Takoradi: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has engaged key stakeholders to validate its gender and youth strategies and action plans as part of processes to implement its Ghana Circular Economy Centre (GCEC) Project. The GCEC Project is a five-year initiative that seeks to establish a centre to drive Ghana's shift from a linear to a circular economy for economic and environmental sustainability.
According to Ghana News Agency, the project is being implemented with a focus on agriculture and agro-processing, textiles, and plastics sectors, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, with funding support from Global Affairs Canada. The project is anchored on five pillars: the establishment of a physical circular economy centre, training and capacity building for women and youth in the circular economy value, and the provision of technical assistance for circular economy technologies and businesses. The rest are access to financial support for innovative circular economy projects, and networking and knowledge exchanges on best circular economy practices.
The physical circular economy centre has already been established with the Ho Technical University as the host institution, and the University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the OR Foundation as key leads in the implementation of the value chain. The validation workshop, held in Takoradi, brought together key stakeholders in the focal sectors from the Western and Central regions to solicit their inputs to fine-tune the project's implementation modalities.
Mr. Joseph Yeboah, the Strategic Partnerships and Engagements Lead for the Project, speaking on the side-lines of the workshop, said the overall goal of the project was to ensure inclusive economic growth through a low-carbon economy, particularly for women and youth. He noted that the circular economy held strong potential to catalyse Ghana's inclusive growth, unlock investment opportunities, and create jobs through innovations that promoted resource efficiency and environmental stewardship.
'Earlier this year, we came to present baseline assessments to the stakeholders and took their inputs to develop the strategies and action plans, so we think that it is right to come back again to present to them what we have developed to guide the successful implementation of the project,' he said. On why the GCEC project was focusing on women and youth in particular, Mr. Yeboah said these groups have peculiar challenges in terms of access to decent employment and the resources to invest in their own business ideas. 'So, we think that we need to streamline actions to promote inclusive economic growth by empowering them with circular entrepreneurship skills,' he added.
Mr. Daniel Sarpong, the Western Regional Director of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), also a participant at the event, commended UNIDO and its partners for the GCEC Project and said it would help bridge the unemployment gap among the youth and women in the country. He remarked: 'The world is now moving to a circular economy so to have this project come in to encourage more youth and women to venture into circular economy initiatives is a step in the right direction.'
