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Ghana needs to create over 300,000 jobs every year to be able to deal with the unemployment situation in the country.

This is according to the World Bank’s head of operation, Dr Beatrix Allah-Mensah.

She was speaking at the launch of the labour intensive public works policy programme. The policy, she said, was to avoid the increasing rate of unemployment in both the rurual and urban areas.

“Access to jobs is even more crucial in the rural areas and for the poor thus making job security a social protection issue,” Dr Allah-Mensah noted.

A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA) between November and December, 2015 and released in July 2016, found unemployment as the number one problem majority of Ghanaians are facing.

The study sampled some 1,500 people from across the 10 regions of the country and identified females, urban dwellers and the majority of the residents in the Central, Eastern and Western Regions confirming that unemployment is their biggest worry in Ghana.

According to her, the Public Works policy will therefore contribute significantly in addressing such challenges through the provision of temporary employment mostly for unskilled workers.

“We as an institution are very pleased to see that the labour intensive public works policy is in line with the national employment policy as well as the national social protection policy [of the country],” Dr Allah-Mensah said.

The World Bank, she noted hopes these policies would promote a concerted approach in the implementation of activities by liaising with the ministries; that is the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and Minstry of Employment and Labour Relations as well as the Ministry of
Gender, Children and Social Protection.

“This is systematic and coordinated approach with the essentials to ensuring that economically active poor in Ghana gain access to needed employment and training,” she said.

Dr Allah-Mensah, said World Bank, has supported the government of Ghana with some $138.6 million in the implementation of the Labour Intensive Public Works Program under the Ghana Social Opportunities Project which has a component of $71 million.