28/06/2024
On June 28 2024, 272 Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) benefited from the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) programme. The SCORE training programme, which runs for six months and intends to increase SMEs' productivity while ensuring good working conditions and resource efficiency, was signed off with a certification ceremony in Accra to mark the success and official closure of the 2023/24 GIZ-MDPI-ILO SCORE training programme. SCORE is a global training programme that seeks to improve workplace organisation, cooperation, and safety as well as promote resource-efficient and cleaner production.
SCORE is a practical training and in-factory counselling programme that improves productivity, sustainability and general working conditions in SMEs and demonstrates the best international practices in the manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors. This ultimately leads to the growth of enterprises, job creation, and economic development. Management Development ran the SCORE training program with help from the Productivity Institute (MDPI), a sub-vented agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), and its implementation partners. The program was made possible by the GIZ Invest for Jobs Initiative, part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" framework, and is run on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In 2021, GIZ signed a first grant agreement with the MDPI to train 60 SMEs with the SCORE methodology. A second grant agreement was signed in August 2022 to train an additional 74 SMEs. Given the high impacts observed in the last few years, the recently completed phase extended the SCORE programme to 272 additional SMEs and administrative regions where the programme has yet to be implemented before, including Bono, Bono East, Northern, and Savannah Regions.
Speaking at the event, Team Leader Mr John Duti from GIZ emphasised that small improvements matter: "Improving inventory management, optimising water consumption, neatly organising the workplace, ensuring the consequent utilisation of protective equipment, listening to the feedback of customers and the concerns of co-workers—all these little things add up to big changes and this is what SCORE seeks to achieve".
Ms. Bernice Adjei, Director General of MDPI, expressed that she is "looking forward to the impact the newly trained enterprises will have on the Ghanaian economy as they apply international standards and other good practices in their operations for growth and
sustainability. Present at the certification ceremony were representatives from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the Ministry of Trade and Industries, the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Trade Unions, SCORE Implementing Partners (IPs) and selected enterprises.
International Labour Organization
GIZ Ghana
Management Development and Productivity Institute - MDPI
Score Training Solutions Gh
