Development agents urged to train girls for job market

Develop­ment agents have been ad­vised to train out-of-school girls in skills that would make them relevant and competitive on the job market.

The advice was given by the Na­tional Programme Officer for Pop­ulation with the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA), Mr Mutaru Iddrisu Goro, at a meeting with development partners in Wa, Upper West Region.

Mr Goro noted that girls in the rural areas received skills training as part of project implementation without recourse to its usefulness to the community.

“These trainings must be in­formed by the community so that we are able to identify the needs of the community and provide them with the necessary skills. We can look at giving them skills in male-dominated jobs which will be beneficial to community mem­bers,” he said.

Mr Goro note, “Training girls in soap making and liquid soap is good but not beneficial to the girls as many of them do not work with the skills due to low demand for the products in their areas of jurisdiction.”

“Imagine training girls on how to make pastries as a project intervention in a community where it is difficult to come by three-square meal a day. Who will buy the pastries if the girls make them, but if we give them training on say electrical, tiling, seeming male dominated professions, they would be able to use these skills even out­side their communities,” he said.

The UNFPA is supporting the Regional Coordinating Council and its partners to implement the 8th Country Project in the Upper West Region.

It is aimed at tackling sexual and gender-based violence, women empowerment and parent-child communication.

The project is being implement­ed in the Nadowli-Kaleo, Wa East, Wa West, Sissala West and the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa and Lambus­sie districts, as well as the Jirapa Municipality.

The team visited projects and interacted with beneficiaries of the various interventions.

Also, the team visited women’s groups, girls’ clubs, child-parent communication advocates in Jirapa, as well as a men and boys’ club in Kulpieni in the Nadowli-Kaleo District.

The meeting was to discuss chal­lenges and make recommendations after field visit to ensure that gains were consolidated.

The team from the UNFPA ap­plauded the unity among the imple­menting partners and encouraged them to adopt innovative ways of supporting their beneficiaries.

The 8th Country Project is co­ordinated by the Regional Coordi­nating Council together with the Department of Gender, Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, and the Ghana Health Ser­vice as a sub-implementing partner leading the implementation of the project.

 FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA

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