Accra, Sept. 26, GNA - Mr Yaw Barimah, Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, on Friday said one of the top most priorities of the government was on Skills Training and Employment Placement (STEP) programme to help reduce poverty level and unemployment among Ghanaians.

Mr Barimah said the STEP programme's major component was to link trained graduates from training centres with micro finance institutions for support to produce tools and equipment as proprietors of their own establishments.

The Minister said these at the 11th and 12th batch graduation ceremony of the Salvation Army Anidaso Fie Vocational Training Centre for 67 street girls, who passed out of the school in Accra.

The needy girls were selected from the rural areas and the community and were trained in batik, tie and dye, bread/confectionery, soap making, ornaments, screen-printing and dressmaking.

He urged the girls to sharpen their skills, study the market environment and become more creative and imaginative with their products so that they could capture international market by taking advantage of Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other president's initiatives.

Mr Barimah advised them to abstain from indiscriminate sex since HIV/AIDS was real.

Captain Richmond Appau, Administrator of the Centre, said it was committed to equipping street/needy children with employment skills to provide them with a means of livelihood. He appealed to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to come to the aid of the girls to set up their businesses.