By Solomon Gumah, GNA
Tamale, June 20, GNA – The Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Ghana) has held a day’s capacity-building workshop for frontline service providers to strengthen psychosocial support services and enhance protection for survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Northern Region.
The training, held in Tamale, brought together safe space personnel from health facilities, school counsellors and mental health practitioners to equip them with knowledge and practical skills in psychosocial support service delivery and psychological first aid.
The initiative formed part of the implementation of the “EMPOWERHER: Advancing Institutional Strength, Leadership, Protection and Inclusion for Sustainable Impact” project, being undertaken by SWIDA-Ghana in partnership with Plan International Ghana and funded by Global Affairs Canada under the Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership (RWVL) project.
The project is being implemented in the Tamale and Sagnarigu Municipalities.
Miss Fatimata Abdul-Rasheed, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Officer and Project Lead for EMPOWERHER, speaking during the training, said it was designed to strengthen the capacity of personnel responsible for providing counselling, psychosocial and mental health support services at health facilities and schools.
She emphasized that the training sought to enhance participants’ ability to provide psychological first aid, manage SGBV and mental health-related cases, and offer appropriate support and referrals to vulnerable individuals.
She said “This training is geared towards improving support systems for women and girls particularly survivors of SGBV while ensuring that frontline personnel have the necessary skills to respond effectively to their needs.”
Ms Abdul-Rasheed noted that the training aligned with the broader objectives of the EMPOWERHER project, which sought to improve women’s participation in household, community and governance decision-making processes, and enhance protection against SGBV.
The EMPOWERHER project is expected to directly benefit about 1,660 people including 600 women, 500 youth, 200 girls and 50 persons with disabilities in addition to many indirect beneficiaries.
Mr Aram Nyame, the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Officer at Total Life Enhancement Centre, who facilitated the training, highlighted the importance of counselling in supporting vulnerable individuals and promoting mental well-being.
He engaged participants on understanding counselling and its purpose, distinguishing between counselling and other forms of support, and how to apply ethical principles in counselling practice.
He also touched on the need for active listening, empathic communication, effective questioning techniques, paraphrasing, summarising, communicating with vulnerable persons and recognising cases that required referral to specialist health professionals.
Mr Nyame touched on the need for special attention to children affected by crises and traumatic experiences.
He encouraged participants to use simple language when engaging children, provide reassurance, maintain routines where possible, encourage expression through play and avoid exposing children to overwhelming information that could increase anxiety and distress.
Participants expressed appreciation for the training and described it as timely given growing concerns about mental health and SGBV in communities.
They pledged to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to improve psychosocial support services and strengthen protection mechanisms for women, girls and other vulnerable groups in their respective communities.
GNA
Edited by Eric K Amoh/Benjamin MensahÂ