About 270 apprentices and master craftsmen and women have received professional skills training in their various fields of work through the benevolence of YEFL Ghana, a youth empowerment NGO in Tamale.
The nine-day training offered beneficiaries the opportunity to build and formalize business plans, acquire basic professional skills in work setting to be better positioned to further their careers.
At a passing out ceremony in Tamale, the Technical Advisor on Youth and Gender, Abdul Ganiyu Alhassan said beneficiaries of the training will be put into the business support network where they will also receive mentorship and interest-free revolving loan to boost their businesses.
Young people are vital to the future of any country and that is why championing their skills development through technical, vocational and training will help close the well-documented skills gap. Skills training can give the youth the ability to access the world of work, and start their own business as well as make young people more resilient to increase productivity and livelihoods.
YEFL Ghana is a Tamale-based NGO that brings young people together to rediscover their talents through skills development training. The NGO has trained over thousand youth in various livelihood empowerment programmes to better their lots and it is being supported by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
The training dubbed ‘Youth Life 2.7 project’, is designed to give professional skills training and financial and mentorship support to persons who have vocational skills training or are already masters in their fields of work.
It aimed at guiding selected beneficiaries to acquire the needed skills to venture into their preferred enterprises and also build their capacities and confidence to create employment avenues for other people in their communities.
The Technical Advisor on Youth and Gender, Abdul Ganiyu Alhassan, said the project sought to promote youth empowerment and employment as well as set up efforts to reduce unemployment and poverty in Northern Ghana.
“The unemployment rate among young people is huge, also coupled with the fact that they do not have skills and so having no skills and providing them with a vocational skills training either professional or vocational is a clear pathway for them to be able to set up their own businesses and be able to employ others. For us to have a peaceful society skills training is one way, to have an employed youth, skills training is another. What we want to see is that these young people will become self-employed or be employed by others, living peacefully in their communities, we expect to see that they are able to create jobs for themselves and for others.”
The Head of Programming at CRS, Miss Carolyn Edlebeck said CRS is seeking to ensure that the youth find good employment opportunities for themselves and in the process, they can transform their communities.
According to her, Tamale was chosen to benefit from the programme because it presents a large potential for the youth to have big impact and engage in positive things for development.
“Some of the youth have the desire and dedication but lack the opportunity to grow and improve themselves and their businesses. It was free training and we are really hoping that this will impact positively on them. There are many youth doing many skills but the youth that came to this training will have additional skills and knowledge and the capacities to improve their businesses and get more customers, get higher incomes for sustained livelihood.”
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with GBC News were elated about the training.
A fashion designer from Navrongo in the Upper East region, Rufina, was so excited to be part of the programme.
She said, “I think this training is going to help me a lot because they told us that they will put us in groups to be able to access loans. This I think will help me to expand my business.”
Another beneficiary from Choggu, Yussif Bushira, who is into cosmetic production said she was wondering how she could start her own business after passing out but after receiving the training, she is better positioned to take the next step.
“I now know how to get a good location for my work, how to manage my business and how to treat my clients. In fact, I am very happy and I am saying thank you to CRS.”
By: Kantam Juicy.
