Description:
Program Purpose
To create mechanisms for the elimination of gender-based discrimination and improve the living standards of women.
Program activities
Media campaign
Training activities for statutory institutions and relevant NGOs
Awareness raising workshops / seminars at regional, district and community level
Documentation and Publications
School outreach programs
Implementing organisations
The program was implemented by three partner organisations in collaboration with FORWARD UK; ACDEP, Maata-N-Tudu and Navrongo/Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Office. It ran for 4 years and was funded by Comic Relief.
Project Goal:
To contribute to the eradication of gender-based discrimination and to promote the rights of women.
Objectives
- To strengthen mechanisms for the elimination of gender-based discrimination and promote the rights of women.
- To create public awareness on gender-based discrimination and the rights of women at the community, district and regional levels.
- To build/strengthen institutional capacity at the community, district and regional levels for the elimination of gender-based discrimination.
- To promote the socio- economic empowerment of young women and mothers in rural communities.
- To improve access of gender-based NGOs and government organisations to information on gender issues.
- To strengthen project result based monitoring and reporting.
Achievements:
The accomplishments of this program were remarkable. The uniqueness of this program is in its grassroots gender awareness, advocacy and capacity building approach along with the linkage with district and regional level statutory institutions all in an effort to create and /or use formal and informal institutional structures and mechanisms to fight against gender-based discrimination at the community and institutional level. The program has brought communities, statutory institutions and other NGOs together to fight gender based discrimination. This has improved the relevance of these institutions, particularly Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service (formerly WAJU) and the Girl-Child Education unit of the Ghana Education Service to the communities. Training workshops organised for statutory institutions and relevant NGOs have enhanced their work in several ways. For instance, the knowledge and information acquired through workshops have increased the content of the public education activities that they carry out. The enhanced understanding of gender issues helped some of them to incorporate the issues into their sector plans and programs for redressing. This knowledge has also helped in bringing about a better understanding of gender issues raised and the need to continue to encourage people to do away with gender based violence. This program has particularly been able to create awareness on gender at all levels. There had been increased public awareness on gender-based discrimination and there is collective will to fight gender-based violence. Also due to the awareness raising, people are becoming more gender sensitive and conscious of the rights of women. At the community level for instance, people tend to be conscious of equal participation and representation of women at meetings and community gatherings. Some men now ask the views of their wives before taking decisions. A number of workshops have also been organised for chiefs and opinion leaders in the various communities which, together with radio discussions, drama and jingles on identified gender issues, has encouraged discussions of the issues at community level. The workshops created the forum and opportunity for these issues to be discussed publicly at the community level. Women particularly have been emboldened through these open discussions to articulate these practices such as widowhood rites, girl-child education, wife battering, witch craft accusations and violence against women with concrete life examples to the amazement of district officials. The realisation of the negative effects of these practices and the collective will to do away with gender-based discrimination will surely go a long way to help eliminate these practices and promote the general well being of our rural women.
Implementing Partner
Name | Description | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Office (NABOCADO) |
Until 1991, the Diocesan Health Office (DHO) operated independently of the Diocesan Development Office (DDO). |
National NGO |