Gomoa West District of the Central Region. SPGE is an ILO intervention to address inadequate employment opportunities, low productivity and earnings as well as the absence of social and legal protection especially in developing countries. The 15-member sub-committee is under the chairmanship of Mr. Kow Anyanful, a retired educationist and a former District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa.

In a speech, Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, Gomoa West DCE, called on the members of the sub-committee to eschew partisanship in their activities. He said the ILO introduced the intervention to assist governments of developing countries to reduce poverty and to improve standard of living. The DCE said since poverty had no political barrier, it would be morally wrong for the members to discriminate along party lines in area of employment.

Ability to perform must be your criteria but not the party you belong to," he said.

Mr. Aidoo-Mensah said the SPGE was in line with the NDC manifesto which sought to create decent employment for the teeming unemployed youth and declared the assembly's support for the sub-committee in the discharge of its activities. Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, International Project Expert on Local Economic Development of the ILO, said the organisation launched the Decent Work Programme in 2003 to promote employment through enterprise development. He said SPGE had been inaugurated in eight districts in the Central Region.

The ILO expert said his organisation had lined up programmes to build the capacity of small business enterprises on how to access funds, financial management, among others to improve their performances. Dr. Thompson urged the assembly to use SPGE and the DELTA Force, another ILO initiative to develop the area and the people. Mr. Fred Oscar Abban, Presiding Member of the Assembly, advised the SPGE to adopt a private participation partnership policy to facilitate job creation.

Mr. Anyanful said they saw their membership of the SPGE as a challenge to help their people to come out of poverty and called on all citizens to cooperate with the committee to make their work a success. Nana Edu Effirim, the tenth, Chief of Apam, expressed appreciation to the ILO on its efforts to reduce poverty among his people.