Tamale, Oct. 26, GNA - The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) has, since its inception, provided jobs to over 16,000 young people in the Northern Region.

They were recruited under community teacher assistance, health extension workers, community protection unit, waste and sanitation management, paid internship, agric-business and youth in ICT modules. Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, said this at an orientation workshop for district coordinators of the NYEP in the Northern Region in Tamale on Saturday.

The workshop was to upgrade the knowledge of the coordinators on the various modules of the NYEP, introduce them to the new modules of the programme and also equip them with basic management skills. Mr. Mabengba said the NYEP had come to stay and urged the public to support it and stop stigmatizing its employees with political colouring. He said despite the positive interventions of the NYEP, the programme was still faced with a number of challenges ranging from the delay in the payments of the beneficiaries allowances, inadequate accommodation facilities for the staff as well as lack of transport for the smooth running of the programme.

Mr. Mabengba said the government would continue to commit resources to the programme so that some of the problems could be solved. Mr. Inusah Fuseini, the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, urged the district coordinators to recruit people who have the potential to be fully employed after their internship under the programme. He also urged them to remain focused in their work and ensure probity and accountability in all their actions. Mr. Adam Mohammed Amin Abio, Northern Regional Coordinator of the NYEP, said six new modules had been introduced under the programme. These are youth in fire prevention, youth in immigration services and youth in prison service, youth in mining, youth in oil management and youth in trade and vocations. He said under the first three modules 20,000 youth would be recruited this year. 26 Oct 09