1.5 billion cedi- resource centre inaugurated

Accra June 28, GNA - Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, on Thursday inaugurated a 1. 5 billion cedis resource centre for the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment.

The centre would serve members of the tripartite committee, the youth and public servant by providing the needed materials and information to enhance policy formulation. "Libraries and resource centres play very significant roles in research, access to information and knowledge that are vital for development," the Chief of Staff noted

In addition to the centre, donated by a philanthropist, Unimat, an Austrian organization also donated technical equipment that allow users to work on pieces and jigsaw models entirely by hand. The equipment could be used by workshops in technical schools and polytechnics to give students practical skills apart from the theories learnt in the classrooms as well as supporting the work of the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment.

Mr Mpiani said the donation of the centre to the Ministry was also significant for the private-public partnership and the expression of corporate social responsibilities which was gradually gaining root among the business community in Ghana.

He noted that the facility would boost the National Youth Employment programme by providing materials for the youth to enhance their knowledge, skills and talents that would make them employable. The Chief of Staff urged the Ministry of Manpower, youth and Employment to provide more centres across the country to ensure an even development and easy accessibility.

He expressed concerns about the lack of a culture of maintenance in the Ghanaian society and urged users of the facility to maintain and protect both public and private property to ensure longevity and usefulness.

"The Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment should therefore add more reference materials to it to enrich knowledge gained at the centre. Mr Mpiani also advised Ghanaians on the current African Union Summit urging citizens to show to the world that the citizenry were united, law abiding and hospitable.

"Prove to the visitors that it is really a good thing to be a Ghanaian," he said Mr Abubukar Saddique Boniface, Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment said the ministry was gradually positioning itself to support government agenda for human resource development, private sector development and good governance as expressed in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II.

Cataloguing the achievements of the sector ministry, Mr Boniface said it had been able to mainstream employment into the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II and was in the process of developing a draft national employment policy and a labour market information system which would be validated soon to make the information available to the labour market.

He said the Ministry was also revising and updating the youth policy to meet the requirements of the current youth development and participation in governance.

The National Social Protection Strategy, he said was also being rolled out with a flagship programme known as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) to cater for the needs of the vulnerable and marginalised in society.

Mr Boniface noted that there had been improvement in the Ministry's interactions and social dialogue with organized labour and employers association to provide technical direction for policy formulation on labour issues.

He announced that the Ministry had initiated a major reform with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) to restructure and strengthen the Ministry and its departments and agencies to respond positively, effectively and efficiently to the new mandate for the National Youth Employment Programme and make the sector more viable.