Final African Policy Dialogue,Ghana (APD) Held 

08-04-2022

Final African Policy Dialogue,Ghana (APD) Held 

The challenge of creating sustainable employment opportunities and decent jobs for the teeming youth of Ghana has remained a structural problem for successive governments since the country attained independence in 1957. During presidential and parliamentary election seasons in Ghana, youth unemployment dominates political discourses and affects the outcomes of elections. Yet, sustainable solutions to the problem have been elusive.

The African Policy Dialogue (APD) was organized in this context as part of the ‘Youth employment interventions in Ghana‘ dialogue. The APD promotes evidence-based policymaking on inclusive development in Africa through research, knowledge sharing, and policy dialogues. The APD in Ghana was established through a collaboration between the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana, the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC), and the Ghana Netherlands Business & Culture Council (GNBCC) and is supported by the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform. Five strategic conversations have been organized since September 2020.

A joint stakeholder meeting was organized in September 2020, bringing together over 90 key stakeholders from academia, political parties, industry, and policy makers, among others, to discuss the findings of an evidence-based research conducted by Prof. William Baah-Boateng from the University of Ghana, to ascertain the outlook of youth unemployment in the country and also to propose sustainable solutions. Following that, three expert forums with youth, the private sector, and the media were held, each addressing the challenges that exist in these sectors and emphasizing the critical role each sector must play in promoting a long-term route for young employment. All the input gathered from these dialogues fed into a policy brief by Prof. Baah-Boateng which he presented to policy makers in the final APD Ghana dialogue organized on the 29th of March.

During this policymakers' event, Mr. Tijmen Rooseboom (ambassador for youth at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing on education and work) highlighted the ministry’s focus and support towards decent jobs for youth and youth entrepreneurship. Using a youth perspective, initiatives are aligned with the demands of the labour market by concentrating on skills matching and engaging in dialogues with the youth and other key stakeholders.

Gladys Ofei, Senior Trade Officer at the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana, then continued with an overview of the Netherlands Embassy’s of interventions youth in Ghana. She also encouraged participants to share their knowledge in order to create more opportunities for youth in Ghana.

In addition, Mrs. Sophia Benson, Human Resources Manager of Nestle Ghana, stressed on the significance of private sector in fostering youth empowerment through capacity building and skills development. Interventions like Nestle’s Global Youth Initiative was established to help young people gain access to apprenticeships, traineeships, and job opportunities to equip them with the skills they need to thrive in the job market.

The dialogue continued with an address by Mr. Nelson Owusu Ansah, Deputy CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA), who delivered a speech about the NYA’s approach to tackling youth employment in Ghana. The day was crowned with a recap of the synthesis paper by Prof. William Baah-Boateng of the University of Ghana, and continued with discussions on how key stakeholders such as policymakers, the youth, the private sector and the media can play their parts in ensuring that the issue of youth unemployment is strategically addressed in a holistic manner.

Policy dialogues are important platforms for leveraging existing and new knowledge. These dialogues help shape the way we address youth employment in order to develops sustainable pathways to address youth employment. Find a version of Prof. Baah Boateng’s report here, for more information about the APD, visit https://includeplatform.net/events/youth-perspective-identifying-solutions-for-youth-employment-in-ghana/ ccontact Tracy Mensah via tracy@gnbcc.net.

 

 

GNBCC | News