German govt supports Ghana with labour information equipment

The German government has presented labour market information equipment to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to support the ministry to operationalise the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS).

The German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, handed over the items to the ministry yesterday at the opening of the Ghana-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration.

The centre is located behind the offices of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations in Accra.

The equipment include laptops and desktop computers, printers, servers, photocopiers, uninterrupted power systems (UPS), projectors and air conditioners.

They are expected to form the information technology backbone of the GLMIS, which is to help provide data on the labour market in the country.

The GLMIS is also expected to improve information flow between labour demand and supply with regard to jobs and skills availability, as well as help reduce the cost of job search and frustrations that workers and employers go through.

GLMIS

The GLMIS is a transition from reliance on scanty and scattered data and information which were compiled manually to the creation of a digital information technology-driven system that will guide decision-making for the government, businesses, academics, skills institutions and individuals.

The system is to help Ghana gather and release reliable, timely and regular labour market data and information on the status and dynamics of employment in the country.

The centre

Ghana and Germany, on December 13, 2017, committed to stemming irregular migration to Germany and other parts of Europe by opening a centre to cater for the needs of returnee migrants and prospective ones.

It was located in the GNAT Heights building on the Independence Avenue in Accra but has now been relocated to the Ministries enclave where a new one-storey building has been opened.

The building was designed by Victor Randolph Architects and built out of shipping containers. Facilities at the centre include a 40-seater conference room, a counselling room, a canteen, a children’s play area and administrative offices.

The centre provides information and advice on vocational training and employment opportunities in Ghana.

It will be the first point of contact for people looking for job prospects in Ghana and is expected to offer support to residents of Ghana and returnees who need reintegration and counselling on job and educational opportunities.

Services

With hundreds of African youth, including Ghanaians, embarking on perilous journeys to Europe through the Sahara Desert and across the Mediterranean Sea, the centre is expected to provide information on options and requirements for legal migration to Germany, as well as inform the public about the risks involved in irregular migration.

The German Ambassador described the centre as a “jewel in the relations between Ghana and Germany”, adding that the centre would help provide job opportunities for Ghanaian youth, since unemployment remained one of Ghana’s headaches.

He said as Ghana embarked on the ambitious agenda of a Ghana Beyond Aid, there was the need to transform and industrialise to generate jobs for young people.

Hope for job seekers

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, commended GIZ and the government for establishing the centre, which he said would equip returnees and young people with pointers to opportunities that were oblivious to them.

“It is not that there are no jobs, but sometimes people do not even have the capability to see that a particular job exists at a particular place and the necessary requirements that go with it. This is why the establishment of the centre makes me happy for the collaboration we are having,” he said.

He said the GLMIS brought information technology to job search and data gathering for young people and the government, respectively.