The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, on Monday, cut the sod for the construction of the Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (GCC) in Accra.

The $ 500,000 project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in collaboration with the MELR.

When completed the facility is expected to provide advisory services to migrants, promote regular migration and to support voluntary returnees in social and economic reintegration.

The centre would also include a conference hall, consultancy room, administrative block, central courtyard, offices and landscaping. The centre would provide and collect data, information, offer training and employment opportunities as well as inform government’s decision making.

Mr Awuah said the facility would strengthen the governance system of labour and migration in the country and provide the needed conducive environment for the unit to play its regulatory and monitoring role effectively.

He said the issue of migration and reintegration could best be solved when jobs were made available to the populace, saying “that is why we have job creation at the centre of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).”

The Minister noted that illicit activities of migration expose people to abuse and vulnerable situations, hence the need to improve the living conditions of citizens.

Mr Awuah said the Ghana-German partnership would among other things, help revamp public employment sectors to facilitate job creation and coordinate labour migration challenges at the district and national levels.

He appealed to GIZ to help establish more of such facilities in all regions.

Dr Stefan Oswald, Director General of GIZ, on his part, assured the Minister of Germany’s commitment to support the country’s development strategies of fighting unemployment, saying the venture would deepen the relationship between the two countries.

Touching on some achievements, he said GIZ together with its development partners have delivered about 14,400 people with counselling services, employed 200 people, and supported more than 400 people to start their businesses.