The European Union (EU) and its development partners, with the Western Regional Coordination Council (WRCC), will launch the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Project in the Western Region on Thursday, 24 September 2020 in Takoradi.
The purpose of the GrEEn project is to promote green, circular, and climate resilient local economies and to create more than 5,000 jobs. Youth, women and returning migrants of the Western and Ashanti regions will receive trainings and financial support for green businesses.
Already, the Project has been launched for the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) in Kumasi on September 22, in Kumasi.
The areas of focus under the GrEEn project are plastic waste recycling, clean cookstove production and distribution, organic horticulture and compost production. The Project will also provide support to some selected Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
The project is mainly financed by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa, with contributions from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). It is implemented by the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and UNCDF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
Speaking about the solutions the project provides, the European Union Ambassador to Ghana, Diana Acconcia said, “the idea behind GrEEn is simple: the lack of job opportunities pushes young people to look for a better future far from home. Climate change makes things worse by taking away the main source of livelihood in many communities”.
“These two challenges are interlinked. We need to address them at the same time if we want to convince young people that they have a future at home and prevent them from embarking on dangerous journeys where they can lose their life”.
Diana Acconcia, European Union Ambassador to Ghana
Adding to the relevancy of the GrEEn project, Anjo van Toorn, Country Director of SNV said: “The GrEEn project is very topical since it supports youth, women and returning migrants in creating jobs and supporting businesses in a time COVID is impacting hard on local economies’’.
Mr. Toorn also noted, “the GrEEn project contributes to climate resilient economies, which can withstand and reduce climate impact on the short and long term; this is essential to community well-being now and later”.
Angela Yayra Kwashie, the National Project Coordinator of the Unite Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in Ghana said, “GrEEn officially launched virtually during the European Week in May, but now it’s time to take news of GrEEn to the regions and communities that are going to benefit from this new action.”
SNV is the international development organisation that manages the Trust Fund. SNV is renowned for making lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise incomes and access basic services and focuses on three sectors: agriculture, energy and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). In these sectors, climate and business in the sentence, gender and youth employment are integrated.
