MISSION STATEMENT
The Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare exists to promote sustainable employment opportunities, management and vocational skills development, training and re-training, harmonious industrial relations, safe and group formation and social integration of vulnerable, excluded and the disadvantaged for the development and growth of the economy.

We do this through the formulation and implementation of policies, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of the performance in the sector; guided by our belief in improved productivity, efficiency, equity and prompt responsiveness to our clients. The latter comprises the labor force, employers, people with disabilities, the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES:

Enshrined in the 1992 Constitution are the rights of all citizens to work. With this provision, the Ministry has come out with the following objectives:

• promote and encourage an enabling environment for accelerated growth and employment;

• institute special employment schemes for those vulnerable groups by-passed by the growth process, including the assetless and the unskilled, the extremely poor, and those falling victim to the growth process, that is, re-deployed, the retrenched, and the educated unemployed;

• promote adequate wage and self-employment opportunities to productively absorb new entrants into the labour market;

•  facilitate the process of formalization of employment through appropriate policy intervention;

• develop a comprehensive labour market information system and provision of improved employment services;

• ensure safe and healthy working environment in selected segments of formal and informal sector;

• promote improved labour-management relationships;

• improve and promote opportunities for technical and vocational training especially in the rural areas;

• improve the provision of management and business skills training;

• promote the organisation of short-term competency-based and demand-driven vocational training programmes;

• develop a comprehensive National Manpower Development Policy.

FUNCTIONS:

• Vocational Skills Training and Development

• Employment Generation and Labour Market Relations

• Co-operative Development

• Occupational Safety and Health

• Productivity Improvement

• Social Welfare and NGO Registration and Co-ordination.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Recognising the high youth unemployment problem, the Ministry is expanding all its vocational/technical and skills training institutions to maximize their intake. Arrangements have been made to open all social welfare training institutions as well as rehabilitation centers for the disabled to the public.

So far, ten new NVTI institutions and 25 new ICCES facilities have been opened in various districts in the rural areas. With Cabinet's decision to pay salaries of ICCES instructors, the capacity of ICCES to enroll more youth for training was increased.

The vocational training curricula have been reviewed to increase their relevance to the current labour market. Entrepreneurship and co-operative programmes have been added, and graduates will be exposed to micro-financing to encourage the youth to enter into self-employment.

There is a new focus on short-term competency-based training programmes, which are readily marketable. The curricula also include processing of prevalent raw materials in the communities in which training institutions are located.

To ensure quality standards and relevance in skills training, a collaborative committee made up of NVTI, ICCES, OIC and Ghana National Association of Private Vocational and Technical Institutions (GNAVTI) has been established to co-ordinate the training programmes.

Integrated Community Centres for Employable Skills (ICCES)

ICCES is currently providing courses of 2-3 years duration in various trades to eleven thousand eight hundred (11, 800) trainees in ninety-one (91) centers throughout the country. New short-term courses have also been introduced. This year, (2002), 3,022 trainees are expected to pass out to compared to 2,833 in 2001. Studies indicate that 62% of ICCES graduates are self-employed in the rural areas.

A feasibility study has been completed on the viability of training the youth in bamboo/rattan craft at Anyinam, Offinso, Akrokerri, Wassa Saa and Assin Jakai.

Opportunities Industrialisation Centre

In 2002, one thousand two hundred and eighteen (1,218) trainees completed training and were awarded certificates at the Accra and Sekondi/Takoradi OIC. Out of the total number were 104 non-literate and semi-literates trained in employable vocational/technical skills through a special outreach programme in partnership with Master Craftsmen/women in a project sponsored by the European Union Commission.

Currently, a total of nine hundred and forty-five (945) disadvantaged youth (J.S.S. & S.S.S dropouts and graduates) have been enrolled at the O.IC. in Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi.

In addition, one hundred and five (105) non-literate and semi-literate youth have been enrolled in an outreach improved apprenticeship-training programme in partnership with Master craftsmen/women, which is being sponsored by EZE of Germany.