“750,000 [jobs] is nothing, I want to employ five million people not 750, 000,” he said.

Dr. Owusu Akoto Afriyie’s claims that they’ve created 745,000 “unofficial” jobs under the programme across the country, have been disputed by critics who say these ventures should be classified as “activities and not jobs” as they are not sustainable for the entire year.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Zwy9nq3VUT4NbvxcCQxjbFTkxOhdfGOJ”]“… The Planting for Food and Jobs campaign has absorbed this [rural] labour to the extent that we targeted 750,000 rural labour, and we were able to generate 745,000 jobs, and these jobs are unofficial jobs. They are not pensionable, they are not tax deductible so you cannot actually measure it like those in the formal sector where you are registered, you are paid a wage, you have to pay tax and so on, and therefore, it is very easy to monitor.”

“The whole idea is to generate enough jobs in our rural areas so that they would have something to do for them to stay, so that the Kayayei [Head porters] can go back to Tamale, Bolga and all those places to reach rice farmers,” the Minister said at a news conference last week.

745,000 ‘Planting for Food’ jobs are full-time

A deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, George Oduro, has also defended the figures, saying they are full-time employment ventures.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Mr. Oduro said many of those employed under the programme help with a number of farming activities including the tilling of lands and the harvesting of crops.

“…This is [a] full-time job. You start from land preparation until harvesting…These are not jobs that you go for interviews,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post We will employ 5m people; 750,000 too small – Agric Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Dr Tom Catena, 53, a Catholic missionary from New York, received the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.

He has worked in Sudan for more than 10 years, during the ongoing war between the government and rebel fighters.

In his speech he urged the international community to help solve a dispute blocking humanitarian relief.

Dr Catena is the only permanent doctor in the Nuba Mountains, where fighting between President Omar al-Bashir’s government and rebels from the Sudanese

He has been praised for overcoming problems caused by outdated or missing medical equipment at the Mother of Mercy Catholic Hospital in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, all while dealing with victims of bombing.

“The Sudanese Government is embroiled in a disagreement with rebels over who delivers aid,” Dr Catena said.

“We have to inject a bit of common sense.”

Dr Catena told people attending the awards ceremony the state wants to control the passage of supplies.

“Opponents believe medicine delivered by the regime will sterilise their women and want goods from foreign donors conveyed from neighbouring South Sudan instead.”

He has been working in Sudan since 2007, treating shrapnel wounds, delivering babies and amputating limbs.

The doctor was handed his award by actor George Clooney, who said: “We all have a role in addressing these global challenges. We all have a responsibility, each of us individually.

“We have to be engaged.”

Other finalists for the award included a dentist who did his first operation on a victim of the Syria war by sending photos to more experienced doctors abroad, on social media.

Muhammad Darwish, 26, was one of only three medics left in Madaya, which was under siege.

“That conversation will stay with me forever,” he said.

“To be in a position where you have to let someone without proper training operate on your son, and for me to take up that responsibility of opening up a living, breathing man on the table, it just should not have to happen.”

The procedure was a success.

Fartuun Adan, a human rights worker based in Mogadishu, Somalia, was another finalist.

Her husband was killed in 1996 by warlords and since then she has worked to rehabilitate child soldiers.

She also established the first ever rape crisis centre in Mogadishu.

Finalist Jamila Afghani from Kabul has campaigned for religious leaders to engage on women’s rights.

She said: “When you educate a woman, you educate an entire family. Their learnings are shared.”

Meanwhile Dr Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has helped care for more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence in a country named the rape capital of the world.

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Source: BBC

The post Doctor in Sudan who treats up to 750,000 people wins global humanity award appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.