By Edward Acquah
Accra, July 15, GNA – Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence, has called for equitable distribution of jobs across regions to promote inclusive growth and national development.
He said concentrating employment opportunities in capital cities while neglecting underserved communities could “sparrow conflicts.”
Speaking at the 2nd Sahel Peace Initiative (SPI) National Forum in Accra, Dr Boamah assured that recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces and jobs under the 24-Hour Economy Programme would reflect regional equity.
“No matter the number of jobs that will be created, the number of jobs that will be generated, if they are not equitably distributed and they are concentrated in just the capitals, that inequality will in itself sparrow conflicts in communities that violent extremists and terrorists would want their activities to thrive,” he said.
The Forum, organised by the National Catholic Secretariat in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), was on the theme: “Political Economy of Conflict in Ghana: Addressing Youth Unemployment as a Catalyst for Security and Social Cohesion.”
Dr Boamah pledged support for the Sahel Peace Initiative and called for greater awareness of the crisis in the region.
“We need to listen to the people on the ground. We must engage them in security planning and decision-making. By doing so, we can build trust and promote a sense of ownership of the ingredients that must end up giving us,” he said.
According to the World Bank, over 110,000 Ghanaian youth graduate annually, yet more than 12 per cent are unemployed and four times that number are underemployed.
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, Executive Director of the Kaizen Institute for Labour Economics, said over one million young people were unemployed and warned the figure could rise sharply by 2030 “if we don’t do anything radical.”
He called for national consensus to sustain job-creation programmes, backed by social contracts between citizens and government.
“Employment creation should be at the centre of our social policies. It should be the priority of our priorities,” he said.
Ms Anna Lena Sabroso-Wasserfall, Country Director of KAS, said Ghana’s stability in the Sahel region did not make it immune to conflict.
She described youth unemployment as both a development and political issue and urged strategic initiatives to create sustainable jobs for the region’s growing youth population.
“If we want to build lasting peace across borders, we must tackle the root causes that transcend borders. And if we are serious about peace building, the youth cannot remain on the sidelines,” she said.
Most Reverend Matthew K. Gyamfi, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, said youth unemployment was “a matter of national security.”
“We cannot ignore the disaffection of a jobless graduate,” he said, adding: “A nation’s cohesion is not shaped by slogans but well-articulated policies.”
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey