Kumasi, Nov. 02, GNA – The Ghanaian youth have been advised to take advantage of the European Union (EU)-sponsored Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Project to bring improvement into their socio-economic lives.
Ambassador Irchad Ramiandrasoa Razaaly, Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Ghana, said many opportunities abound in creating climate-friendly job activities due to their sustainability and relevance to the environment.
Climate change and the deteriorating capacity of the planet to sustain life could no longer be ignored, he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in an interview in Kumasi, when he led a delegation on a working visit to the Ashanti Region.
According to Ambassador Razaaly, the EU was committed to providing vital support and technical skills for those moving into green-related jobs.
The concept is to nurture young and upcoming small and medium-scale enterprises, with a sense of innovativeness and focus on the environment, especially at the community and district level.
The GrEEn Project is a four-year action from the EU, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, SNV Netherlands Development Organization and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
It has the objective of creating greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses in some selected districts in the Ashanti Region and other parts of the country.
Working in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD), GrEEn has four result areas designed to provide decent jobs to the people to stimulate the local economies.
Ambassador Razaaly was accompanied by a high-level delegation, comprising the Deputy Head of Mission and Minister Counsellor of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ghana, H.E. Kyrre Holm, as well as the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Ghana, Massimo Mina, and the Head of Governance and Civil Society Section at the European Union Delegation to Ghana, Anna Lixi.
The rest were the Programme Officer at the European Union Delegation to Ghana, Emmanuel Soubiran and the Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organization, Anjo van Toorn.
Ambassador Razaaly said the working visit to the Ashanti Region was to enable the officials to interact with stakeholders associated with the GrEEn Project.
They also visited the premises of selected partners of the Project, including business incubation hubs under the GrEEn’s Incubation and Acceleration Programmes, to engage with businesses and green entrepreneurs, receiving training and business advisory support.
The delegation also engaged training partners and service recipients of the SNV’s Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) Programme.
GNA