Patrons hail LESDEP initiative

Kumasi, June 24, GNA - Patrons at an exhibition organized by the Local Enterprises Skills and Development Project (LESDEP) in Kumasi, have lauded the project, noting it could be an effective catalyst to local youth unemployment.

According to the patrons, who were mainly Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), the initiative if well managed would help to solve the soaring unemployment problems and promote local economic development and growth.

The exhibition was mounted as part of the annual conference MMDCEs in the Northern Zone, showcased some of the skills the project seeks to provide the youth to help them to become self-employed.

These included hair dressing, dressmaking, carpentry, mechanic and metal and glass fabrication among others.

LESDEP is a public-private-partnership arrangement, under which master craftsmen are engaged to provide skill training to the youth in the areas of their choice.

Upon completion, the trainee is supplied with relevant equipment and tools as well as capital to start his or her own business while the master craftsman is paid for the services provided.

Mr Gariba Adaimu, National Coordinator of LESDEP told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the goal was to partner the private sector to train the youth in various trades and vocations.

This, he said, would significantly assist to reduce their over-dependence on the government for jobs.

Mr Adaimu said helping the youth to generate their own jobs and incomes was the surest way to revive and boost local economies, reduce rural-urban migration and criminal activities.

He encouraged the unemployed to take advantage of the intervention to become economically self-supporting.