By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Feb. 03, GNA – ActionAid Ghana’s “Combatting Modern Slavery” project beneficiaries have recounted the impact of its alternative livelihood support on their lives and how it had enhanced their economic conditions.
Through the project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), ActionAid Ghana offered livelihood empowerment to about 100 most vulnerable women who are heads of households (single mothers and widows) in 25 communities in the Lawra and Sissala East Municipalities and the Wa East District.
The women were trained on their choice of livelihood interventions in the areas of rabbit rearing, detergents, and pastries making and were provided with initial start-up items such as bread flour, chemicals, equipment and the rabbits to commence their businesses.
The project beneficiaries asserted the impact of the project on their lives in an interaction with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a distribution ceremony in Wa to present additional items and rabbits to 67 women.
In all 41 women received detergent-making items, eleven received pastry items and 15 of them received rabbits.
Madam Belimbayi Ziema from Kulkpong in the Wa East District said she was able to meet the basic needs of her children through the proceeds from her detergent-making business.
“I didn’t know how to produce soap but through the intervention of ActionAid, I can produce soap to sell and that is what I am using to cater for my children’s education and health”, she explained.
Madam Saweiba Ahmed, also from the Wa East District, indicated that she had been able to save the proceeds from the soap-making business to acquire tractor services and buy inputs for farming.
“I have saved from this soap-making business and that is what I use to support my children in school and feeding.
During the rainy season, I use the proceeds to support my farm work. ActionAid support is of great help to me”, she said.
For her part, Madam Karima Majeed, also from the Wa East District, told the GNA that apart from selling the soap to generate income to cater for her children’s education and health needs, she did not have to worry about buying soap for her family, which was a great relief.
“I use the profit from the sale of soap to contribute to my SUSU (Village Savings and Loans Association), which is helping me a lot.
Through that I have been able to put up a small provision shop in the village”, she added.
Madam Abiba Nibaradun, the Upper West Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana, said modern slavery was common in Ghana, manifesting itself in the forms of exploitation of children and women labour especially within the agricultural sector but had not received the needed attention to address it comprehensively in the country.
She indicated that some interventions were rolled out under the project to build the capacity of communities, Civil Society Organisations, media and other key government agencies to identify modern slavery in all its forms and to empower communities, especially women to escape from falling victim to it.
She explained that the 67 selected women beneficiaries were identified through their monitoring of the hundred beneficiaries’ activities, which showed good utilisation of the skills they had acquired, and the livelihood items provided to them in 2023.
She said that informed the need for more items for them to boost their businesses to guaranteed decent work saying, “This will empower these women economically and confidence to resist all forms of attempts at recruiting them in Modern Slavery.”
Madam Nibaradun said one of the factors that increased vulnerability to economic exploitation and harassment was poverty due to a lack of decent work opportunities.
“Poverty increases the vulnerability of persons to all forms of exploitation, harassment and abuses including economic exploitation, sexual harassment, and physical abuses, among others.
Once these women earn a living from the interventions, we give them and the education on how to assert their rights they can resist being recruited because they have decent work to earn a living”, she added.
Madam Nibaradun indicated that the intervention would also enable the beneficiaries to support the education of their children to break the poverty cycle in their families.
GNA