The Minister for Gender, Children & Social Protection (MoGCSP), Madam Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu on 24th January 2023, launched the Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement (PSDPE) Project in Accra.
In June 2022, the Government of Ghana (GoG) signed a 5-year (2022-2027) agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to implement Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement (PSDPE) Project.
The Project mainly seeks to contribute to Ghana’s Sustainable Post COVID-19 recovery in the Health sector and support the restoration of livelihoods, income and employment opportunities by promoting technical & entrepreneurship for job creation among the youth and women.
Speaking at the launch of the project, Madam Hajia Lariba Abudu commended the Government of Ghana for this remarkable and much necessitated initiative as one of the key measures needed to make the country a robust one after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Sector Minister, a deep reflection on the effects of COVID-19 especially on the vulnerable, youth and women further reveals the need for investment in skills development and entrepreneurship to ensure steady growth and build resilience to endure such pandemics in the future.
Madam Lariba Abudu was optimistic that the project would adopt the gender parity principle so as to result in an increasing number in the number of women assessing technical and vocational skills development opportunities and credit services for business.
She concluded by pledging her Ministry’s support for the project, bearing in mind the positive achievable rate of the initiative.
The Project, with its component 1 & 2 will work on; Skills Development in Higher Education for Strengthening the Health Sector and rebuilding Youth and Women’s Livelihoods through Entrepreneurship and Employment Creation.
It will support the rebuilding of livelihoods and sources of income among youths and women for them to recover from the socioeconomic shocks or impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, households, and enterprises, especially those operating (MSMEs) that were directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project will be implemented in the seven regions of Ghana namely, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Bono Northern, Central and Upper West Regions.
Beneficiaries of the Project are staff and clients of the project implementing institutions; youth and women operating MSMEs and/or in cooperatives; and the population of Ghana in general.
