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Background

Since 1994, the South African economy has undergone profound changes that have opened new opportunities for all citizens to participate in. However, the challenge is to continuously ensure that economic opportunities are expanded and brought within reach of all South African, especially the millions of people who were marginalised by the apartheid economy and find themselves in our country's “second economy”.

Progress has been made in building the economy, but the task is not complete. The number jobs created has not matched the number of people have accessed the labour market seeking work. Our economy requires more skilled workers. However, the progress that has been made and the social partnerships forged through the Growth and Development Summit create conditions for faster progress in addressing these challenges.

Phase II builds on the success of the Phase I of the campaign on Economic Opportunities, which was launched by the Minister of Trade and Industry in October 2005. It was produced in all 11 languages in popular format designed for dissemination primarily through workshops that would facilitate both access and understanding of contents in the publication.

The direct and interactive methodology utilised resulted in maximum participation of stakeholders (NGOs, CDWs, churches, government regional offices, CBOs, MPCCs) and the building of structures and capacity for sustainable support of the programmes. Workshops in all provinces were organized in easily accessible venues and in languages that participants preferred. Workshop facilitators were trained to take the process further and a facilitator's guide was produced for NGOs and CBOs who wished to conduct their own workshops.

The results of the ,assessment and evaluation of the implementation of Phase I of the publication confirmed the importance of targeted dissemination of information about economic opportunities and the viability of an approach based on partnership between government and civil society.

Objective

Government intends to build on the success of Phase I, to promote awareness of economic opportunities that government have created. Phase II will expand the partnership with civil society and the private sector to widen the scope of economic opportunities that people can access to improve their livelihood. Phase II of the publication will include:

• Updating the content of Phase I publication with new information
• Leverage on the successes of the Phase I to expand public awareness of economic opportunities that government has created and how people can access them.
• Building of sustainable support structures that were developed during Phase I;
• Workshops for beneficiaries in all provinces. To be able to reach a wide section of the community, all districts should be covered

The publication will be presented in a simple way that locate these opportunities in the context of government's programme of socio-economic transformation and provide practical information on how communities can access these services.

The workshops in communities will target Community Development Workers, GCIS regional officials, CBOs, NGOs and Local Economic Development Workers. The distribution phase of the campaign will ensure that people in even the most remote and under-serviced regions will enjoy full exposure to the campaign.

All South Africans face challenges of poverty, unemployment and poor skills that are an impediment in accessing employment opportunities. The publication will have a specific bias towards LSM group 1-5.

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Last modified: 28 September 2005 13:37:45.