By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Tamale, April 5, GNA – A refresher training has been held to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations, youth groups, and media practitioners in northern Ghana to effectively utilise innovative and inclusive lobbying and advocacy strategies to address the needs of young people.
It was also to help participants update and sharpen existing advocacy tools within their fraternities to lobby and advocate shift in harmful norms by duty-bearers to ensure gender equality and sustainable development.
Held in Tamale, the training was organised by the Ghana Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Alliance to enhance participants’ advocacy efforts in promoting SRHR under the Power to Youth (PtY) project.
The PtY project seeks to give voice to underserved young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, to seek and enjoy their rights.
Mr Adam Abugbila, a staff of Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, a facilitator, said most of the country’s challenges could be traced to poor SRHR policies and decisions.
Such policies could only be effective through vibrant lobbying and advocacy by voices from CSOs, and the media, among others, he said.
He expressed the need for families not to yield to societal pressure or entrenched harmful norms, which made it difficult to plan for their families to ensure better opportunities for the children.
He advised participants to arm themselves with verifiable and correct statistics to better engage duty-bearers on issues to derive the needed results.
Participants pledged their support for the call and agreed to network with relevant stakeholders and institutions to change norms to ensure gender equality and give voice to the underserved.
GNA