A two-day job camp has been organised for young people in the New Juaben South Municipality in Eastern Region as part of intervention to reduce youth unemployment.
The initiative is part of the Kofkro project being implemented by STAR-Ghana Foundation with funding from foundation Botnar to empower the youth participate in decision making, governance and economic opportunities.
The job camp brought together dozens of youth including persons with disabilities to receive training in digital marketing, cyber security and professional branding for startups, among others.
Project Officer, Owusuwaa-Owusu Brempong of STAR-Ghana Foundation said the job camp is a direct response to concerns of high unemployment by the youth in New Juaben South.
“Some of the conversations that have come up through the process is the challenges of unemployment and challenges that young people face in terms of wanting to create jobs. And so as implementers of the Kofkro project, we thought it’s necessary to create a platform where we can specifically talk about entrepreneurship, how young people can leverage the digital markets to access jobs and even amplify the brands and items and the businesses that they are creating.” Said Owusuwaa-Owusu Brempong.
She said the expectations of the two-day programme include building confidence among participants, improving their employability, and creating networking and mentorship opportunities.
“So, after this job camp, after the two-day job camp, a major outcome or a major expectation for us from the young people is that they’ll be confident enough to also be part of the job market. As young people coming up, there are so many things that and challenges that we face in the job market”.
One of the facilitators, Jemima Abochie of Mymass consult, led a session on “Building a Professional Brand.” She emphasised the importance of intentional branding particularly on digital market space.
“I think that some of the things that affects startups and young entrepreneurs when they are talking about their business plan is the way we carry ourselves on social media. Now, the world is a global village and everybody have access to information. So it is very important that young businesses, startups, anyone who is actually trying to build a professional brand should be very careful about what they put out there because at the end of the day, you have a digital footprint.”
Participants lauded the initiative stating that it has enlightened and empowered them to leverage various digital tools that will help maximise economic opportunities.
The Job camp is expected to economically empower the youth, reduce unemployment and increase participation in economic opportunities and Governance.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
