AIMS & OBJECTIVES: Enshrined in the 1992 Constitution are the rights of all citizens to work. With this provision, the Ministry has come out with the following objectives: • promote and encourage an enabling environment for accelerated growth and employment; • institute special employment schemes for those vulnerable groups by-passed by the growth process, including the assetless and the unskilled, the extremely poor, and those falling victim to the growth process, that is, re-deployed, the retrenched, and the educated unemployed; • promote adequate wage and self-employment opportunities to productively absorb new entrants into the labour market; • facilitate the process of formalization of employment through appropriate policy intervention; • develop a comprehensive labour market information system and provision of improved employment services; • ensure safe and healthy working environment in selected segments of formal and informal sector; • promote improved labour-management relationships; • improve and promote opportunities for technical and vocational training especially in the rural areas; • improve the provision of management and business skills training; • promote the organisation of short-term competency-based and demand-driven vocational training programmes; • develop a comprehensive National Manpower Development Policy. FUNCTIONS: • Vocational Skills Training and Development • Employment Generation and Labour Market Relations • Co-operative Development • Occupational Safety and Health • Productivity Improvement • Social Welfare and NGO Registration and Co-ordination..