ACDEP, together with the church development programs in northern Ghana, have made gender issues and inclusion in general, an integral part of their development activities. The issues confronting women in northern Ghana, irrespective of religion, ethnic group and HIV/AIDS status, are wide and varied and there are many entrenched inequalities; patriarchal family structures, socio-cultural beliefs and practices, institutional and political factors have all worked together to push women to the background, thus limiting their economic development and social status. Although many efforts have been made in this area, the impact has historically not been huge and ACDEP believes this can be attributed to the fact that addressing the basic needs of women without tackling their strategic needs, concerns and potentials would not achieve desirable results for sustainable impact.

It is against this back drop that gender awareness education and advocacy and the involvement of women in decision-making processes is crucial, if women are to benefit from these efforts and results on sustainable basis.

Background

In 1996, ACDEP started a pilot project with Amnesty International and FORWARD-UK to educate communities and build community and district level structures for the eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The success of this initiative encouraged ACDEP and FORWARD to develop a joint proposal in 2000 to educate communities and build community and district level structures aimed at eradicating gender-based discrimination. It is also to build the capacity of regional and district level institutions whose work directly or indirectly impact on women. This led to the development of the gender and reproductive health program which started officially in January 2004.

Strategy

ACDEP also ensures that the needs and the inclusion of women are a key element in all their development programs and this can be clearly seen across the other Development Program areas. For example, ACDEP Financial Services now arranges credit for over 2,700 women who were previously excluded from any financial access. This number is growing around 30% year on year.

Projects