Presidency, Labour Ministry inaugurate committee for Exchange Programme
The Office of the President, in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, has officially inaugurated the National Planning Committee for the Ghana Labour Exchange Programme (GLEP).
The committee is co-chaired by Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Rashid Pelpuo and Minister for Special Initiatives, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum.
It includes representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Health, Education, and Transport; the Ghana Immigration Service; SSNIT; the Labour Agencies Council; civil society; youth observers; and parliamentary committees.
The committee’s mandate includes developing a national policy and legal framework for labour export, designing operational structures for GLEP and G-STEPS, setting KPIs, and coordinating a national awareness campaign.
The Ghana Labour Exchange Programme (GLEP) represents a significant milestone in the country’s ambition to become a global leader in structured labour export and international workforce development.
The programme is designed to train, deploy, and reintegrate Ghana’s youthful workforce through ethical, rights-based labour contracts abroad.
GLEP will be complemented by the upcoming Ghana Security Training & Exchange Programme for Service Personnel (G-STEPS), which aims to provide international training opportunities for national service personnel—particularly in the areas of security, peacekeeping, and technology-driven fields.
The inauguration ceremony for the National Planning Committee was held at the Presidential Annex under the theme “Designing Ghana’s Global Workforce Strategy.”
The event brought together key stakeholders, including representatives from government ministries, foreign missions, development partners, labour agencies, and civil society organisations.
Speaking at the ceremony, President John Mahama stated: “There is a global labour shortage. We must seize the moment to export skilled Ghanaian professionals through structured partnerships that guarantee dignity, knowledge exchange, and national reinvestment.”
The official launch of the GLEP initiative is scheduled for later this year.
