Civil society organizations across the country have been challenged to lead the charge for better gender equality and social inclusion as a catalyst for development in Ghana.
The subject has headlined a learning workshop spearheaded by Accountability, Transparency and resource pooling the NGO STAR GHANA which has been working with partner civil society organisations on a five year Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) project.
The theme for the two day learning workshop is “Social inclusion for sustainable development.”
The GESI Project is jointly funded by the DFID, DANIDA and the European Union.
The initiative falls in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4 which seeks to ensure gender equality, human rights, the rule of law and universal access to public services.
The initiative also seeks to reduce relative poverty and other inequalities that cause social exclusion; prevent and eliminate violence and exploitation, especially for women, children and persons living with disabilities.
The event which kicks started at the Golden Tulip Hotel in the Ashanti Regional capital in Kumasi is being attended by some forty (40) beneficiary CSOs drawn from all ten regions across Ghana.
Opening the forum, a Steering committee member of Star-Ghana, Hajara Mohammed Rufai explained that such initiatives are to ensure that no one is left out in decision making, availability of resources and access to opportunities in all facets of nation building.
She noted that the workshop is to also afford the Civil Society Organisations and media institutions being funded under the GESI project to review their performances, share their various experiences and success stories.
Speaking to Ultimate News on the sidelines of the training, the Head of programs with STAR- Ghana Teiko Sabah reiterated the need for both non-state and state actors to ensure that planning and execution of their projects mirror the special needs of youth, women, children and other groups prone to discrimination in society.
“We see this as important to the transparency and accountability process because it is part of Ghana’s constitution to provide space for civil society. We are especially interested in such organisations which are supporting socially excluded groups like persons with disability and women to be part of the conversations around service delivery and issues that are important to them in their own districts and localities,” he said.
Civil Society clusters benefitting from this training include CSOs in access to health education and social services; CSOs in human rights and gender based violence and CSOs in accountability, governance and inclusion.
Some notable media houses including the EIB Network which has championed the Starr Dream Project highlighting the challenges of Women Entrepreneurs with Disabilities; are also represented in this training for their contribution to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion.
Some of the participants who spoke to Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote–Fumador, shared how the GESI projects are impacting their target communities.
A participant, Lamnatu from the CSO Songtaba based in deprived communities in the northern part of Ghana indicated “Songtaba is a small grants partner STAR- Ghana is supporting, on securing safety and protection for women accused of witchcraft in the Northern Region. The project is working in four districts. It has begun making strides with Traditional rulers, Metropolitan, Municipal and district authorities enacting bylaws that centred on women and girls protection and what the assembly’s roles will be, in supporting to give relief to these women in the event of accusations.”
Executive Director of Community Development Alliance Salifu Isifu Kanton begun a project dubbed, ‘Let girls learn; end child marriage’, an initiative that seeks to accomplish a mission of child-marriage-free communities whiles promoting equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women to realize their dreams and aspirations and to take full responsibility of their lives.
He recounted, “CDA is founded by STAR- Ghana funding from UK aid and the European Union and the project has already achieved some remarkable outcomes in the Upper West Region supporting teenage mothers and victims of child marriages to repackage their lives and get into vocations which we fully fund.”
Another CSO FIDA Ghana has been working with is the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service- compiling list of reported cases of Domestic Violence that women and girls with disability and those living with HIV/AIDS are confronted with between the years 2007 to 2017.
It’s Acting Executive Director Susan Ayitey told Ultimate News’ reporter Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, the study of the data will feed in into a program being funded by Star-Ghana to lobby for increased access to justice for this marginalized group of women and girls who seldom report their cases of abuse to the police service.
By: Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/Ivan Heathcote-Fumador/Belinda Lebene Ami
The post Star-Ghana Trains CSOs and Media in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion appeared first on Ultimate FM.
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