By Christopher Tetteh
Sunyani, B/R, May 20, GNA – The Global Youth Innovation Center (GYIC) a non-governmental organization i s implementing a project in the Sunyani Municipality to economically empower female Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and migrant returnees through employable skills training and livelihood support.
The Global Youth Innovation Center (GYIC), a non-governmental organization, is implementing a project aimed at economically empowering female Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and migrant returnees in the Sunyani Municipality to secure decent jobs and improve their socio-economic livelihoods.
The project, dubbed “Skills-for-Inclusion,” is providing free vocational skills training and support for small-scale enterprise innovation to PwDs and returnees within the municipality.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a training session in Sunyani, the Executive Director of GYIC, Mr Eric Anorrey, explained that the initiative seeks to create entrepreneurship and business opportunities for PwDs, enabling them to become self-reliant.
He noted that the project is being implemented in collaboration with key stakeholders, including the Department of Social Welfare, the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD), local artisans, traditional authorities, and the Sunyani Municipal Assembly.
Mr Anorrey said the project, which is designed to provide certified, market-relevant vocational skills training, will directly benefit 30 female PwDs and 20 migrant returnees in the municipality.
According to him, the initiative is funded by the German Sparkassenstiftung Western Africa through the Ghanaian European Centre for Jobs, Migration and Development under the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with co-funding from the European Union. The project is largely implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
He stated that beneficiaries would receive training in detergent production, pastry making, bakery, soap production, cosmetology, and bead making to enhance their employability and livelihood opportunities.
Mr Anorrey emphasized that the project is expected to promote economic inclusion by integrating returnees and PwDs into the local economy while encouraging scalability, self-reliance, financial independence, and gender equity.
He added that the implementation of the project is expected to improve household incomes and livelihoods, strengthen community support systems for institutional and systemic integration, and reduce economic dependency and vulnerability among beneficiaries. It will also reinforce community structures to facilitate the effective reintegration of migrant returnees.
He further expressed optimism that the initiative would create market and networking opportunities for enterprises led by returnees and PwDs through partnerships with local artisans, small and medium-scale enterprises, cooperatives, markets, and microfinance institutions.
“Failure to address these systemic gaps undermines the nation’s commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the National Migration Policy, and Goals One, Eight and Ten of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated.
Mr Anorrey observed that a significant proportion of PwDs remain economically inactive, with factors such as disability type, gender, and low levels of education and skills attainment contributing heavily to exclusion from the labour market.
He stressed that strong collaboration among stakeholders would ensure co-led planning and implementation, while promoting jointly developed solutions capable of positively impacting vulnerable populations.
He also disclosed that disability-responsive measures, including sign language interpretation, accessible learning materials, and flexible training schedules, would be incorporated into the project through to the end of August 2026.
Commenting on the initiative, Madam Sirina Mahamudu, National Vice President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations, described the project as laudable and commended GYIC and its funding partners.
She noted that many PwDs are school dropouts and expressed hope that more persons with disabilities in the municipality would benefit from the training, acquire employable skills, and improve their quality of life.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Christopher Tetteh
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