The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) is hosting a policy learning event on Removing Barriers to Women’s Employment in the Future. This policy learning event is the culmination of a study conducted in Ghana and Senegal with funding from the Open Society Initiative in West Africa (OSIWA), which explored barriers to women’s employment in three sectors: BPO, Agriculture, and Hospitality.
The learning event will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including senior officials from key government ministries, department and agencies, gender experts and activists, civil society organizations, academia, industry players, and the media – from Senegal and Ghana to share experiences on young women’s employability in their respective countries. It will also bring on board experts who have supported the research process, as well as stakeholders from countries where ACET has in-depth partnerships that will be fundamental in the building and development of the Youth, Employment and Skills Chapter of ACET’s Pan-African Coalition for Transformation (PACT). PACT is a mechanism that allows governments and local policymakers to gain information and support as they design and implement innovative policies for economic transformation.
The broad objective of the study was to identify creative working policy options aimed at improving secondary education, skills development and employment prospects for young women, using Ghana and Senegal as case studies. The study provides key policy lessons for reforms to enhance young women’s skills and employability prospects. A synthesis report, which highlights all the issues, lessons learned and policy options from the studies in the two countries will be presented at the event to shape the conversation.
The main objectives of the event are three-fold:
- To bring together key stakeholders to share experiences on young women’s employability.
- To provide inputs for policy formulation and uptake by identifying and proposing focused, strategic, and feasible polices and crucially, providing a space where stakeholders can make input into the wider policy debate.
- To pre-launch the YES PACT platform. This will lay the groundwork for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge-sharing on inclusive, decent, and sustainable youth employment and skills development.
