Youth Unemployment is a Major Security Issue – FOSDA 

The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) says the government of Ghana must urgently tackle the alarming unemployment issue in the country before it escalates.

“Youth unemployment in Ghana is a major security challenge to the country,” FOSDA said in a statement copied to ghananewsonline.com.gh.

The statement issued to commemorate World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) also called on the government to dedicate sustainable funding sources to youth skills development in Ghana.

According to World Bank’s 2020 report on Youth Employment Programmes in Ghana, the country is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.

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Consequently, the World Bank has called for urgent actions to address youth unemployment in Ghana.

FOSDA is therefore urging the government to prioritise and scale up reforms in the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) section as both short and long term measures to tackling youth employment and security in the country.

Below is the full statement:

WORLS SKILLS DAY: FOSDA CALLS FOR SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT IN TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN GHANA TO MINIMISE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), in commemoration of the World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) is calling on Government to dedicate sustainable funding sources to youth skills development in Ghana. The Foundation also calls on the Government to put in strong monitoring systems that will ensure efficient expenditure in the system to reduce and eliminate perceived funding leakages. This call is critical to reforming and standardising the skills development sector in Ghana as a key strategy to minimise youth unemployment and its attendant security implications in the country.

Youth unemployment in Ghana is a major security challenge to the country. According to World Banks 2020 report on Youth Employment Programmes in Ghana, Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.’ The Bank consequently called for urgent actions to address youth unemployment in Ghana. FOSDA urges government to prioritise and scale up reforms in the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) section as both short and long term measures to tackling youth employment and security in the country.

The importance of TVET for youth employment has been established in many literatures around the world and in Ghana as well. But the sector is plagued with various challenges including: inadequate teaching and learning materials; financing which has averaged 2.86% between 2011-2018, reliance of donor funding, poor public perception among others.

The theme for this year “Reimaging Youth Skills Post-Pandemic” is a call to deliberately change the phase of youth skills development in the country. We call on government to partner with the private sector to invest more in TVET to alleviate the challenges bedevilling the sector, scale up reforms in the sector and strengthen initiatives to improve public perception of TVET.

FOSDA also congratulates Government and the National Commission on TVET (formally COTVET) for initiating remarking reform activities in the Sector.

World Youth Skills Day on 15th July 2021, is a day set aside to focus on the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment in the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), decent work and entrepreneurship by 2030. This will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and at the same time fulfil the overarching principle of “Leaving No One Behind”.

Theodora W. Anti
Programmes Manager

By Isaac Dzidzoamenu