Juaso (Ash), April 1, GNA - Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante-Akim South, has urged Ghanaians to rally behind the government in its efforts to improve living standards, saying, government's commitment to job creation for the masses was on course.

She cited the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) coupled with the disbursement of various credit facilities to individuals and small-scale businesses as part of government's efforts to address the unemployment situation in the country.

Mrs Ohene-Konadu was speaking at a 10-day soap-making workshop for 23 teenage mothers at Juaso in the Asante-Akim South District at the weekend.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), African Development Bank (AfDB), Government of Ghana and the MP funded the workshop, which was organized by the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) under the Rural Enterprises Project (REP).

The MP said the unavailability of jobs was a contributory factor to the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in society and implored the youth to avail themselves of the numerous employment opportunities introduced by government to improve their lot.

Mrs Ohene-Konadu, who is also a Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiative (PSI), advocated the formation of youth groups in order to benefit from various credit facilities introduced by government to boost small-scale businesses.

She announced that she had initiated moves to establish a vocational training centre at Juaso to equip the youth with employable skills and called for the support of stakeholders to make the project a reality.

Mr Isaac Owusu Asante, Business Development Officer at the BAC, said 348 people had benefited from the project in various forms of training two years after it took off in the District, adding that 26 programmes had so far been held.

He said his outfit was making efforts to mobilize the various groups that had benefited from the project to form an association with the aim of seeking government's assistance as a common front. Mr Asante entreated the participants to open a group account and cultivate the habit of saving in order to manage their businesses effectively.

He noted that the participants could source for loans from the Rural Enterprises Development Fund but cautioned them against the diversion of such funds into other ventures.

Miss Faustina Adjei, a resource person for the workshop, urged the participants to be courteous to their clients to maximize profit. She said the time had come for women to be self-reliant and challenged the participants to harness the knowledge acquired to improve their living standard.