Mr. Agyepong (R) presenting one of the industrial sewing machines to Mr. Yaw Amoabeng
The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) is on course in helping the government realise its vision of reducing unemployment in the country.
In the Western Region, about 2,814 young men and women have so far been engaged under the various modules of the YEA.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YEA, Kofi Agyepong, who disclosed this, stated emphatically that as of now, the YEA does not owe any beneficiary in the region.
He was speaking at a YEA media engagement organised in Sekondi.
He mentioned some of the modules under which the youth in the region have been engaged including community police assistants, community health workers prison office assistants, apparel and textile module among others.
He said some of the youth have also been engaged in the Business and Employment Assistance Programme (BEAP) and youth in ICT while others have also been given skills training in tiling, plumbing, hairdressing, beauty care, auto works and carpentry among others.
He disclosed that the Agency has engaged 949 of the youth under the community police assistant module, 379 under community health workers and 94 under the prisons assistant module.
He said under the school support programme in collaboration with Ghana Education Service, (GES) about 151 youth have been employed and paid by YEA. He said they work as teachers or kitchen staff. He said about 150 have also been employed as security and paid monthly salaries by YEA.
Mr. Agyepong revealed that last year, YEA decided to support some tailors and seamstresses to improve their businesses and that each of the 21 businesses selected had GH¢18,750.
He added that under the skills training, the first phase of the programme saw 652 youth benefiting and each of them was paid monthly allowance of GH¢500.00.
He indicated that the beneficiaries have all graduated and given start-up tools to start their own businesses.
He told journalists that his outfit would initiate measure geared towards improving the sanitation module, particularly the amount given as allowances to beneficiaries.
“So the YEA exists to empower young people to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic and sustainable development of the nation,” he said.
“Our objective is to support the youth through skills training and internship modules to transit from a situation of unemployment to that of employment,” he pointed out.
He promised that the Agency would continue to explore innovative and smart ways to create more sustainable opportunities for the youth.
Later, the CEO of YEA presented 60 industrial sewing machines and about 2000 agricultural machines to the Western Regional Director of the Agency, Yaw Amoabeng to be given to deserving beneficiaries free of charge as start-up tools.
After the media engagement, the CEO and his entourage visited artisans engaged under the auto mechanic module at Takoradi Kokompe to present some startup tools to the beneficiaries.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi
