By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Sept. 01, GNA – The Youth Employment and Skills (YES), Pan-African Coalition for Transformation (PACT) (YES-PACT) Initiative under the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) has hosted its annual regional showcase to share knowledge, highlight progress and address common issues.
The YES-PACT serves as a peer-learning platform bringing together high-level policymakers and key stakeholders concerned with policy development and implementation around issues of youth employment, skills development, education, and the labour market.
It is currently being implemented in six countries, with over 100 members across the continent.
The countries are Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Rwanda, and Uganda. “Each country is known as a YES-PACT chapter.”
Madam Mona Iddrisu, Head, Youth Employment, ACET, said the showcase was aimed at reviewing progress of the YES-PACT Chapters in influencing policy uptake in the implementing countries, sharing outcomes of the YES-PACT project with policymakers, stakeholders, donors, and the wider community.
She said it also aimed at problem-solving, as a YES-PACT Community, on some of the cross-cutting challenges emerging from YES-PACT Phase II.
During the event, each YES-PACT Chapter made presentations to share experiences and lessons learned while implementing YES-PACT so far, based on Chapter goals.
She said the showcase marked the end of the 2023/24 year and focused on the achievements, impacts, and challenges of each chapter’s YES-PACT journey so far, as well as next steps for influencing policy uptake.
“It is a platform that facilitates knowledge sharing and engaging policy makers to solve some of the issues that we are confronted with in youth employment and skills. This is the second of such showcases and an opportunity for all six countries to highlight their achievements and challenges,” she added.
Mr Eric Saforo, Team Lead, YES-PACT, Ghana Chapter, said the anchor institution for the Ghana Chapter was the Youth Opportunity and Transformation in Africa (YOTA) with membership comprising policy makers, policy implementers, Civil Society Organisations and private sector organisations.
He said the identified advocacy objective was to support the development of guidance and counseling policy by the Ministry of Education and support the review of employment policy by Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
“At the end of the year they are able to provide technical assistance through the development of the guidance and counselling policy, facilitate the youth consultation on the guidance and counselling policy, and a draft policy is awaiting final technical working group for review before the Minister of Education sends it to Parliament for approval,” he said.
Mr Saforo said the Chapter also developed two knowledge products, a policy brief and newsletter on youth employment in Ghana and held a knowledge Café on youth perspective on the national youth employment policy.
He said the team also encountered some challenges, including funding for the guidance and counselling policy development process, and inertia to move things quickly due to the election season.
“The next step for our chapter is continuous engagement with MOE on the guidance and counselling policy, support desk review of the NEP, and engagement with sector skills bodies on the YES-PACT,” he said.
GNA