Rural women urged to embrace ICT to reduce poverty

18-11-13     

CEO of OLAMCS, Emmanuel Atiiga

Some handiwork of OLAMCS trainees 

The Kassena-Nankana East Municipal Director of Education, Augustine Ayirezong, has underscored the need for women to take key interest in the learning of ICT. For him, ICT education as a tool for development has become useful and an understatement of the word lucrative since it was no longer an added advantage to one’s employability but a basic requirement in today’s global village. To this end, it was high time women rise beyond secretaryship and delve into ICT to enable them break out of poverty and marginalisation. Mr Ayirezong made the call at the inauguration and exhibition of products of Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAMCS) in Navrongo. OLAMCS vision is to empower underserved communities with employable skill training and entrepreneurship through ICT. Since its inception in 2005, the centre with the support of partner organisations have undertaken youth development and formation targeting over 300 youth. With financial and technical support from COTVET-SDF, Ghanaman Trust fund and OSWA-Senegal, the centre has since provided ICT training for 150 illiterates and semi illiterates with young girls and school drop outs constituting the majority. These beneficiaries are also being trained in new skills in soap and beads making, smock weaving dressmaking, floral decoration as well as basic financial management education among others. The first batch of trainees numbering 81 have successfully completed their one year training and are now being taken through entrepreneurship and small business management. The CEO of OLAMCS, Mr Emmanuel Atiiga announced that the centre was admitting the second batch of beneficiaries for which training was on-going for a period of 3 months. Moreover there were plans to introduce new skill training targeting the teeming unemployed youth and expressed hope to extend their activities to benefit other communities of Northern Ghana. The Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive, Dr Stanislaus Kadingdi, said investing in people particularly the youth was one of the key areas of government, therefore efforts must be made to complement governments effort in that regard. He however expressed his outfit’s readiness to engage COTVET and its partners to chart the way forward in tackling poverty among the people. The Municipal Director of Education, who was the guest speaker Augustine Ayirezong, for his part, encouraged women to venture into ICT and not see it as a preserve for men.  He underlined some recommendation necessary to reducing poverty and unemployment among the teeming youth including prison inmates. Meanwhile, an ICT centre for trainees of OLAMCS was later inaugurated, whilst an exhibition to showcase the various artefacts and products by the trainees were put on display. The event which was characterised with a cultural display by the Gia cultural troop was on the theme: ‘ICT, Alternative Employable Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Development’.

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