By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 13, GNA – The Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD-Ghana) has engaged women’s rights organisations and adult-led Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to explore opportunities for stronger collaboration to sustain activism for girls and young women (GYW) empowerment.
The engagement formed part of sustainability measures of the gains made under the She Leads project implemented by the CARD-Ghana in the Wa Municipality in partnership with Plan International Ghana.
Representatives from Curious Minds Ghana and Necessary Aid Alliance among other youth-led organisations, CSOs and women’s rights organisations attended the workshop spearheaded by CARD-Ghana’s She Leads Social Movement.
Speaking at the workshop, Ms. Zulaiha Duada, the Project Coordinator at CARD-Ghana, indicated that the engagement was to create a platform to address barriers to effective partnership and brainstorm solutions to amplify GYW activism.
She observed that the NGO had chalked success through the She Leads project, including influencing GYW’s involvement in decision-making, particularly at the community level.
Ms. Duada added that the project also helped address some harmful social and gender norms that hindered GYW’s participation in decision-making and leadership and the involvement of males in household chores.
Started in 2020, the She Leads project is implemented by a consortium of organisations to increase sustained influence of GYW on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions.
As part of interventions, the project facilitated cooking competitions between men and women to, among other things, dispel gender norms and myths that discouraged men from performing activities such as cooking.
It also engaged in advocacy activities to encourage GYW to contest leadership positions, especially those reserved for men such as Student’s Representative Council and Senior Prefect roles in Senior High Schools (SHSs).
The Project also led to the formation of She Leads Girls Clubs in some SHSs in the Wa Municipality, including Wa Senior High Technical School and Wa Technical Institute as well as the She Lead Social Movement to sustain the advocacy.
Ms. Felicia Bagania, the Upper West Regional President of the She Leads Social Movement, indicated that the workshop was part of the project’s sustainability measures through effective collaboration between the Movement women’s rights organisations and CSOs.
“This event is for us to build a strong relationship and partnerships with the various Civil Society Organisations within the Wa Municipality and the girls and young women who are now coming up”, she explained.
Some participants at the workshop acknowledged the impact of the She Leads project in transforming negative gender norms.
Pognaa Amamata Mumuni, the Queen Mother of Duori, a suburb of Wa, said the cooking competition helped dispel myths and misconceptions surrounding cooking by men.
The workshop participants were taken through “Building relationship with policymakers: Effective lobbying and advocacy techniques” and “How can adult-led CSOs and Women’s Right Organisations support GYW group activism”.
GNA
CAE/CA