Plan International Ghana in partnership with the MTN Ghana Foundation have sponsored 50 young people on a fully-funded mobile phone assembling and repairs training in Suhum under the second phase of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Project (YEEP).
Two months ago, the YEEP trained some 50 young people in the Nsawam Municipality also in the Eastern Region, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to a 100.
The Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Project is aimed at reducing unemployment and create reliable sustainable jobs for young people in the country.
Beneficiaries were taken through the introduction to mobile phone technology, basic customer service, front end repairs, repair and rectification of faults of mobile phones, and how to maintain a safe and secure work environment.
They were also given start-up tools, an MTN-Plan Ghana branded kiosk and a certificate of participation.
In her address, Country IT Manager for Plan International Ghana, Madam Maud Tsagli, noted that Plan International Ghana prioritizes equipping the youth with entrepreneurial skills and employment especially for young women and girls in fulfilling the SDG goal 8.
“We at Plan International Ghana believes in equipping young people with employment and sustainable entrepreneurship skills for young women and girls in fulfillment of the SDG goal 8, which calls for decent and economic growth, there is the need for a rapid paradigm shift towards transformative training systems to develop the knowledge, skills, and creativity needed to secure the future of our young people to enable them to acquire decent jobs to sustain themselves, families and Ghana as a whole,” she said.
On his part, Chief Cooperate Senior Director for MTN Ghana Foundation, Samuel Koranteng, noted that the world is changing and the traditional skills that were cherished are gradually evolving.
He noted that these changes have become more rapid with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic because “the pandemic has opened our eyes to many uses of our mobile devices which has led to our heavy dependence on the mobile phone for our work, school, sales and marketing, religious activities, family affairs, streaming of events and in our everyday conversations. With this level of dependence, the phones/devices will definitely develop some faults, wear and tear at some point in time. Once in a while, there may be software and hardware problems which users cannot fix on their own.”
Mr Koranteng added that the services of the graduates will become more useful to mobile phone users in Suhum and its surrounding communities assuring that mobile phone users can have their phones and devices repaired at their convenience.
Also present was the Municipal Chief Executive, Margaret Darko Darkwa who expressed her profound gratitude to MTN Ghana Foundation and Plan International Ghana for their thoughtfulness.
She noted that investing in education is the surest way to break the cycle of poverty. “We needed to travel to all the way to either Koforidua, Accra or Nkawlaw to repair our mobile phones”
Madam Darkwa advised the beneficiaries to practice consistently and focus on being diligent, committed and dedicated.
Ohene Ansah Diana, a beneficiary of the programme encouraged more females to venture into male-dominated fields when opportunities knock because the world is evolving.
She said women need to be more confident in grabbing opportunities and focus more on the benefits than their gender.
“Women belittle themselves and they don’t have self-confidence; they don’t trust themselves. They think that they shouldn’t do what men are doing which is wrong. They shouldn’t belittle themselves. They should tell themselves they can do anything and do it better if only they are able to develop the passion to do it”.
She expressed excitement over the programme and assured to work diligently to reduce the rate of unemployment in her community.
