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A collective climate action Today, June 10, 2022, public and private sector institutions and all well meaning Ghanaians will partake in the president’s climate action initiative dubbed “Green Ghana” to plant tress across the length and breadth of this country. The 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Day was launched on 1st March,2022 by the President of the Republic under the theme ‘’Mobilizing for a Greener Future’’ with a target to plant at least 20 million tree seedlings nationwide. The Green Ghana Project is aimed at planting hard wood, which could be used for timber in 10-20 years. It is expected that this exercise will improve the vegetation and forest cover as over 80 percent of this cover has been destroyed by human activity, the minister said at last year’s tree planting exercise. The Ministry of Communications and
Digitalisation has announced to plant orange trees, decorative palm trees, coconut trees, mango trees, pawpaw trees and more at its enclave as well as other premises of the various agencies. The initiative forms part of the efforts by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) and the Forestry Commission to encourage Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve and protect the country’s forest cover and the environment in general. The effects of climate change are dire and consequential with rippling impact on every sphere of the economy as already being witnessed in the agrarian sector. We urge the general public to join the Green Ghana initiative as we seek to restore the nation’s ever depleting vegetation, protect the environment and take the fight to climate change.
Government seeks public support ahead of YouStart launch ||continued from page 1
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According to Mr. Ofosu Nkansah, over $2 billion was spent on food imports and that was one of the reasons governments was keen to harness the youth potential in areas that could provide alternative solution to the food imports and build the local economy. He disclosed that the YouStart Secretariat had received unique ideas and proposals from youth and stakeholder interactions across the regions and emphasized that this information was required for the effective operation of the programme. Mr. Andrew Ameckson a Chief Accountant at the Ministry of Finance in his presentation indicated that, the YouStart programme was anticipated to create 1 million jobs, out of which 800,000 were expected to be direct jobs to the Ghanaian youth. He further added that,
the YouStart was a national programme and that eligible applicants would be given the opportunity and support to contribute their quota to the development of the country. Mr. Ameckson further gave some facts and figures on the youth population in the country and stated that, the overall youth population in Ghana from 15 to 35 age range was 11.7 million and the youth unemployment rate was 19.7%, estimated to be 1,140,009. The unemployed females were 22.3% estimated to be 605,451 and unemployed males were 17.4% estimated to be 534,558. Number of workers who lost their jobs and were seeking work were estimated to be 187,763, the presentation revealed. He showed that, 50% of the Ghanaian youth estimated to be 5,872,229 were classified as under employed, this he explained, as
working below one’s capacity and that was why the YouStart was extremely essential to ensure that there was enough capacity building to get the best of the teeming youth. Ms. Patience Arko Boham, an official of the Ministry, also touched on the features, benefits and eligibility criteria of the YouStart programme. She said that applicants were supposed to have a verifiable digital address, have a Ghana Card and two weeks training to qualify for the programme. She revealed that, the programme was aimed to target the youth between the ages of 18 and 40 years, and after due diligence of the applications, an amount of GHC 50,000 and GHC 100,000 with 4% interest rate payable within a period of three years would be given to individuals and groups as working capital. Civil Society Organizations present at the meeting included Network for Empowered Youth for Development, SEND GHANA, Ghana Chamber for Youth Entrepreneurs, STAR-Ghana Foundation, Strategic Youth Network for Development. Others were African Center for Economic Transformation, Centre for Community Livelihood Development, Youth Advocate Ghana, Ghana TVET Service Implementing agencies under the YouStart programme which included NEIP, KPMG, Legacy and Legacy, representatives from the Ghana Association of Banks were present at the meeting.
