By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi, July 31, GNA – Defence for Children International (DCI)-Ghana is set to implement the Girls Livelihood Pathways Project in the Amansie Central District to equip vulnerable girls and young women with vocational and entrepreneurial skills to improve their livelihoods and reduce their vulnerability to exploitation.
The project will benefit between 20 and 25 vulnerable girls and young women, including out-of-school girls, adolescent mothers and those at risk of or affected by Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), through vocational training, entrepreneurship support and access to reproductive health, psychosocial and socio-legal services.
Ms Faustina Prempeh, Programme Manager of DCI-Ghana, said the project was being implemented with funding support from The Emerging Markets Foundation Ltd (EMpower) to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for vulnerable girls and young women and address the socio-economic factors driving exploitation and abuse.
She said many girls in mining communities resorted to illegal mining, street hawking and exploitative sexual relationships to meet their basic needs, often leading to school dropout, teenage pregnancy and persistent poverty.
Ms Prempeh said economic hardship and family instability had left many girls vulnerable to exploitation, limiting their educational opportunities and future career prospects.
She cited the experience of a 17-year-old adolescent mother from Amansie Central, who dropped out of school after working at illegal mining sites and later became pregnant while struggling to provide for herself, saying her story reflected the reality confronting many girls in deprived communities.
She said the project would provide structured training in selected market-driven vocational skills, practical workplace exposure and entrepreneurship development to enable beneficiaries to establish sustainable livelihoods.
Outstanding trainees would receive seed capital, business coaching and post-training mentorship to support them in establishing their own businesses, while participants would also benefit from adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health education, psychosocial support and referral services.
Ms Prempeh said DCI-Ghana had implemented several interventions over the years, including the Girl Power Programme, Girls Advocacy Alliance, Safe and Protective Environment for Adolescent Development Project and the She Leads Project, to promote the rights and well-being of girls and young women in Ghana.
She said despite the gains made under those interventions, girls and young women had consistently identified economic empowerment and vocational training as essential to overcoming poverty and reducing their vulnerability to abuse and exploitation.
“The Girls Livelihood Pathways Project responds directly to that need by equipping vulnerable girls with employable skills and supporting them to build sustainable sources of income,” she said.
Ms Prempeh said DCI-Ghana would monitor beneficiaries’ transition into income-generating activities and document lessons from the pilot to guide future expansion of the model to other communities.
She said the project aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals on quality education, gender equality and decent work by promoting vocational education, women’s economic empowerment and sustainable livelihood opportunities for vulnerable girls and young women.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Audrey Dekalu