Youth unemployment is a very worrisome situation in Africa and other developing countries.
The African continent has a fast-growing population. It’s estimated that over 200 million Africans are between the ages of 15 and 24; making Africa the youngest population in the world. According to the African Economic Outlook (2012) this population growth is not matched with job creation. The World Bank in its current report (2018) on jobs in Ghana has disclosed that about 48 percent of the youth in Ghana who are between 15 – 24 years do not have jobs. The report further questioned the country’s preparedness in dealing with the youth bulge in the coming decades. The causal link between unemployment and crime has been highlighted by many criminologists. A nation’s increasing crimes and violence rates would only be reversed if new employment programmes were established and existing ones revised and if there was greater social equity and justice. Unemployment and financial hardship encourage people to commit a crime to alleviate their material hardship. Unemployment causes poverty, and that destitution creates insecurity. In a nation where many people are unemployed and there’s no strong and organized social welfare system, there’s prevalence of poverty.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service report in 2016, about 72% of young people between 15-25 years in the Banda District are unemployed. The district is the poorest among the 29 districts in the region and the 5th poorest among the 270 districts in Ghana. Unemployment rate in the district is high among young women.
The Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial and Skills Training (YIEST) initiative is designed to create economic opportunities for youth through entrepreneurial and skills training for disadvantaged youth.
We received funding from Stichting Overal and Prestige Consult to train 50 young girls in catering services and 50 young men in net/wire mesh weaving. We are currently constructing the training centre after which the main training activities will start. We intend to introduce new training modules when we get additional funding to meet the local market demands