The Gender and Social Inclusion Unit of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has placed 200 young women pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses from 30 tertiary educational institutions with energy sector institutions to gain practical experience.

The interns would be assigned supervisors in those organisations for two months and would be taken through routine workplace ethics and responsibilities.

The supervisors are expected to mentor the interns to the standard of human personnel required in the energy sector organizations and to ensure their possible employment in the power sector.

The initiative, known as the Ghana Power Compact Internship and Mentoring Programme, is being implemented by MiDA, with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation under the Modernising Utility Operations of the Ghana Power Compact II.

The beneficiaries would be placed in 22 energy firms and mentoring institutions in the public and private sectors, including the Power Distribution Services of Ghana, Volta River Authority, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghana Standards Authority, Sunon Asogli, Tropical Cable, Enclave Power, Ghana National Gas Company and Bulk Oil Storage and Transp. Co. Ltd.

Addressing the beneficiaries at a placement ceremony for the second cohort of the Internship and Mentoring Programme in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Cherub Antwi-Nsiah, the Director of the Gender and Social Inclusion Unit, MiDA, said 50 young women benefitted from the progamme during the pilot scheme, last year.

She said the beneficiaries would be given stipends and group insurance cover to safeguard their safety at the workplace.

Dr Antwi-Nsiah noted that the internship programme would aid them to gain practical and leadership skills as well as sharpen their communication skills to achieve their career goals.

Mr William Amuna, the Technical Controller at MiDA, encouraged the beneficiaries to embrace teamwork, be disciplined and time conscious in order to become women of substance.

Dr Afisah Zakariah, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in an address, said STEM courses were the backbone of every country’s economy and lauded MiDA for the initiative.

She was of the conviction that the programme would have positive impact on the beneficiaries to enable them to fit well into their work environment.

She said when women were adequately educated and empowered; it improved their economic wellbeing and positively impacted the society and, therefore, encouraged them to be resilient and build a career path through the programme.

In that vein, she said, the Government had invested GHS88 million in equipment at the regional STEM centres and 76 million Pounds at the basic education level for teaching of science and mathematics, while about 4,000 girls were awarded scholarships to pursue science related courses at second cycle educational institutions.

Dr Zakariah said the Affirmative Action Bill would soon be passed into law to empower women to achieve their goals, saying; “The bill is about empowering women and not to fight men and ensure team work so that women will partner their spouses and be a blessing to the society”.

Professor Isabella Quakyi, a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, pledged to mentor the beneficiaries and encouraged them to take the programme seriously because their expertise would be needed in the future to tackle the world’s challenges.

She urged them to operate at the highest level of integrity, honesty, reliability and understand the workplace politics and diplomacy in order to achieve their goals in life.

The Ghana Power Compact II seeks to improve electricity supply across the country and minimise wastage, which would end on September 6, 2021.

An amount of US$498 million grant has been released by the Millennium Challenge Corporation under the auspices of the United States Government to Ghana Government, which is being implemented through the Millennium Development Authority.