Unemployment in Ghana continues to be a challenge for many Ghanaian youth.
To promote job creation and the growth of local businesses, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, under its European Union-funded GrEEn Project, has organized the third and final GrEEn Regional Job Fair in the Ashanti Region.
The job fair was held in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ghana TVET Service, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Labour Department, and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs.
According to SNV, the Green Job Fair aims to support the creation of green jobs by inspiring young people to seek and explore green job opportunities and solutions in TVET. It also seeks to match job seekers to available, sustainable jobs in the Green Project’s two regions of implementation: the Ashanti and Western regions.
Since 2020, SNV has organized 14 job fairs at the district (8) and regional (6) levels in partnership with local assemblies to provide CV support, career guidance and counselling, and connect job seekers to green employers.
At the district level, SNV partnered with Municipal and District Assemblies in the Ashanti Region (Adansi South, Ejura-Sekyedumase, Offinso, and Sekyere Kumawu) and Western Region (Ahanta West, Wassa Amenfi, Nzema East, and the Jomoro Municipality), reaching hundreds of job seekers.
In November 2021, SNV partnered with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to host a maiden regional-level GrEEn Job Fair with over 500 participants benefiting from the fair.
In 2022, SNV organized the second regional job fair in partnership with the AGI, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs.
The 2023 GrEEn Regional Job Fair is the last job fair organized by SNV as it prepares to end implementation of the Green Project by the end of the year.
Speaking to the media at the end of the 2023 GrEEn Regional Job Fair, the project manager for SNV Ghana’s GrEEn project noted that the project has helped hundreds of Ghanaian job seekers find green sustainable jobs since 2019.
“Since 2019, when SNV Ghana started co-implementing the GrEEn Project in partnership with the UN Capital Development Fund and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, funding from the European Union and our mother organization, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, has made it possible for us to promote sustainable and climate-resilient growth of the local economy in the Ashanti and Western Regions, where we are implementing the GrEEn Project,” said Laouali Sadda, SNV GrEEn Project Manager.
“One of the key tools SNV has adopted in facilitating this is skills development. Under our flagship, Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) Programme, SNV Ghana is working together with institutional and skills training partners to provide practical and employable skills to young people looking for jobs. Following this skills development, we go a step further by matching skills to opportunities in the green and circular economy by linking youth job seekers to employers, coaches, and mentors so they can receive on-the-job technical skills, business development support, or internship opportunities through the OYE internship program. As part of our GrEEn Project, we have been rolling out job fairs with the aim of preparing job seekers by offering CV Review support, career guidance and counselling, and connecting job seekers to green employers,” he added.
