CHAPTER 5 10. Unemployment is gradually assuming an inexorable position in Ghana, with the national rate of unemployment rising from 10.4% in 2000 to 12.2% in 2003. The slow pace of past growth, coupled with an expanding labour force, has resulted in growing unemployment. A disturbing dimension of the problem is the growing joblessness among university graduates and graduates of the middle and junior secondary schools, which often fail to provide the requisite skills. 11. The informal sector is the main source of employment in Ghana. As an illustration, between 1984 and 2000 informal sector employment rose by approximately 46%, at an annual average rate of 2.7%. At peak impact of the ERP in 1992, 88% of Ghanaian employment was in the informal sector, although this share declined to 80.4% in 2000. The majority of employment in the rural informal sector is in agriculture, while urban 11 informal sector work is predominantly in the retail trades. 12. Ghana has aggressively targeted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as indicated in Box 5.1, and may meet some of the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration. Whereas the country's accomplishments are undeniable and need to be sustained, real challenges still linger in critical areas necessary for attaining the MDGs fully. The most important challenges lie in combating hunger, reducing under-five mortality, reversing the spread of HIV/Aids, increasing primary school enrolment, as well as improving access to safe water supply and sanitation. Equally difficult to achieve are the goals of eliminating gender disparity and reversing malaria incidence. There is also weak but improving state support for the achievement of environmental sustainability. 13. The HIV Sentinel Survey of 2002 indicates that an estimated 3% of the adult population, aged between 15 and 49 years, was infected with the HIV virus in 2002, translating into 330 000 adults living with HIV/Aids. Unofficial estimates tend to suggest higher prevalence rates. About 64% of Aids cases are in the 20-39 age group, with women constituting 58% of the total cases and becoming infected much earlier than males. Some measures have been taken to address the issue of HIV/Aids, prominent among which is the recognition of the developmental relevance of the disease and the need to combat it with a holistic approach. 14. Ghana has made significant progress following the adoption of the National Policy on HIV/Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The government has prepared and endorsed a National HIV/Aids Strategic Framework for implementation. Despite a 118