The goal of the present National Employment Policy (NEP) is to create gainful and decent employment opportunities for the growing labour force to improve their living conditions and contribute to economic growth and national development within the framework of equity, fairness, security and dignity.
The Policy begins with an assessment of the current employment situation, which encompasses the macroeconomic environment, demographic context, and sectoral employment generation growth including challenges and constraints.
On the basis of the analysis of employment-related data, key policy areas are outlined for priority action by government agencies and the private sector, with corresponding policy recommendations on how to promote gainful employment.
The Policy also suggests key institutional arrangements for policy implementation, as well as the general framework and approach for monitoring and evaluation.
Based on a situation analysis, the following were identified as the key issues that must be addressed by government in order to create sustainable employment opportunities:
- Economic growth in recent years has not been accompanied by commensurate level of job creation leading to increasing unemployment, especially youth unemployment.
- High population growth rate has resulted in a growing working population that far exceeds the rate of job creation.
- Lack of forward and backward linkages between the productive sectors of the economy limits employment opportunities for all Ghanaians willing to work within all sectors of the economy.
- Uncompetitive nature of the private sector limiting its known potential for job growth.
- Large informal sector employment that is characterised by low productivity, huge decent work deficits, vulnerable workers and the working poor.
- Weak resource mobilisation in support of the cooperative sector and of small-scale business development.
- Over emphasis on academic education to the neglect of employable skills resulting in skills mismatch and employability challenges.
- Incidence of youth and seasonal unemployment among rural smallholder farm workers.
- Weak institutional capacity for labour administration and coordination of employment creation interventions.
- Lack of accurate and timely labour market information for development decision making and planning.
Taking cognisance of existing laws and regulations and the guiding principles of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the key policy objectives of the NEP include the following:
- To create more decent jobs to meet the growing demand for employment.
- To improve the quality of jobs for those who are employed.
- To increase labour productivity.
- To strengthen governance and labour administration.
The NEP shall be implemented across sectors. Specific Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as Local Government institutions shall mainstream employment outcomes into their development plans and ensure allocation of funds for implementation.
Specific Action Plans and Monitoring and Evaluation (M & E) Frameworks shall be developed by sectors to aid programme/project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
The Ministry responsible for employment, and its technical departments and agencies shall play the coordination role in order to ensure that implementation challenges are resolved and outcomes are achieved in a timely manner.
In collaboration and consultation with primary and secondary stakeholders, an Action Plan shall be developed to translate all the policy recommendations into specific, measurable policy activities and targets expected to be achieved within stipulated timeframes.
The Ministry responsible for employment, through its technical departments and agencies, shall be responsible for the compilation of quarterly monitoring and periodic evaluation reports.
These shall be submitted to the National Employment Coordination Commission (NECC) to guide the work of key stakeholders/sectors involved in the implementation of the Policy.
Monitoring and Evaluation reports shall be issued annually to the President, Cabinet Ministers, Parliament and NDPC so that desired national employment outcomes can be tracked. The M & E plan contained in this Policy document will help to track the implementation process and ensure the effectiveness of the Policy.
In order for this Policy to be successfully implemented, the existing partnership between the public and the private sectors shall be strengthened, and incentive mechanisms to make financial facilities accessible shall be established.
The text consists of 4 Parts as follows:
- Background and Situational Analysis
- Policy Framework
- Strategic Actions to Achieve the Key Objectives
- Implementation and Arrangements
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