By Eunice Hilda A. Mensah
Accra, Dec.18, GNA – CARE International in Ghana has officially ended its Women for Change (W4C) Project, imparting more than 27,000 individuals with knowledge in health, gender equality, and financial literacy among others.
The five-year initiative funded by Mars Wrigley from October 2020 to September 2025, Ms. Mercy Sika Krow, the Programme Team Lead for Social and Economic Empowerment, CARE Ghana, said leveraged the Village Savings and Loan Association model as a core approach to reach thousands of women with financial literacy, entrepreneurship, gender equality and nutrition education.
The event brought together representatives from Mars Wrigley, OFI, ECOM, government agencies, traditional authorities, district assemblies and community members to celebrate the achievements of the project and reflect on lessons that would shape future women economic empowerment efforts.
Ms Krow noted that the achievement of the project was as a result of the strong collaboration of all partners involved in the project implementation.
“The Women for Change project has shown what is possible if communities, private sector partners and development actors work together toward a shared goal,” she added.
Madam Ellen Sedziafa, the Women for Change Project Manager, who took the audience through the impact of the initiative highlighted that the initiative reached 27,377 participants, that is 22,208 women and 5,169 men.
It, therefore, exceeded its original target of 27,000.
She also underscored that through the village savings and loans associations formed by the project, participants had raised more than $9.2 million in savings and disbursed more than $7.2 million as loans.
The gender training organised by the project, Madam Sedziafa said had led to improvements in women’s participation in decision making at both the community and household levels while the nutrition training had resulted in significant improvements in household nutrition.
Speaking on behalf of Mars, Mrs Aseye Nutsukpui, the Public Affairs Director, reiterated the position of Mars to continue to work to improve the livelihoods of the people they work with.
“Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. We envision a world where cocoa farming is more inclusive, where resources are offered in a non-discriminatory manner and accessible to all cocoa farmers regardless of gender, and where women in cocoa farming communities can reach their full potential,” she said.
To make that vision a reality, in 2020, she said Mars collaborated with CARE to create the ‘Women for Change’ programme.
“The Women for Change (W4C) model, grounded in a proven theory of change builds on CARE’s successful Village Savings & Loan Association (VSLA) approach”, she explained.
The goal of the project, Mrs. Nustukpui said was not only to improve gender equity within households and communities but also to achieve tangible benefits like increased savings, skill enhancement, and income growth.
She commended the beneficiaries for their commitment to the project for the past five years.
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty.
CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls.
In fiscal year 2025, CARE worked in 121 countries around the world, reaching more than 58 million people through 1,467 projects.
In Ghana, CARE started in 1994; and in 2025, its programme interventions reached 463,937 people directly through 15 interventions to support their social and economic empowerment as well as their food, nutrition security and resilience.
GNA
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba