R. Zimmerman, Q. Zhu and C. Dimitri (2016) “Promoting Resilience for Food, Energy and Water Interdependencies,” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Vol. 6, Issue 1, 2016, pp. 50-61. Published online: February 12, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/s13412-016-0362-0
Presentations (through March 2023)
(R. Zimmerman is the presenter where no presenter is indicated; an asterisk indicates presenter if other than or in addition to R. Zimmerman)
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Program Office, Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana
Cynthia is a passionate women’s rights advocate dedicated to the promotion of women’s rights, gender equality and social justice for all. She has more than ten years of experience undertaking research, project design, coordination, monitoring and evaluation. Cynthia currently works with the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) as a Program Officer. She is responsible for managing NETRIGHT’s work program on economic justice. She works directly with female groups, finding innovative methods to help address women’s livelihood issues. She coordinates projects on women’s livelihoods, agriculture and land, with specific focus on rural women farmers, as well as agriculture and land commercialization.
Prior to NETRIGHT, Cynthia worked with the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, undertaking research on a wide range of social and economic issues in Ghana. She also worked with the Women’s Situation Room Ghana as a deputy youth coordinator and provided technical assistance in designing and planning. She also helped in the implementation of innovative advocacy campaign at national and regional levels to engage the youth on issues relating to electoral violence and peace in Ghana. She is passionate about women’s rights advocacy and addressing structural and systemic challenges that have created barriers to inhibit women and girls from enjoying their economic rights in Ghana. Cynthia holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Sociology from the University of Ghana.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Title: The Women Empowered (WE) Project
Cynthia’s project aims to empower rural female farmers and their groups in policy issues and interventions in the agriculture and land sectors with particular focus on the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Initiative. The PFJ initiative is geared towards increasing food productivity and ensuring that food security in the country is a way to modernize agriculture and make it a source of employment for Ghanaians. Providing female farmers with the knowledge on how they can benefit from this policy will go a long way in addressing some of the challenges that women face in the agricultural sector and will also improve their livelihoods in the long run. The project supports twenty (20) rural female farmers from the southern sector of Ghana as they explore entry points for engaging district actors on accessing the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative (PFJ).
Cynthia has organized a series of capacity building workshops for 20 rural female farmers from five (5) regions of Ghana namely: Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta Regions of Ghana in collaboration with the Women in Agriculture Department (WIAD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). The training aims to equip the women with knowledge on the PFJ and entry points for accessing and benefitting from the program. The training also will provide farmers with practical skills for advocating for policy changes and the implementation of PFJ in their communities.
At the end of this ALP, women will become increasingly aware of their rights and will be able lead advocacy interventions and engage with district assembly authorities in their communities. Women will become aware of their economic rights and land rights and more confident speaking in village forums, adding their voices to debates about land and agricultural related matters especially on PFJ. They will become confident in articulating themselves on issues about PFJ due to the detailed and quality information given to them during the training workshops.
Assistant Programmes Officer, Ghana Integrity Initiative
Anita Ayuah currently works as an Assistant Programmes Officer for Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a Local Chapter of Transparency International. At GII, she acts as a critical support to the programmes and Corporate Affairs Departments as well as the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC), which provides free legal advice to victims and witnesses of corruption. Anita coordinates and supports the implementation of GII’s advocacy and sensitization programs aimed at empowering citizens to join the fight against corruption at both local and national levels. Over the years she has worked in the development sector in various capacities. Serving vulnerable women and children has contributed to her passion for social change.
Anita aspires to be a human rights lawyer and an advocate for women and children’s advancement. She strongly believes that young women and girls should not be deprived from developing their full potential on the basis of their gender. Anita has participated in a number of empowerment and training programs, including the renowned Transparency Fellowship Program in Lithuania in 2018. She holds an Executive Master’s Degree in Leadership and Governance from Central University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Development from the University for Development Studies in Ghana.
Action Learning Plan (ALP)
Project Title: Anti-Corruption through Youth Education
Anita’s Action Learning Program (ALP) seeks to increase youth awareness on the impact of corruption among Ghanaian youth and aims to equip them with the basic knowledge and skills of anti-corruption through a series of learning strategies and activities.
Ghana’s educational curriculum lacks modules on anti-corruption issues at all levels. Therefore, children often grow up without the necessary tools needed to resist the pressures that push them into corrupt practices. To address this challenge, Anita has designed an Anti-Corruption Learning Strategy to engage Junior High School students (JHS1-3) from the Holy Innocent Anglican Basic School within the Ga West Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana over the next year.
To ensure that the program is successful, Anita has secured the support of the school’s leaders, teachers, anti-corruption experts and key government stakeholders, particularly the Ga West Municipal Education Directorate. She has also held a capacity building workshop on anti-corruption for over 300 JHS students. She is currently engaged in an active social media campaign focusing on anti-corruption amongst the youth. She is also distributing fliers to educate the public on the importance of sensitizing the youth and campaigning for support on the integration of Anti-Corruption Studies into the country's educational curriculum by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Anita is optimistic that her project will increase awareness on the subject matter and open further discussions between the public and key stakeholders on the importance of integrating Anti-Corruption issues into schools as a means of stopping corrupt practices in the country. The students involved in this project are expected to develop the ability to detect, resist and report corruption. Another expected outcome of the project is the development of a strategic tool for mainstreaming anti-corruption issues into schools’ curricula.
Senior Technical Program Officer, SAID Systems for Health project
Christabel is a highly experienced development worker with over seven years of experience in the international NGO sector. She currently works for the International Development Group of University Research Co., LLC as a Senior Technical Program Officer on the USAID Systems for the health project Ghana Health.
Christabel is also a Co-founder of Kairos Ladies Network, an organization that showcases the many career and entrepreneurial opportunities in the agricultural sector for women and young girls. Through the network, Christabel has mentored over 2000 junior and senior high school girls on agriculture as well as on sexual and reproductive health. Since 2015, she has collaborated with the Madina District Office of Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture to present extra awards to best female farmers during the National Farmers’ Day Celebration. Christabel has also worked with Marie Stopes International Ghana and Youth Challenge International, where she spearheaded the design, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of various projects that targeted young people. Christabel holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Ghana.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Title: Girls’ Go Green
Christabel’s Action Learning Program (ALP) seeks to deepen the knowledge and understanding of employment opportunities in the agricultural sector for female junior high school students at the Ocarina Presby Junior School in the Madina-La Nkwantanang Municipality of the Greater Accra.
Young women in Ghana have limited access to formal employment opportunities. The agricultural sector is often prioritized as an area for employment, but due to the many challenges that women face and the misconceptions surrounding the sector, young women are not often invested in learning about the opportunities they can pursue in agriculture.
Christabel is implementing the “Girls Go Green” project to raise awareness on the many careers and entrepreneurial opportunities in the agricultural sector. The program currently has 30 female participants (14 – 16 years). Christabel has built a strong partnership with school authorities and the coordinators of the Girls’ Club. She has held several planning meetings with key stakeholders to discuss the program and has obtained their feedback and inputs. Activities undertaken so far include a goal-setting workshop where girls came up with their individual goals and agreed on a group goal. Christabel also organized an exciting activity on food security and nutrition to encourage girls to think critically about the actions they can take to tackle food insecurity in their communities.
Christabel will continue to provide opportunities that create awareness on how to become an agricultural entrepreneur and lead the girls to brainstorm on various enterprises in the sector. Female entrepreneurs and those pursuing careers in agriculture will be invited to mentor, network and share their experiences with the girls during a series of “All Girls Agric Summits.”
Christabel believes that participants will leave the program with information on an array of career and entrepreneurial opportunities. The many myths surrounding the agricultural sector will also be debunked so that the girls can understand the significant role agriculture plays in sustainable development and a solution to youth unemployment.
Founder and Chief-Servant , Oak Foundation
Portia is the founder and Chief-Servant of OAK Foundation Ghana, an NGO dedicated to the education, professional development and entrepreneurship of young women. Her work derives from a passion for helping young women in marginalized communities achieve their potential. Prior to founding OAK Foundation, Portia worked middle management roles in several non-profit organizations. She also gained valuable work experience in social enterprise start-ups. Portia has dedicated herself to mentoring around 3000 senior high school girls in Ghana. She passionately believes that when women are educated, the positive impact transcends generations. Her passion for the advancement of young women also stems from her own background and life experiences.
Portia’s motivation for choosing agriculture and agribusiness comes from her desire to ensure higher productivity, better pricing and improved economic prospects for young people. For example, in the maize and rice value chain, OAK Foundation has formed cooperatives of young women and supported them with agricultural mechanization, land preparation, extension services, as well as branding and sales aggregation. OAK Foundation’s work currently impacts the lives of over 400 young women aged 20 – 45. Portia has been recognized for her advocacy by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture as “The Most Innovative Farmer” in the Ejura-Sekyidumase Municipal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership & Governance, both from the University of Ghana.
Action Learning Plan (ALP)
Project Title: Youth-in-Agribusiness
Portia’s ALP seeks to advance the professional development and employability of young professionals in the agro industrial sector by addressing the barriers young people face in starting agriculture enterprises through training and entrepreneurship opportunities. Portia’s Youth-in-Agribusiness program aims to promote agribusiness within the horticulture value chain as a viable employment opportunity for young graduates of tertiary institutions. This project is dubbed “Graduate-In-Agribusiness Horticulture Module” and provides young people, particularly women, with the opportunity to gain practical knowledge about how to operate agribusiness enterprises within the horticulture sector.
Portia has selected 20 participants who have attended skills and hands-on practical training sessions for two weeks. She has organized the selected participants into four teams and has provided them with land, logistics and start-up resources to start working. The scheme will feature micro-enterprise incubation based on 2-acre lots dedicated to four (4) teams made up of 5 members. Each team will cultivate a variety of vegetables to generate capital within 6 months of the project implementation. Participants are expected to then use this capital and all networks built during the project implementation to start their own vegetable farms. The farm units will be made up of organic vegetable gardens cultivated under no till farming, till farming, and vertical farming.
The project will be broadcast on Agribiz TV, as well as on social media and multimedia internet platforms. This will ensure that project participants become role models for their peers and are able to address misconceptions that graduates, especially women, have about agriculture, including the myth that it doesn’t have viable avenues of sustainable long-term employment and economic empowerment.
Co-host of Breakfast Daily, Citi TV
Dziffa Akua Ametam is the co-host of Breakfast Daily on Citi TV, which delivers social discussions and entertainment to the Ghanaian public on a weekly basis. Prior to Citi TV, she founded Dziffa.com, an online marketplace for made-in-Ghana goods. Dziffa was also a Communications Teaching Fellow at Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), where she helped entrepreneurs from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa identify local solutions to global issues.
Dziffa is very passionate about promoting Ghana. In 2015, she launched Reviving Made-in-Ghana, a collaboration with the Ghana Mission to the United Nations. In 2017, she launched Ghana Nie, a local goods fair of high quality Made-in-Ghana products. In 2017, Dziffa collaborated with Impact Hub NYC on Made-in-Ghana, Tackling the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals through Enterprise. She has also worked with the ministry of Trade and Industry on the Ghana Made Christmas Street Fair. Additionally, Dziffa’s work in promoting Made-in-Ghana landed her an appointment as a Made-in-Ghana brands Ambassador in 2017 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
In 2014, Dziffa was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award by African Youth Excellence. She was named a Top 30 under 30 Rising Star of Ghana by the Future of Ghana and one of the Top 100 Visionary Women to Watch in 2016 by Innov8tiv. In 2018, she was given the Young Star Award by Glitz Africa. Dziffa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from City University of New York, Herbert H. Lehman College.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Title: Elevate Her
Dziffa’s ALP project focuses on improving the confidence, critical thinking and public speaking skills of female students from a low-income neighborhood junior high school in Accra by engaging them in an after-school program and providing mentorship and networking opportunities.
There are currently 10 students from All Saints Junior High School attending the “Elevate Her” after-school program from Monday to Friday (4:00 -5:00 pm). To increase their confidence, they are reading texts by successful individuals who have faced challenging childhoods, including financial setbacks. The inspiring readings allow the students to empathize and relate to them. As part of the program, students have the opportunity to share their own stories and experiences. Finally, students will participate in public speaking workshops that will help them acquire the skills needed to confidently express themselves, question the status quo and think critically about their potential. Students are also being connected to mentors they can learn from and share their academic and social challenges with.
By the time this project is completed, the students will be armed with the confidence they need to believe in themselves and their abilities. They will be able to look beyond the limitations of their economically deprived neighborhoods, achieving academic success and contributing to the development of their communities and nation. Dziffa strongly believes that human capital is the most important resource in Ghana and that young women from economically deprived neighborhoods have the potential to achieve great things if they are equipped with the resources to help them develop their confidence and boldly chase their dreams so that they can be productive members of society.
Project Officer, The Ark Foundation, Ghana
Millicent Boatsi has over five years of experience working with the Ark Foundation, Ghana on issues pertaining to women and human rights, sexual and reproductive health, decent work, livelihood and unpaid care work. Determined and passionate about community development work, Millicent worked on the Young Urban Women’s Project, where she mobilized 1000 young women in 10 communities within the Ga West Municipality. In her role as a project coordinator she designed and implemented project activities with community leaders and stakeholders. Millicent is also a Business Development Service Provider in beading and accessories making for Rural Enterprises Program (REP) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where she provides training programs in bead making for deprived communities to improve their livelihoods and incomes.
Prior to joining the Ark Foundation, Millicent volunteered as Director of Projects for Junior Chambers International (JCI), a nonprofit organization for young active citizens ages 18 to 40 who are engaged and committed to creating impact in their communities. As Director of Projects she ensured that JCI’s four areas of opportunity (individual, community, business and international) were achieved. Millicent has also participated in several national and international trainings including the 18th JCI Academy in South Africa and Action Aid’s Global Baseline Workshop in India. Millicent holds a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Community Development Studies from the University for Development Studies.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Empowered To Empower (E2e Project).
Millicent’s Action Learning Project (ALP) seeks to raise awareness on human and women’s rights through leadership development amongst a group of Muslim girls between the ages of 14 - 16 in the Darul Bayan Islamic School, located in Medie, a community in the Ga West Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.
Millicent’s ALP aims to expose some of the barriers that exist for young women in Medie and develop their leadership by creating awareness and encouraging equality for effective leadership. Recognizing and removing barriers is vital to strengthening young girls’ social networks and activism, enhancing their voices and enabling them to play effective roles in leadership.
Twenty (20) young Muslim girls have been selected with the support and buy-in of the leadership of the Darul Bayan Islamic School. Millicent organized an orientation training program so that participants understood the objectives of the project. She also held capacity building workshops for the students that focused on personal empowerment and leadership and on human rights, women’s rights and gender. She also designed engagement sessions for the young girls and the Parents and Teachers Association (P.T.A) aimed at developing strategies that will enable them to participate in leadership positions and training programs on effective communication, advocacy skills and public speaking. The sessions create a safe space for the young girls to share their experiences and ideas and empower them to become transformational leaders in their schools and community, which is the key outcome of the ALP. It is envisioned that the twenty (20) young girls will one day serve as peer educators for other young people in the community by sharing their gained knowledge.
Gender Equality Social Inclusion and Capacity Building Officer, Christian Aid
Safia Musah is a Development Practitioner with 10 years of experience in program development, facilitation and monitoring. She has expertise in human rights-based development, with an emphasis on gender equality and social inclusion. In both her private and professional life, Safia has translated her passion for inclusive societies into building strong women and women’s groups that are active participants in their homes and communities. She is associated with the election of women into various Local Assemblies and the renaissance of women in traditional governance in the Northern Region. She was among a team that developed a roadmap for the disbandment of witch camps in Ghana, a process through which banished women are being reintegrated into society. She is also an advocate against gender-based violence.
Safia has facilitated Civil Society partnerships at different levels and influenced the growth of some local organizations into powerful entities with functioning structures and systems. She is currently the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Officer at the STAR-Ghana Program, where she influences policies and practices that support the empowerment of excluded groups. She also coordinates the design and delivery of capacity building programs for Civil Society. Prior to her role at STAR-Ghana, she worked with Actionaid, IBIS in Ghana (now Oxfam) and ACDEP. Safia holds a Masters in Local Economic Development from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and Bachelors of Art in Integrated Development Studies from the University for Development Studies in Ghana. She also serves on the board of three Non-Governmental Organizations.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Title: HOGBA SII, “Females Arise”
Safia Musah is implementing the ALP titled HOGBA SII, which means “Females Arise” in the Koma language. The project is being implemented in her native village, Yikpabongu, a small community in the Northeast Region. It targets girls in the community Junior High School and seeks to initiate a response to the historical imbalance between girls’ and boys’ education in the community. A host of barriers have resulted in a serious lack of motivation for girls to pursue formal education, thus enrolment, retention and transitioning have been persistently poor. Hogba Sii is a girls’ empowerment program that targets Junior High School girls in Yikpabongu through mentorship by providing a fresh breath of zeal, purpose and tenacity in their pursuit of education and excellence.
Safia has delivered mentorship sessions in critical subject areas, fostering personal connections with the girls and building their confidence to aspire to great heights. To create a supportive environment that complements the mentorship, community stakeholders are being engaged in diagnostic and problem-solving dialogues to renew commitments to girls' education in Yikpabongu. At the school level, a club is being formed to offer a safe space for girls to engage in peer-to-peer support activities amongst themselves and with the opposite sex. Future events will include interactions with role models and exposure visits to fun and educative sites. Hogri Sii is a call for action. At the end of implementation, there will be a strong team of self-motivated ladies who can lay the foundation blocks for changing the narrative of girls’ education in Yikpabongu.
Programs Coordinator, Youth Bridge Foundation
Joyce Nyame is a proactive, organized and dynamic individual experienced in project management with non-profit organizations, monitoring and evaluating interventions, reporting, writing and data analysis. Joyce is a critical thinker who is eager to improve her leadership and has a deep passion for empowering women and young people in Ghana. Joyce is currently the Programs Coordinator with Youth Bridge Foundation (YBF) and is responsible for the coordination and harmonization of various programs. Joyce’s role at the foundation includes project conceptualization, proposal writing, program preparation, budgeting and implementation. Joyce is also the Team Leader for the Foundation’s Female Youth Initiatives Program.
Prior to joining YBF, Joyce advanced from an intern to a Project Coordinator with the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a women’s rights advocacy organization in Accra. Her research and advocacy interests include gender and development, youth and development, disability and gender, women and girls’ economic empowerment, as well as youth in governance. Joyce also undertakes capacity building for young girls and boys at the Junior High School level as a passion for bringing up an empowered next generation where both women and men are able to dream, aspire and achieve. Joyce holds an MA in Development Studies with a specialization in Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a BA in Linguistics and Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana.
Action Learning Project (ALP)
Project Title: EnoAbena Nti (For the Sake of Womanhood)
Joyce’s project aims to contribute to the improvement of knowledge and options in choosing future careers at the Senior High School Level for final and second year students at the Christ Royal Academy in Achomota, Accra. This will be done through capacity building, after-school activities, mentoring sessions, sensitization fora with parents and gender orientation sessions. Even though the Ghana Education Service has a Career and Guidance Section, its services are not offered to the majority of the schools under its jurisdiction, creating a huge gap in the curriculum, especially when it comes to making career/program choices.
Joyce has started out by engaging the selected school and holding a series of sessions to discuss the program. The parents of the students have also been engaged so that they support the informed decisions of their wards. Joyce implemented a session on gender stereotypes and how traditional stereotypes can affect career development. Joyce will engage the twenty (20) second year pupils from the same school and continue to engage the previous batch of students who have benefited from the completed sessions. As her sustainability plan, she hopes to get the professional assistance needed for the school to have a trained Career/Guidance focal person to continue offering support to its pupils.
Joyce believes in the need to challenge gender stereotypes as a step towards female child empowerment and fighting gender discrimination. She strongly believes that this is possible when both female and male children are at the same level of empowerment through capacity building. At the end of the project Joyce believes the pupils will have an increase in knowledge of gender and career choices. She anticipates this would be manifested through them making well-informed future academic and vocational choices, which in the long run would shape the way they relate to themselves as females or males.
Programme Officer, Accountability Rule of Law and Anticorruption Programme, European Union
Seyram Awushie Agbemenya is a Programme Officer for the European Union's Accountability Rule of Law and Anticorruption Programme. Seyram has extensive experience working on conservation programs and a keen interest in issues pertaining to the dynamics between policy, society, gender, and rural livelihoods in the sustainable management of resources. She also has experience working on projects related to sustainable development, governance, environmental sustainability and planning at the local level.
Previously, Seyram worked at the Ghana Integrity Initiative, where she played a critical role in building local capacity to ensure accountability and transparency in local governance. Through her work, she engaged key stakeholders in Ghana, advocating and building capacity for the strengthening of national anti-corruption policies. She coordinated the operations of the Transparency International’s flagship Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) program, which aims to empower citizens to report corruption and advocates for structural reforms in Ghana.
Seyram holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Natural Resource Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a Certificate in Conflict Transformation and Human Rights from the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen.
Project Title: Will 4 Change: Empowering Women, Building Leaders
Seyram´s Action Learning Project (ALP) aimed to increase the representation and participation of women in local government in the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly in the Eastern Region of Ghana, which at the time only had two women elected members in the Assembly. The project selected ten women to provide them with skills and critical knowledge on leadership and governance through workshops, trainings and mentorship in order to increase their confidence and capacity to participate in local elections.
Over 10 months, Seyram enlisted the support of local NGOs, including a media organization and leaders of the district assembly who were key partners and supported the project. Seyram held two stakeholder meetings and organized two capacity building workshops for the selected women. She also identified and recruited mentors to support the women who run in the next local elections in 2018. The key outcome of this project is a cohort of women who gained the necessary skills and confidence to participate effectively in the decision making process and leadership at the local level. Community members especially men, in the Yilo Krobo Municipality, also enhanced their awareness of the importance of women in leadership and some of them supported the women to prepare themselves to take part in the local decision making processes. With the support of local leaders Seyram ensured a platform at the local level to continue creating awareness on women’s participation and their role in local governance. In addition, the project also ensured that a group of mentors and leaders continue supporting women vying for leadership positions in the municipality.
Development and Communication Associate, Golden Baobab
Eunice Ahenkorah currently works as a Communications and Fundraising Specialist at Golden Baobab, a Non-Governmental Organization that supports African authors and illustrators in producing children’s literature and champions the development of the children’s book industry across Africa.
Eunice is passionate about literacy, women rights and immigrant rights. As the 2013-2014 Education Policy Fellow at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in Washington D.C., she served as an advocate of educational rights for Hispanic Americans. She conducted policy and data research, and coordinated advocacy projects.
Prior to joining NCLR, she worked with high-risk victims of domestic violence at a women's shelter in Immokalee, Florida. Eunice earned a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Grinnell College in Iowa, where she was actively involved in student life.
Project Title: Books for African Children by Africans
Eunice’s project aimed to secure long term funding for the Golden Baobab Prize, a competition that promotes African writers and illustrators of children’s content. For several years, the Prize had been struggling to support itself through short term social entrepreneurship cash awards, and it needed to secure sustainable financial support so it could continue its mission. Eunice’s project goals included: increasing resource supports available to the writers and illustrators of the Prize and encouraging the production of more culturally relevant literature for African children.
Eunice identified and approached a diverse range of prospective donors and funders, developed a corporate funding proposals, attended trainings and workshops to raise funds and mobilize resources, and secured sponsorship commitments and funds from donors. Key project outcomes include launching a fundraising campaign which collected nearly $7,500 from donors through Globalgiving. In addition, Eunice established a global network of new supporters and collaborators to secure a sustainable stream of funds and resources for the Prize. The success of this project directly impacted the future and continuation of the mission of the Golden Baobab Prize.
Acting Executive Director, Human Rights Advocacy Centre
Philomina Eyram Ahiable is a human rights advocate and a social worker with advanced skills in Humanitarian Service and mediation. At the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, Philomina has worked on diverse projects and groups supporting access to justice for diverse marginalized and vulnerable population, including women, children, persons with disabilities, survivors of gender based violence, victims and survivors of domestic violence, refugee and asylum seekers in Ghana and other West African countries.
She was a member of Ghana’s delegation to New York for the 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and attended the 69th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Switzerland in 2016. During the same year, she served as a Mediator at the San Diego County Small Claims Court in San Diego, California and also volunteered at the National Conflict Resolution Centre and the University of San Diego annual Peacemaker Award Program in San Diego California. In 2011, she coordinated the 23rd Ordinary Session of the African Human Rights Court held in Ghana. Philomina received the UN Resident Coordinator’s award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Ghana Refugee Program in 2009.
Philomina holds a Diploma in Social Administration from the University of Ghana, a certificate in Policy Advocacy, Network and Alliance Building from the West Africa Civil Society Institute. She is a certified Mediator with a mediator’s credential from the National Conflict Resolution Centre, San Diego California, and enrolled in Marymount University, Arlington- Virginia where she obtained a degree in Criminal Justice.
Project Title: Development of a Gender Equality Policy for HRAC
The main objective of Philomina’s project was to develop and implement a Gender Equality Policy (GEP) that ensured that equality and women’s empowerment are fundamental in all programs and the organizational culture at Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC). The project aimed to strengthen HRAC’s internal structures and enhance the organization’s culture, focusing on gender equality. Main goals of the project included, building a common understanding around gender concerns through training, ensuring program staff promote gender equality, making HR systems and policies gender responsive, developing guidelines on equal employment opportunities and an affirmative action policy that gives female applicants priority in the recruitment process, and developing a sexual harassment policy.
For 10 months and with participation and input of HRCA staff and key stakeholders, Philomina developed the HRCA Gender Equality Policy and an E-learning sexual harassment policy. She also developed an online training tool for new employees and held meetings with staff to receive input and to discuss their ideas and concerns on possible ways to promote the gender policy and ensure new practices at HRAC. The HRAC board approved the Policy, which is also on the organization’s website as a resource tool for all employees.
Lead, Yo!Gate Foods
Nana is the co-founder of Yo!Gate Foods and an initiator of Guzakuza, a social enterprise that empowers young women to create jobs, wealth, and food security. Nana is a certified social entrepreneur from the International Institute of Social Entrepreneurs and has hands-on experience in food security, strategic management, and agriculture in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Nana Adjoa A. Sifa has solid experience in project management and designing issue-based awareness campaigns. She is a member of the Association for Women's Rights in Development, World Pulse, and the Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs.
Nana believes that agriculture can help reduce five of the world's most pressing problems: unemployment, food insecurity, poverty, hunger and malnutrition. She dreams of mentoring young women in becoming “Agripreneurs” who will power Ghana's economy, grow healthy crops, and become wealthy farmers.
Nana earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Ghana.
Project Title: Grow to Grow (G2G)
Nana’s project aimed to teach students about healthy lifestyles including proper nutrition and the important role agriculture plays in the world and in Ghana. Healthy eating has a profound impact on a child’s ability to learn and creates positive attitudes and behaviors. For a year, Nana implemented the ‘Grow to Grow’ project, in the Ho-Fiave Seventh Day Adventist School in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. The project targeted school pupils between 10 and 14 years of age.
Over the year, Nana obtained permission from the school to implement the project; recruited 32 students; provided sensitization workshops to stake holders, (pupils, board and staff of the school); and held several gardening workshops with the pupils, teacher in charge of the project and the project coordinator. Students created their own garden with okra, pepper, garden eggs and tomatoes as the main crops. They took some of the vegetables to their homes and the rest was sold back to the school to support the school feeding program. The program increased student understanding of food production and appropriate nutrition by connecting them to the source of their food. The pride and curiosity sparked by growing vegetables led to more positive attitudes and eating behaviors.
Research and Advocacy Officer, Public Agenda
Elizabeth Alampae Ayamga has five years of experience working in the field of development and development journalism with Public Agenda and Open Centre Africa, with a focus on energy and youth issues. She has served as a rapporteur and facilitator for national and international programs such as the First Global Forum on Youth Policies in Baku, Azerbaijan and the Ghana Youth Conference on Oil and Gas. She participated as a panelist at the Presidential Youth Dialogue Series with His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama at the Flagstaff House and the Annual MINDS Dialogue on Election and Governance with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali, Rwanda.
In 2013, Elizabeth chaired the production of the West Africa Youth Integrity Camp final report (a project organized by ICPC, UNDP and Transparency International) in Lagos, Nigeria. She also participated in the West Africa Tech Camp organized by the Ghana Think Foundation with support from the United States Embassy in Ghana. Currently, Elizabeth is part of a Thomson Reuters Foundation and Wealth of Nations Pan-African reporting project on illegal financing in Africa, aiming to boost coverage of financial and extraction issues that are central to development.
Elizabeth serves on the board of several youth organizations in Ghana and was recently nominated to serve on the Technical Committee of the National Youth Parliament. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy and Sociology) degree from the University of Cape Coast and various training programs in her areas of expertise.
Project Title: Media for Women
Elizabeth’s project aimed to contribute to influencing media in Ghana by positively promoting women’s rights and empowerment. Over a year, Elizabeth conducted research and drafted a report regarding current practices at United Television- UTV, one of the most influential media houses in Ghana. She proposed specific recommendations on how UTV and media in Ghana could change practices to support women needs and rights. Throughout the project, Elizabeth contacted and engaged key stakeholders and allies such as the Station itself, the Media Foundation for West Africa, the National Media Commission in Ghana and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ghana, to build and sustain support for this project, create awareness and open new conversation on the need to bring a positive improvement to the media’s coverage of women’s issues in Ghana.
As a result of this project, a likely collaboration between the Media Foundation for West Africa, the National Media Commission in Ghana and the UNDP, is being shaped. These institutions are studying the possibility of launching an award, a capacity building programme and a ‘naming and shaming’ programme that would incentivize the media to have programmes that promote women’s empowerment. Elizabeth collaborated with United Television- UTV and will continue working with them to develop a programme to promote women’s rights and empowerment in the coming year. This project helped create awareness and open dialogue and discussions on the need to develop appropriate media coverage that supports women empowerment in Ghana.
Programs Coordinator, Community Advocacy against Poverty
Aurelia is the program coordinator for Community Advocacy Against Poverty (CAAP-Ghana), supporting diverse human and gender rights projects. Prior to joining CAAP-Ghana, Aurelia worked with Hope for Future Generations (HFFG) as a project coordinator in the Volta region and the Women and Development Project (WADEP) in Nkwanta South District. Her work with both organizations focused on human rights, women empowerment, gender equality, and health promotion. She has facilitated several trainings in the areas of human rights, girls’ education, parental care, maternal and newborn health advocacy, young girls and women’s leadership, and gender and development in health. She has been instrumental in proposal writing, research, and the development of training manuals. In addition, she has facilitated trainings to support artisanal and vocational skills training in both baking and design and decoration.
Aurelia has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Ghana, Legon. She obtained a certificate in NGO project management and practice from the Cambridge Center of Excellence and has also obtained other certificates in monitoring and evaluation, data management, international women’s health, and human rights. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s Degree in NGO Management and Rural development at the University for Development Studies, Tamale.
Project Title: Say No to FGM
Aurelia’s project aimed to increase knowledge on the damaging effects of female genital mutilation (FGM) among the people of Kui. Over the years, this practice has been seen as a girl’s entry to the realm of womanhood. Many community members are unaware of the negative impact FGM has on women’s lives and self-perception, and of how FGM violates a number of human rights laws and principles. FGM has been linked to school drop-outs and emotional and health harm.
Over ten months, Aurelia visited Kui to identify, meet and work with key stakeholders in the community. She developed some informational and educational materials, and conducted several meetings and a community outreach events. She was able to work with local leaders and community members who are now part of a local oversight committee which will continue creating awareness and educating the community about how this practice harms women’s emotional and physical health.
This Action Learning project helped to increased community knowledge and awareness about the damaging effects of FGM and violence against girls among the people of Kui. In addition, influential regional leaders have become change agents advocating against FGM. Aurelia continued working with the community to recruit and prepare other local leaders who will become agents to eradicate FGM in Kui.
Project and Events Coordinator, Richbone Initiative Foundation
Christabel is currently the Projects and Events Coordinator at the Richbone Initiative Foundation, an NGO dedicated to assisting children and vulnerable people including orphans and people with disabilities. The organization is currently working to acquire and distribute 600 wheelchairs to health institutions and disabled individuals under the One World, One Walk 2011 project organized by the Free Wheelchair Mission, USA.
Christabel has delivered seminar presentations in London and published online essays on various topics relevant to the development sector including ‘The Conditions for the Effective Disbursement of Aid’, ‘The Effects of Regional Economic Organizations on Human Development’, and the ‘Impact of Refugees on Host Societies’. Through her interest and experience in advocacy and research, she aims to provide information for policy makers and development practitioners. She has worked on programs and projects advocating for children’s education both in Ghana and the UK. In the longer term, Christabel plans to run her own non-governmental organization and consult on issues concerning children and the disabled.
Christabel holds a M.Sc. in Development Studies from London South Bank University and a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Ghana.
Project Title: Empowering Vulnerable Children through Life Skills Development
Christabel’s project aimed to reduce the vulnerability of children between the ages of 15-18 years old living in an orphanage in the Teshie Nungua suburb of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana by providing practical life skills and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) education.
Over a year, Christabel organized and facilitated several workshops on SRHR and life skills development focusing on bead-making. The youth learned how to design and work with beads and made accessories such as necklaces, bangles, earrings and slippers. In addition, she organized age appropriate sexual and reproductive health rights education (SRHR) and children’s rights education workshops, based on a preliminary plan – a curriculum she designed in the first months of her ALP. To ensure the sustainability of the project, Christabel created a Teen Club at the Orphanage, which will continue supporting the work accomplished during the project implementation year.
The teenagers involved in this project gained practical skills and increased their knowledge and awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights which will help them to make informed decisions. They also learned concrete advocacy skills and are now aware about existing services and agencies that protect children needs and rights in Ghana.
Programs Officer, Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre (Gender Centre)
Rosemary Yaa Dufie Osei is an advocate for women and girls’ rights with six years of experience working on gender, peace and security issues in Africa. She has worked at the Omnis Lex Consult – Center for Human Rights and Advanced Legal Research (CHRALR). She has also worked as a consultant for the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) supporting project, which focuses on youth development, women’s rights, peace, and security. She specializes in research, strategic reporting, and monitoring and evaluation.
Rosemary has supported leading programs to ensure the participation of women and girls in leadership and peacebuilding in West Africa. During her time as the programs officer at WIPSEN, she assisted projects in Sierra Leone that led to the establishment of the Gender Management System within the Ministry of Defense and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (MoD/RSLAF) in 2012. She also managed young women’s transformative leadership programs in both Ghana and Liberia. She was involved in conducting gender assessments of security sector institutions in five West African countries: Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, and Senegal.
Rosemary has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Ghana; she is bilingual in French and English and holds a certificate in NGO project management and operations from the Cambridge Center of Excellence.
Project Title: Adolescents League against Sexual Violence
Rosemary’s project aimed to contribute to the prevention of school-based sexual violence against adolescents and teenagers by providing knowledge and awareness on this topic to more than 200 adolescents and teenagers from three Junior High Schools of the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipality in Accra, Ghana. A 2016 National mobile-based survey conducted by Gender Centre (GSHRDC) revealed that of 3,671 Ghanaians, 56% females and 37% males have experienced sexual violence during schooling age, with majority of the cases taking place during Primary and Junior High school.
Over a year, Rosemary engaged school directors, teachers and other key stakeholders to ensure the project’s success. She conducted a survey to assess student’s experience and understanding of sexual violence issues. In addition, she led student and teacher in dialogue around sexual violence and prevention, organized training sessions for adolescents and teachers on gender-based violence. In coordination with the schools, the project offered counseling sessions with a clinical psychologist and expert on sexual violence in Ghana for some of the students in need of this service.
Rosemary has also developed an educational book on sexual violence for adolescents in Ghana and the Ghana Education Service has demonstrated interest in adopting the book as part of the Ghana Schools’ curriculum.
Program Assistant-Social Media, Curious Minds
Lilly currently works with Curious Minds, a children’s rights and youth advocacy organization that seeks to protect the welfare of children and youth using the media as an advocacy tool for peer to peer education and community volunteer work. Lily previously worked with Youth Bridge Foundation as a communications officer and has worked as a community facilitator for Plan Ghana supporting a project that focuses on the Rights of Children. She completed her national service with the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) as a finance and administrative assistant.
Lilly served on the Youth Advisory Panel of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which is a technical advisory team to the Curious Mind organization in the implementation of their programs. Lily is also the newsdesk reporter for the Global Press Institute (GPI), which uses journalism as a development tool to educate, employ, and empower women, while producing high-quality local news coverage that elevates global awareness and ignites social change.
She has participated in several national and international campaigns and trainings including the Model ECOWAS Summit, Euro-African Youth Parliament, and International Women’s Colloquium. Lilly holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the Catholic Institute of Business and Technology and hopes to attain a master’s degree in development studies.
Project Title: Aspire to Inspire (A2I)
Lilly’s ALP targeted 30 young people between the ages of 14 to 17 years in St. Paul’s Anglican Senior High School, with the goal of empowering them with knowledge on their sexual reproductive health and rights (SRH) and also to increase the ambition level of the selected students. At the start, these students were ill informed about their reproductive health and as a result, many ended up with unwanted pregnancies sometimes leading to unsafe abortion, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and finally dropping out of school.
Throughout the duration of the project, Lilly obtained the buy in of the leadership of St Paul’s School to implement her project. Thirty (30) students were selected and a baseline survey was conducted to assess their knowledge and skills regarding sexual and reproductive health. Lilly designed and facilitated six (6) capacity building workshops in the areas of advocacy, communication and decision making skills in Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, knowledge of sexual health, well-being and human rights and one training workshop on role models whereby students were inspired to attain greater heights in relation to their career goals.
The key project outcomes were increase in the knowledge of ASRH, an increased level of ambition amongst the students and the commitment of the school to continue with the programme for its students. It is anticipated that this will lead, in the long term, to fewer school drop-outs resulting from teenage pregnancy.
Youth Development Officer, National Youth Authority
Jane has over five years of experience as a District Youth Coordinator of National Youth Authority (NYA) in the Shai Osudoku District. Prior to being transferred to the district, she worked as an assistant at the Education and Training Directorate of NYA, where she helped to develop a database for assessing the country’s Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institutes (YLSTIs). The YLSTIs provides a four-year training for school dropouts who wish to acquire technical or vocational skills and further their education.
As a District Youth Coordinator, she is responsible for facilitating youth development in the district. This includes implementing programs and activities on topics such as conflict prevention, peace-building, governance, and democracy. She is also a core member of the Safe Haven Coalition in Dodowa, which formed through collaboration between the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America and the Philip Foundation, with support from the Narcotic Control Board. The Coalition is responsible for preventing drug and substance abuse and its related crimes among youth in the district.
Jane holds a Master’s Degree in Management and Administration from the University of Ghana and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Social Work from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Project Title: Empowering Students through Increased Access to Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Information and Services in Ghana
Jane’s project aimed to provide fifty Junior High School (JHS) students between the ages of 12 and 15 in the Shai District Assembly School in the Shai Osudoku District, in Accra, with Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) education to allow them to make informed decisions and reduce teenage pregnancy in the school. Teenage pregnancy among girls in this school has been a cause for concern, as at least two girls become pregnant each year since 2010.
As part of her ALP, Jane conducted a survey to assess the student’s knowledge of SRHR issues and held a forum for parents on how to approach SRHR decisions with their children. She developed and published a comprehensive SRHR educational manual for Junior HS teachers, titled: Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Educational Manual for Junior High Schools. She held a four-day Train the Trainer (TOT) workshop for teachers on how to use the manual. Jane held eight sessions on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR). A total of forty (40) girls and ten (10) boys were trained on ASRHR issues and some of them become peer educators. She trained peer educators to conduct meetings and now they are in charge of promoting awareness on SRHR. In addition, she held a discussion forum with parents to increase their knowledge and awareness of SRHR and on how to support students.
The key outcomes of the project are twofold. First, the students increased their knowledge of SRHR issues in the target school. The second expected long term outcome is that the targeted young women and men will continue to utilize the knowledge acquired in making healthy sexual and reproductive lifestyle decisions for themselves and others they interact with on a continuous basis. Jane expects to sustain the gain of the project through the recent created ASRHR Club in the Shai District Assembly School.
Counselor and Leadership Program Development, Alpha Beta Education Centres
Jacqui Oyimer currently works as a counselor and runs a Youth Leadership Program at Alpha Beta Christian College (ABCC). At ABCC, Jacqui serves as the key contact for guiding and counseling students, parents, and teachers with challenges in their lives, at home and in school. She provides individual advising and helps equip students with life skills necessary for standing out and winning in life. She assists students in creating Individual Success Plans (ISP) and supports them through personal, leadership and professional development. She also designs and facilitates the curriculum for the school’s flagship changemaker leadership program. Jacqui also serves as the Director of the African Abroad Program, a brainchild of African Youth Excellence, which is uniquely designed for Africans in the diaspora to take a study abroad year in the African continent to study, explore, intern, research, and contribute to the rising African agenda.
Jacqui is a fellow of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and a Commonwealth Corps Alumni for the Massachusetts Service Alliance where she served as Program Development Coordinator for the African Community Education Program. Jacqui has held many different leadership positions in various youth organizations, including serving as the 1st Vice President of the West African Network of Young Female Leaders. She has represented Ghana and the Pan-African Youth Union in a host of international engagements. She is the founder of Be-Attitudes International, an emerging social impact organization that seeks to help women and girls meet their full potential to participate in community development and nation building. She is passionate about mentoring young females and supports her husband in pastoring a wonderful community church. Jacqui Oyimer holds an M.A in International Development and Social Change from Clark University, Massachusetts, USA and a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana.
Project Title: The ADESUA Girls Development Program
Jacqui’s ALP, “AdesuaPlus” (literally meaning Education and more), aimed to provide guidance, counseling, coaching, and group mentoring to twenty girls from two government High Schools in the Dansoman Community in Accra, Ghana. This intervention was designed to complement the academic-based educational experiences of the students. Jacqui recruited a six-member team from her school to implement this project. Together, they developed the AdesuaPlus Curriculum.
Throughout the year, Jacqui and the team, planned and facilitated several workshops in order to equip students with information, resources, skills and experiences that will help them make informed choices regarding their education and career advancement. In addition, the team designed tools for monitoring and evaluating the program to assess the effectiveness of the AdesuaPlus Program.
As a result of the project, the girls who participated were empowered and equipped with valuable knowledge and skills to excel and win in life. They were also inspired to develop leadership mindsets and positive attitudes towards life. All twenty girls developed individual success plans. Jacqui, her team and Alpha Beta Education Centres are working to sustain AdesuaPlus as a community impact project to serve the greater Dansoman community.
Programs Manager, Hope for Future Generation
Irene is a project management professional, with nine years of postgraduate experience in public health. For the past six years, Irene has worked as a project assistant in reproductive health with the Ghana Health Service, where she has actively participated in the implementation of the high-impact rapid delivery strategies used in evidence-based interventions for reducing neonatal, child, and maternal morbidities and mortalities to advance Ghana’s fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2012, Irene was part of the team that conducted a nationwide Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care Survey, whose findings and recommendations fed into the Ghana’s MDG Acceleration Framework.
Irene is passionate about women’s empowerment. Her activities as a development worker with Hope for Future Generations (HFFG) have focused on building strong teams to effectively design and implement programs to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights and enroll KPs (female sex workers) and young people into care. In her role as a program manager at HFFG, she has mentored and coached young professionals and interns, helping them realize their ability to bring change in their respective roles and responsibilities by maximizing their potential.
Irene holds a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s in business administration (MBA), from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
Project Title: Creating Awareness on Teenage Pregnancy and Unsafe Abortion in Kitase Junior High School
Irene’s Project aimed to create awareness on teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the Kitase JHS. Irene used a multi-pronged methodology of raising awareness, counselling, and involvement of teachers and reached 25 students between 12-19 years of age. She imparted knowledge and raised awareness on teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion.
Using a seven-module manual on sexual reproductive health and rights, the students learned about the physical transition from children to adolescents, consequences of teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, the range of touches and received information on friendly adolescent health services. Some of the sessions were also dedicated to helping adolescents set educational goals, which will support their progression from junior high to senior high school. Irene also organized a health forum which granted the students the opportunity to have a face to face meeting with health care providers. As a result of the open day forum, a school health club was established in Kitase JHS.
To ensure continuity of information sharing beyond the project, Irene distributed an easy- to-use manual which was handed over to the school for integration into their life skills sessions held with students to continue creating awareness on teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion.
National Director, Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM)
Fati Abigail Abdulai is a social worker with over five years of experience in development work. Her work has been mainly in the non-profit sector and particularly emphasized human rights of women from rural areas. Her work has occurred at the community, regional, national, and international levels—where she has made significant contributions in advocating for the rights of widows and orphans. Most notably, she presented her paper on the “Issues of Discrimination in Widowhood in Ghana that Require Addressing in the Context of the CEDAW” to the United Nations in 2014.
Fati has risen through the ranks as a volunteer, national service personnel, and project officer and since 2013 has been as the National Director of the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a reputable non-governmental organization. She has also served on many committees, notably the Shea Network Ghana Advocacy committee and the Regional Strategic Plan Apex committee for the Coalition of NGO’s in the Upper East Region.
Fati holds a Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy: Technology and Sustainability from Reading University, UK; a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; and certificates in “Livelihoods and Markets” and “Community-based Natural Resources Management” from the COADY Institute of St Francis Xavier University in Canada.
Project Title: Widows have a right to inheritance
Fati’s ALP aimed to increase awareness of the Intestate Succession Law to encourage couples to document their properties for easy identification and distribution in the event of death of a partner. According to the Domestic Violence Program of the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), 100% of reported cases involve property seizure from widows and their children due to the absence of written wills and widows’ ignorance of the existence of the Intestate Succession Law.
To address the issue, Fati organized an in-house seminar for staff of WOM on the Intestate Succession Law. She also developed educational materials, including five-minute videos to generate discussions and support awareness activities during the sensitization outreach and public education activities. Fati conducted interviews with women in the communities to understand customary practices on succession and inform the strategies for her project. Working together with the Commission on Human Rights, Fati prepared and broadcast radio discussions in Grune (the local language) on the Intestate Succession Law. She wrote and published an article on the law titled “The Intestate Succession Law Does not work in some parts of Ghana” on her blog. The article was also published on the Modern Ghana website and she was named columnist of the week by Action Aid Ghana. She also held an outreach activity in the Talensi district for local leaders and community people using role-play as a ‘teaser’ to provoke discussions on this sensitive topic.
Outcomes of this ALP include increased knowledge of the Intestate Succession Law among WOM staff who are now counselling other women on property rights, and undertaking outreach activities. Residents of the Talensi district increased their knowledge and interest, as demonstrated by the number of people who listened to the radio talk show and called in to ask questions. More women and men are visiting the office of WOM for advice on property rights. Other partner organizations also become more aware of the law and were interested in working together to address the problems. The Commission on Human Rights office is also collaborated with WOM to educate more people on the law.
Executive Director, Pervita Foundation
Sheila Aboagye is the founder of Pervita Foundation; an NGO in Ghana aimed at childhood development using non-formal education around the country. A few of Pervita’s notable achievements include designing educational tours in rural communities, introducing ICT in some rural areas, building mini libraries for foster homes and rural communities, and painting and restructuring schooling units in rural areas. She has also been an international volunteer under the European Union Project for Young Adults (EVS) in Romania.
While in EVS, she worked with children in schools on cultural diversity assignments and also played an important role in clinical animation for children in hospitals. In Ghana, Sheila has implemented numerous social-based activities for children and youth under the wing of “Touring with a Purpose” in which youth come together to impact lives in tourism for Ghana. Her expertise has provided her great international opportunities to share the dreams of Ghana to the world.
Sheila has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Human Resource Option) from Central University College. Currently, she is a final year participant of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners’ Ghana, a program designed to provide professional training to graduates who desire to practice human resource management in organizations. Sheila wants to use her knowledge to help build a positive image of children and youth in Ghana. Her commitment to social change lies in her passion to see a developed Africa in which youth take full authority and develop their capacity to make an impact. In the long term, Sheila hopes to acquire her master’s degree in social entrepreneurship and management and build a home for less privileged children.
Sheila likes to tour, play video games, and hangout with children.
Project Title: Developing Minds of Children through Creative Art
Sheila’s project helped children develop creativity and enhance social consciousness through non-formal activities within the formal school system. Children between the ages of 9-18 are naturally adventurous and creative, but the educational system in Ghana has failed to develop these natural traits.
Sheila worked with children from Power for Love Orphanage to engage their creativity with hands-on art projects including painting, drawing, murals, and origami. The project also included activities to build their confidence through public speaking skills and team building. Sheila opened spaces for the children to share and discuss issues such as bullying and caning. Goods produced through the handcraft workshops were sold at mini-charity sales, with the proceeds used to support the Power of Love Orphanage Home and sustain the project.
At the end of the project, children involved in the program increased their confidence and enhanced their awareness of social issues through creative arts. Children felt proud of their skills and the contributions they are made. They produced items such as beads, necklaces and cards. The project also created awareness about the importance of creative art activities among the Power Love Orphanage’s home staff, volunteers and other key stakeholders. Sheila set up an investment fund from the product sales.
Program Officer, Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)
Lois Aduamoah-Addo is a young and passionate advocate for women’s rights. She has been working with WiLDAF Ghana for the past seven years as a Program Officer and has been instrumental in ensuring the successful implementation of various projects under WiLDAF’s Rural Women’s Empowerment Projects. These projects have focused on empowering community members in human rights, family laws, women’s land rights, agricultural and food policy and programs, reproductive health rights and waste management.
Through her work, she has engaged stakeholders such as District Assemblies, traditional authorities, and other community members (particularly women) in advocating for the promotion of women’s rights within the various thematic areas. She represents WiLDAF in local platforms such as the Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL), and has represented the organization internationally at ECOWAS, AU and UN CSW meetings on women’s land rights. She has also developed various sections of manuals, brochures, and policy briefs on human rights and land rights and has been invited by several organizations to deliver presentations.
Lois holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the University of Ghana and a Bachelor’s Degree in Integrated Development Studies from the University for Development Studies, Ghana.
Project Title: Creating Awareness on Women Land Right
Lois’ ALP aimed to increase the knowledge of the public and policymakers on the challenges faced by women farmers in equitable land distribution. The inability of rural women to access and own land has led to high levels of poverty and public ignorance on the problem inhibiting the promotion and protection of the land rights.
Lois used several strategies for this campaign, including the production of a documentary that dramatizes these challenges. She shared the documentary with one traditional council and wrote a newspaper article on the issue. In addition, she organized and took part in three television and two radio programs to generate discussions and reflection on women’s land right in Ghana. In Suhum, she organized a meeting with 66 traditional leaders to review cultural practices that deny women’s land rights.
The key project outcomes are the contributions made to improving awareness and knowledge among the general public about challenges faced by women farmers in instigating policy interventions. Lois’ project allowed for the increased visibility of issues affecting women’s rights and increased knowledge on the needs and challenges of women farmers. There is increased public interest in learning more about the issue, as demonstrated by the number of calls and invitations for talks received by Lois and WILDAF after the airing of TV shows and publication of the newspaper article. Some traditional leaders made commitments to reviewing traditional practices that deny women’s right in the Suhum Municipality.
Program Manager, The Ark Foundation, Ghana
For thirteen years, Petra has worked with the Ark Foundation, Ghana, and a women’s rights advocacy-based organization. Beginning as a volunteer in September, 2003, she became a staff member in January, 2004. Petra now has thirteen years of professional experience in program/project management and alumni coordination; policy brief development; website content management; library management; and facilitation and training skills.
Her responsibilities have included designing and implementing trainings in leadership, human rights, gender, and other capacity building programs, particularly for young women. She has been involved in raising funds for the institute’s programs and activities, developed several policy briefs, and facilitated the networking activities of the institute’s alumna.
She has trained and facilitated with various capacity-building programs on topics such as human rights, women’s rights, gender, and domestic violence. She has also participated in a number of national and international human rights trainings, such as the renowned annual International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) in Canada, organized by Equitas.
Petra holds a diploma in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Ghana. She is a member of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana (IPR) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in development communication and a certificate course in French. In her free time Petra likes to read, watch movies, and sightsee.
Project Title: Young Women Take Action to Bridge the Gender Divide
Petra’s ALP aimed to raise awareness of gender and human rights issues among young women ages 16 to 24 in order to empower them and equip them with information relevant to young women’s rights and help them to develop their fullest potential. Young women in Ghana are often caught under the pressure of conforming to gender-related societal expectations, without much thought given to their own oppression and the broader context of gender inequality and perceptions of women’s status in society.
With the support of the Ark Foundation, Petra developed and delivered a gender empowerment program for young women from the Medie and Pobiman communities within the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region. The workshop topics were based on an initial survey that revealed that women participating in the project had poor knowledge about their challenges and rights.
Petra’s ALP offered peer learning, training and information sharing opportunities for a group of 25 women. In collaboration with other GWSLP participants who work with organizations supporting women rights, she organized three workshops on gender inequality and stereotypes, managing personal relationships, and building a career. In addition, Petra developed educational material to support the trainings. Some Ark foundation staff also had the opportunity to attend some of the workshops. As a follow-up to the training sessions, Petra organized monthly review meetings with participants as a way to offer a safe space to discuss issues related to the training topics and ensure that participants were applying the knowledge they learned as they interact with their peers, teachers, and families.
Project participants reported that they acquired new knowledge and understanding of human rights, and gender inequalities. Some women stated they were better equipped to challenge the status quo on issues that affect women. Others resolved to end ongoing ‘bad’ relationships. The group formed a virtual network (a WhatsApp group) to share experiences and support each other in their various occupations.
Programs Officer (Research), ABANTU for Development
Grace Ampomaa Afrifa is a highly ambitious young leader committed to supporting women’s rights and changing the status quo.
Grace began as an intern at ABANTU for Development and is currently ABANTU’s Programs Officer. She designs, manages, and oversees the delivery of gender-sensitive research and policy analysis program and contributes to the development of relevant background materials for ABANTU’s research and policy analysis program. She also develops research materials and reports and contributes to the program department.
Grace has also served as president of the youth ministry of Assemblies of God-Ghana Tandra Hill and as district secretary of the youth ministry of the Achimota district of Assemblies of God-Ghana. She mobilizes youth for development projects and encourages them in their endeavors.
Grace holds a BA in English and Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon, and is currently pursuing her M.Phil. in English. She also holds a certificate in French from the Ghana Institute of Languages.
Project Title: Empowering Women in the Informal Sector
Grace’s project was a leadership training program that aimed to empower women working in informal sectors of the economy and who were also active in the church community. This ALP contributed to supporting a pool of competent and gender sensitive women who could take on leadership positions in all policy spaces of the Ghanaian society.
The program recruited twenty-five young women in the Tantra Hill Assemblies of God church, who worked in the informal sector. With support of other leaders and the ABANTU organization, Grace designed and facilitated a series of training modules and workshops which covered important topics such as sexuality and reproductive rights, women’s leadership and participation in politics, and decision making. Some of the workshops also highlighted the links between leadership in the church and society, and offered safe spaces to reflect on women’s leadership and gender equality.
The project was well-received in Tantra Hill Assemblies of God. Since the Women’s Ministry of the church expressed a desire to support and sustain the program in the church, it will have the opportunity to transcend its target group. Two participants also rekindled their interest in district assembly leadership. ABANTU used this platform to inform the women about the Ghana’s Women’s manifesto and the need for women to participate in politics and plan to continue this initiative with other churches.
Founder, Dolly Foundation
Rosina is an activist around human rights, youth issues, and politics. She is the founder of Dolly Foundation, an NGO providing training and community education on violence against women, harmful cultural practices, and economic inequalities for women and girls. She is also the Regional Secretary for the Coalition of NGOs in Health in the Central Region and an aspiring Member of Parliament for Assin Central Constituency.
Rosina was recently appointed a member of the Resource and Mobilization team for Young Africa Women Leaders (YAWL), a Pan African NGO for women leaders in Africa. Rosina is also a fellow of the Women in Politics Training (WIPT) program organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), ABANTU and Women in Broadcasting (WIB) and completed a two-year Vital Voices leadership fellowship and training program under the Clinton Emerging Young Leaders program. Under her leadership, Dolly Foundation won the Africa Young NGO of the Year award for 2015.
Rosina is currently studying Sociology and Social Work at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. She has diplomas from Cambridge International College in London, England, as well as certificates on HIV/AIDS program and a Legal Literacy Volunteer course from Women in Law and Development of Africa from WILDAF Ghana.
Project Title: Voices of Community Champions
Rosina’s ALP aimed to create a common platform for enhancing the rural voices of the Assin Central Constituency on issues of health and education. The limited civic engagement on health and education issues at the community level is due largely to a lack of effective and equal participation of women and men in community discussions and decision making processes. The project was hosted by Dolly Foundation, a Community Based Organization (CBO) based in Fosu, the capital of the Constituency.
Rosina used a participatory approach to engage women and men on the issues. Specific methods included Focus Group discussions (FDGs) and panel discussions broadcast on an FM radio station based in Fosu. Through these methods, Rosina selected six communities in the Dolly Foundation target areas. Using a selection criterion of 60% women and 40% men, participants were recruited from the six communities to benefit from training workshops on leadership. Some of these trainees were then selected to participate in radio panel discussions on health, education, and gender issues. The recordings of the radio panel discussions were used to produce a documentary, which serves as a means to further inform the wider public on health and education matters as they manifest themselves in the Assin Central Constituency.
The project was successfully implemented and welcomed by the community. The project worked with key community advocates, both women and men, who could lead their community to demand change. The project addressed the issue of poor representation of women in local governance and decision-making structures and has empowered women to demand their rights and make their voices heard. Through this work, the women were not merely represented in the project, but also contributed to making stakeholders more aware of gender-related issues affecting the community. The documentary will continue to be used as a source of information and tool for starting future community discussions.
Acting Programs Manager, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII)
Mary Addah has been at the forefront of Ghana’s anti-corruption and good governance campaign for over the past decade as the Program Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII)—the local chapter of Transparency International. Mary holds a master’s degree in development studies and has several years of experience working with civil society to advocate for institutional and system changes for an improved national integrity system. She has previously worked with the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC), the Centre for Community and Social Development (CENCOSAD) and the Ghana Education Service. Mary’s work is focused on governance, research, anti-corruption, education, project management, coordination, and monitoring and evaluation including the empowerment of socially excluded groups at state and non-state levels.
At GII, Mary is responsible for project concept development and design, technical proposal writing, project implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Mary is also responsible for representing the organization at various forums at both local and international levels. She has made presentations to esteemed platforms, including the Ghana Audit Service annual forum. She holds certificates in ‘Multi-Stakeholder Processes and Social Learning’ and ‘Role of Civil Society in Aid Effectiveness’ awarded by Centre for Development Innovation (CDI), Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA) Fellowship Centre. She also has certificates in Leadership Development organized by BUSARA, Global Partnership for Social Accountability on fostering strategic social accountability and other short courses on monitoring and evaluation (M&E), participatory videoing (PV), project proposal development, and anti-corruption.
Mary is passionate about issues of women and youth and their impact on the economy. This has led to active engagement in various organizations, including a role as a board member of the Youth Development Research and Innovation Centre (YOUDRIC) and serving in various capacities on several committees and associations.
Project Title: Women against Corruption
Mary’s ALP aimed to increase anti-corruption awareness among women in hopes of involving more women in anti-corruption activism. The overall goal of the project was to increase commitment and capacity among women to fight corruption. The project is hosted by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).
More specifically, this project aimed to sensitize a select group of women to recognize and fight corruption. The project identified 18 women to be trained as “Women Anti-corruption Champions” (WACs) in target communities in three zones (Northern, Middle and Southern) in Ghana to lead campaigns against corruption at the local level. Mary organized three capacity building workshops for the selected women leaders. The project supported women in mounting anti-corruption campaigns and increasing awareness among other women. A WACs WhatsApp group was created for constant engagement and interaction. The project included monthly follow-ups, which provided anti-corruption mentorship exercises conducted through phone or email and follow-up meetings with the WACs in each zone to support them in dealing with emerging issues.
Ultimately, the projects implementation created sustained efforts at the various levels of GII’s work in the fight against corruption. Over 500 women were sensitized to corruption and its effects on their livelihoods. A future consideration in regards to this effort will be incorporating these efforts into the organization’s recognized structures, particularly in areas where GII citizen’s groups already exist. The project was highly successful as now 30 additional women are working through ten different platforms in the communities as WACs. One of the woman, initiated a girl’s club in her school as a result of the training. At the level of the host organization, there is greater awareness around gender issues and the role of women in anti-corruption work. Citizen groups of GII at the community levels included ten of the trained women as part of sustainability efforts.
Impact Generation, Director (Organizational Projects), Impact Generation
Purity Bosson has a keen interest and passion in youth development and empowerment. She believes that young people are capable of making positive impacts and becoming catalysts for change in their communities and beyond.
Serving as Director of Projects of Impact Generation has provided Purity a platform for positively contributing to improving and impacting the lives of many young people. She has experience working with people from diverse backgrounds through volunteering and collaborating with other non-governmental organizations.
Purity holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology with Political Science from the University of Ghana, and other professional qualifications in human resource management, project monitoring and evaluation, and youth leadership. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, specializing in Human Resource Management, from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
In 2011, Purity was selected by the Moremi Initiative as a Ghanaian representative to the Milead Fellowship for Africa's 25 Most Outstanding Women Leaders. She has also had the opportunity to represent young people at different functions including the 4th Pan-African Youth Leadership Summit, Techcamp West Africa, and the 4th World Summit of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent.
Project title: The Volunteer for Change Project
Graduate unemployment is very high in Ghana. Research shows that students lack the work experience and professional skills needed in the corporate world. Unfortunately, they have little interest in volunteering and would prefer instead to earn an income from work.
Purity’s project recruited fifteen students from the University of Ghana and gave them the opportunity to build their professional capacity by volunteering with non-profit organizations. Volunteering with these organizations provided the students with a community-engagement experience and allowed them to gain the work experience they needed to compete in the job market. The project aimed not just to let young people acquire professional skills but also expose them to community activities in non-governmental organizations and inspire volunteerism.
Participant students were trained in volunteering, time management, and other employable skills. They were placed in six organizations within Accra for a period of two months. It is expected that all fifteen students will continue volunteering, introduce their peers to volunteering, and be retained as volunteers of the organization in order to sustain the project.
As a result of the project, the target population had an increased awareness and interest in community volunteering and enhanced their professional skills. A strong partnership was formed between Impact Generation and host organizations. The project was adopted by Impact Generation and will be sustained in the future.
Gender Programs Officer, Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC)
Veronica Dzeagu is a policy advocate and researcher who believes in an equitable and just society in which all individuals can achieve their full potential and realize their aspirations with dignity. She is a champion for the protection of rights of women and girls. She is currently the Gender Programs Officer with the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), a coalition of civil society with organizations engaged in promoting the right to education.
Led by her passion for community development, human rights, and human dignity, she joined local NGO SEND-Ghana as an intern and was later appointed as a senior project officer. She successfully led various advocacy projects aimed at promoting social equity, human rights, and empowering citizens to hold government accountable. In 2014 and 2015, she submitted reports to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on the negative impact of the increasing commercialization of education for children in lower socio-economic groups. As a GWSLP fellow, she led a project to raise awareness levels of girls on their reproductive health rights and the importance of education in order to reduce the dropout rate of girls in deprived communities.
Veronica holds a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Ghana. She also has certificates in project management and managing budget implementation.
Project Title: Increasing Girls’ Aspiration Levels and Leadership Capacity for Development
The project aimed to help girls ages 13-15 in Teshie, a poor urban community in Ghana, to complete the full course of basic education (junior high school) and progress to higher institutions of learning. The majority of adolescent girls in this community are unable to complete basic education as a result of early marriage, teenage pregnancy and other poverty-related causes. Thirty girls identified as being at risk of not completing JHS in the community, were selected to participate in the program.
Veronica implemented a baseline survey and developed a series of workshops, which included topics related to adolescents’ sexual rights and responsibilities and the importance of pursuing higher education for girls. She also distributed exercise books donated by the Ghana Agriculture Workers Union through a fellow GWSLP participant. Selected participants attended a workshop on developing a personal education plan. Veronica organized follow-up sessions to support the application of the learning and help them develop and implement their personal education plan.
Young girls who participated in the project have all completed their educational plans. Overall, most of the participants reported that they acquired new knowledge on sexual and reproductive rights and know what type of resources they can tap in cases of sexual harassment or abuse or in case they need other advice. Participants also acquired new knowledge on what it takes to progress from JHS to higher education institutions. By the end of the training, most participants demonstrated more interest and commitment to completing their education. As a result, more young girls were interested in joining the girls club at Lekma Junior High School. The club continued activities to create knowledge and awareness about girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights.
Gender Desk Officer, General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of TUC - Ghana
Bashiratu Kamal works as the Gender Desk Officer of the General Agricultural Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress, Ghana. She has a passion for working on women’s and children’s issues in order to ensure a better Ghana. She believes every community has heroes who can change their world. With these principles in mind, she has helped provide alternative livelihoods for women’s economic development in 25 communities in Ghana.
She has facilitated the establishment of Union Women’s committees in over 40 communities to ensure an institutionalized integration of women in informal labor into the Union’s structures and activities. She facilitated the organization of the first Regional and National Women’s Conferences for the Union, and spearheaded constitutional amendments to institutionalize an annual National Women’s Committee.
Bashiratu has experience working with the Ghanaian Chronicle, a national newspaper, and as an anchor for radio station Zuria FM, where she hosts gender discussions and reaches an audience of more than 10,000 members of the Muslim community in Kumasi. She contributed to drafting the National Youth Policy of Ghana in 2008-09 and the drafting of the Youth and Gender Policies of the Trades Union Congress, Ghana, in 2012. She was nominated as one of seven experts to finalize structures of young workers in the Trades Union Congress.
Bashiratu holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource management, a higher national diploma in journalism, and certificates in inclusiveness, diversity and anti-discrimination; gender equality bargaining and mutual gains negotiation; and youth development from the International Labor Organization.
Project Title: Increasing the Visibility of Women in the Decision making Structures of the General Agricultural Workers Union of Trades Union Congress - Ghana
Bashiratu’s project aimed to increase the visibility of women in the decision-making structures of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU). Women’s issues like child care and maternity leave have repeatedly and unconsciously been ignored in bargaining processes as negotiation teams and other leadership roles are often headed by male members of the GAWU. Women in the union also have little or no knowledge on their rights.
Bashiratu organized seven education sessions to sensitize five local workplaces in the Eastern, Volta and Western Regions in Ghana on the organizational and administrative structures of GAWU, and to help inspire women to take up leadership positions. In addition, she followed up with the local leaders to ensure that elected women's committee members were properly appointed to local organizations and that the local union and management supported them and complied with the union’s legislation.
The project included the formation of a Local Women’s Committees in the Benso Oil Palm Plantation; Norpalm Ghana Limited; Cocoa Health Extension Division and the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited in the Western Region; Seed Production Division; Volta River Estate Limited in the Eastern Region; and five communities each in the Kwabibirem District and the Kpando Torkor District. The women’s committees ensured the integration of women into the union’s structures at the local level and provided a common front, voice, and representation to women workers. With GAWU support, Bashiratu developed educational material that provided key information on women's role in decision making as partners.
As a result of this project, women workers became more aware about the need to participate in decision-making processes to advocate for their needs and rights. Successful outcomes included the selection of three women among the seven executives who have been elected into the Volta Regional Council of GAWU—the second highest decision making body of the Union in the Region—with one woman elected as a Trustee who will represent the region at finance committee meetings. Similarly, two women were also been elected into the Greater Accra Regional GAWU Council’s seven executives. Additionally, Bashiratu developed a GAWU Gender Policy, which will help give direction on all gender related activities of GAWU from 2016 - 2020. The policy was approved by management and the National Women’s Committee to be presented to the GAWU Quadrennial Delegates Conference for adoption the same year.
Head of Gender Desk, Centre for Development Research and Advocay (CeDRA)
Gladys Manye works for the Centre for Development Research and Advocacy (CeDRA) as the Head of its Gender desk. Gladys has been involved in projects in key thematic areas such as governance and leadership; peace and security; economic and social development; gender issues and women’s empowerment; and human resource development.
Having served as a student leader and the Head of the Gender desk, Gladys has a keen interest in gender issues and draws on this experience working with women to make a difference at the Centre for Development Research and Advocacy.
Since 2012, Gladys has been involved in the Centre’s community projects, working with others to bring peace among the Chiefs and people of the Osudoku Traditional Area. This area has been locked in chieftaincy conflicts for two decades, resulting in clashes during every national election since 1992. Gladys sees the program as an opportunity to acquire more skills, work with women to promote peace within their families and communities, and to serve as a mediator to address political and religious extremism. Gladys is convinced that women can overcome extreme divides to make the world a better place for everyone.
Gladys holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology of Religion from the University of Ghana. She also completed a post-graduate executive course in human resource management from the Graduate School of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and received a Youth Leadership Training certificate from Friedrich Ebert Siftung (FES), which trained her in a broad range of leadership skills including communication, negotiation, and facilitation.
Project Title: Promoting Gender Responsive Peace Initiatives among Traditional Leaders
Gladys’ project aimed to reduce community violence in the Osudoku Traditional Area in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Ongoing chieftaincy conflicts impact women and men differently and affect the ability of community members to agree on important public issues, such as which development projects to implement. Past conflict resolution attempts have not involved queen mothers and women leaders. This is problematic given the fact that queen mothers and women leaders play a pivotal role in their communities and therefore have a capacity to influence decision-making processes and promote peace.
To address the issue, Gladys’ project aimed to mobilize queen mothers and other women opinion leaders and build their capacity on leadership and peace. Gladys organized a series of meetings and designed and facilitated conflict resolution training sessions for 20 women. These trained women were mentored to form a women’s peace building group consisting of all the queen mothers in the area, as well as some other women leaders and opinion leaders in the three major communities. The group received continuous support and feedback to ensure conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peace building. All themes and issues were introduced and discussed from a gender perspective.
An association of queen mothers now exists in the Osudoku area. Members are actively participating as leaders in the decision making process of the Traditional Council. There is some evidence that the conflict decreased in the region. For instance, the burial of a paramount chief in 2015 who could not be buried due to conflict in the community has been resolved. The women’s association also highlighted the needs of poor people in the region; established links with the First Lady of Ghana, Mrs. L. Maharma, who visited the community; and collaborated with the Lordina Foundation in obtaining food items to be distributed to poor and aged women in the target region. Local leaders are now acknowledging queen mothers and women leaders’ contributions in conflict resolution processes.
Programs Manager, Socioserve-Ghana
Rita Ntsoso currently serves as the Programs Manager of Socioserve-Ghana (SSG). With ten years experience as a development specialist, she has managed projects focused on improving the health and socio-economic status of community members in deprived areas. Rita has overseen several projects involving information, education & communication (IEC) for community empowerment, advocacy, and behavioral change communication targeted at sustainable development in rural communities. She has solid technical expertise in the implementation of community action plans and use of participatory methodologies for community education. Part of her work has focused on training and building collectives of women and youth and educating the public on pressing community issues including equal rights, domestic and sexual violence, violence against people with HIV, and harmful traditional practices.
Under her management, Socioserve-Ghana she has been adjudged the “Best Collaborating Partner in Health Delivery” by the Health Management Teams of Asuogyaman District and Lower Manya Municipal on various occasions. SSG was also adjudged an ‘Outstanding Grant Partner’ for an advocacy project she coordinated under the DFID-funded RAVI Project. Rita also played a vital role by providing technical assistance for the first public hearing of the Government Assurances Committee of Ghana’s Parliament.
Since 2004, Rita has coordinated a thriving association of Women Living with HIV & AIDS. She is a Founding Member/Executive Secretary of Ghana Medicinal Alliance Transparency Civil Society Group and was the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health’s Eastern Regional Branch for six years.
Rita holds a master’s degree and post-graduate certificate in NGO management and a Higher National Diploma in marketing.
Project Title: Development of a Communication Strategy
Rita’s project aimed to develop a gender sensitive communication strategy plan for SSG as a way to raise SSG’s public profile with its target stakeholders. In 2014, an organizational assessment at SSG showed that the unavailability of a documented communication strategy was a major shortcoming affecting the organization’s ability to communicate its successes, establish strong links with stakeholders, and attract substantive funds from donors. Rita and her colleagues as SSG realized that a sound communication strategy would increase SSG’s visibility throughout the country and mobilize resources to better serve the community.
Rita and her colleagues reviewed SSG’s strategic plan, policy manuals, and other key documents and obtained input from other staff, the GWSLP coach, and some communication experts. Together they produced a sound communication strategy which is now in the implementation phase.
Socioserve-Ghana now has a communication strategy that guides the internal and external communications of the organization. The organization recruited a communications officer. They developed a newsletter and re-designed the website. A major objective of the communication strategy was supporting gender mainstreaming in all activities of the organization. Currently all project outputs and results are recorded, analyzed and disaggregated based on gender. The European Union (EU) is supporting SSG to promote electoral integrity and issue-based campaigning and voting in Ghana’s upcoming 2016 elections. As a lesson from this project, a special provision was made by SSG in the project to ensure that women adequately participate in the electoral process. SSG is advocating for quotas for women and provided transportation for women to take part in parliamentary debates and collating issues of interest to women to engage parliamentary candidates. SSG also secured funding from the European Union to upgrade and update the organization’s website.
Executive Assistant (Project Coordinator), Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana
For the past thirteen years, Joyce Renee Ago Djanie has worked in various capacities relating to project management, administration, and governance in the fields of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH), youth development, and gender.
Joyce currently works as the Executive Assistant/Governance and Gender Focal Person with Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana. She is also a trainer for the IPPF/PPAG Learning Centre Initiative (ASRH Programming). Previously, she was the Human Resource and Capacity Development Manager at Hope for Future Generations and the Assistant Project Officer at the Accra Young and Wise Centre with PPAG. She spearheaded the establishment of the National Youth and Adolescent Network on Population and Development and served as its first Coordinator, under the auspices of UNFPA and the National Youth Authority.
She has participated in several national campaigns and working groups, including the National HIV Anti-Stigma Taskforce and the technical team which developed the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (2011-2015) and Youth Action Matrix. She served on the UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel and the UNFPA National Youth advisory panel.
Joyce holds a master’s degree in international affairs and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She also writes and directs original plays for diverse audiences. She pioneered the establishment of the Grace Methodist Drama Ministry and has written twenty plays.
Project Title: Improving the Reproductive Health status of Young people with disabilities in Restricted Environment
Joyce’s project aimed to improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of young People with Disabilities (PWD) at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind. The project responded to the limited access to SRHR information and services among young PWD and the resulting incidence among this population of STIs, unsafe abortions, sexual exploitation, and abuse. The project aligned with the vision of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG).
The main activities of the project included establishing an in-school club as an institutionalized mechanism for continuous access to SRH information and services among PWD. It also included appropriate training for club members and schoolteachers to provide SRHR-related information to their peers through innovative club activities including: talks, group discussion, quiz competitions and debates. The club uses the PPAG Peer Educators Manual and the Ghana Health Service Adolescent Health Info pack as a curriculum. Students with needs for SRH services—such as counseling and treatment of infections—will be identified through the club’s activities and referred to the School Clinic or a PPAG facility for support.
One major outcome of the project was the Establishment of the Young and Wise Adolescent Health Club at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind. Ten peer educators and five teachers received training and more than one hundred members were recruited. Surveys demonstrate that students increased their knowledge on SRHR and related issues. In addition, club volunteers received solid training on SRHR and on how to run club activities. Some of the volunteers learned sign language, and two club members and one staff person received sponsorship to participate in the 7th ACSHR on February, 2016. The SRHR program at Cape Coast School for the deaf and blind became a model for other schools for PWD. In addition, PPAG adopted the program more broadly, helping to ensure its sustainability.
Project Officer, Theatre for a Change (TFAC), Ghana
Susana completed her high school in Harvard College, Accra-Ghana. She began volunteering with the Centre for Popular Studies, Action and Development (CENCOSAD) while waiting for her results in 2001. Finding an passion for volunteer work, she became a participant with Theatre for a Change (TFAC) in 2004, a Ghanaian NGO which uses interactive theatre for education and advocacy centered around sexual and reproductive health. She began with a group of young people from James Town, a community in Accra, with low employment rates and uneven education levels. As a result of her hard work, Susana became fully employed by TFAC in 2008 as a Monitoring Officer for a project with trainee teachers in Greater Accra. After first taking part in the activities, she was later selected as a facilitator
Since 2012, Susana has worked as Project Officer for the TFAC Old Fadama project where she works with female sex workers in an Accra slum on sexual and reproductive health issues and access to justice. She encourages women to explore issues affecting their lives and advocate behavioral changes in their individual lives via workshops and in their community via radio dramas and interactive theatre. She has produced two successful radio dramas with two different groups of female sex workers. Susana has played a key role in the founding of Act for Change, a grassroots NGO run by young people from Jamestown. Through her volunteer work and employment, Susana has had the opportunity to participate in international exchange programs in Bielefeld, Germany and Glasgow, Scotland.
Susana holds a National Open College Network Certificate (OCN London Region) in Forum Theatre, awarded by St Mary's University, London.
Project Title: My Network, My Rights
Susana’s project provided a safe space and support structure for female sex workers where their human rights are protected and their dignity respected. Among female sex workers (FSW) in the Old Fadama community in Accra, Ghana, there still exists poor sexual and reproductive health, compounded by violence from clients, partners, and the community. Stigma and discrimination also deter the women from accessing appropriate health and legal services. The main objective of the project was to enhance the self-esteem and confidence of 26 female workers by creating a supportive network led by Female Sexual Workers (FSW) to provide information and support system.
The project trained six FSW facilitators and formed two support groups in the community. A total of twelve support group meetings were held at the Old Fadama and Jamestown communities. Meeting topics included basic human rights, reproductive health rights, family planning, negotiation skills, and confidence in reporting abuse.
The main outcome of the project includes the establishment of a sustainable network to promote the dignity and rights of FSWs in the Old Fadama Community. Women who participated in the program felt they formed a community and increased their knowledge about sexual and reproductive health rights, gender related justice, and learned about support resources. Participants also increased their confidence, as most of them expressed that they felt more capable of negotiating protected sex. Twenty-six women had the opportunity to get tested for HIV and some decided to open savings accounts to help ensure their economic well-being. The project received financial support through the Theatre for Change in the UK which increased financial contributions to the program, and secured a space in Jamestown.
Assistant Registrar, University of Ghana – Legon
Selina holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, a bachelor’s degree in English and law, and a post-graduate certificate in development evaluation from Carleton University. Her experiences span from the grassroots to the policy level of development cooperation. She currently works as the Assistant Registrar at the University of Ghana Business School, volunteers for several NGOs, and serves as a mentor for students in her community.
Previously, Selina worked as a Program Officer with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA) where she coordinated the ‘Support to Private Sector Development Program’ and facilitated complex stakeholder relationships that included senior government ministries, NGOs, private sector entities, and development partner donors.
She also worked with Oxfam to advocate for policies to improve the lives of farmers in Ghana and Burkina Faso by building coalitions of farmers to fight policies that were harmful to them. This work included research, advocacy and program support. While Oxfam, she also raised funds for the Single Mother’s Association—an NGO which mobilizes marginalized women. Through these efforts, she set up two mechanized rice processing and packaging plants in the Upper East Region of Ghana. This program has produced a model-rice-project which has increased the income-earning opportunities of 400 marginalized women who process and package locally grown rice. Selina has also worked with World Vision, on economic empowerment for women, water and sanitation, and child-rights related issues.
Project Title: Corporate Mentorship Program
Selina’s project aimed to equip and prepare thirty final-year students from the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) for the job market through professional development skills and mentorship. Many students lack employable skills when they graduate. There is a weak linkage between the academy and industry, and some academic courses and programs do not provide enough training in soft skills. Employability skills refer to those attributes and skills that make one functional and effective in the workforce. These are often different from job-specific skills, which are qualification-based, and such soft skills are also critical to a successful career.
Selina’s' project built partnerships with Barclays Bank and the Rotary Club and paired 30 students to 10 mentors who committed to a nine month long mentorship relationship with students. Students met mentors once a month during the academic semester and mentors occasionally invited students to their offices for job shadowing over student holidays. Separate WhatsApp platforms were created to continue conversations among mentors and mentees. While the entire group met three times for interactive sessions, this platform provided a continuous avenue for experience sharing.
In addition, participating students benefited from attending two seminars on career development. The seminar series covered topics relating to professional development and branding for the job market, with presentations made by people in the corporate world and human resource agencies. Students expressed that they benefited from the trainings, guidance, and consulting from mentors. They also built strong networks and are more aware of the benefits of mentorship. The program recruited 34 students for the 2016/17 academic year, and will continue to grow. In addition, the program signed two MOUs with two corporate institutions for long-term partnership with UGBS.
Program Officer for Governance,Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana)
Esenam is a dedicated professional with over five years of experience in human rights, gender rights, community development, project design, and management. Currently, Esenam works with Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) as Program Officer for Governance in charge of coordinating the We Know Politics II project. This project is aimed at monitoring women’s participation and representation in decision-making structures and state obligations towards the implementation of the national and international treaties law. In this capacity, Esenam also coordinates theOil and Gas project aimed at educating women on how to engage with oil and gas actors to ensure responsiveness to women’s concerns, accountability and transparency in managing oil and gas resources.
Prior to joining WiLDAF Ghana, Esenam worked with World Vision International, the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, Dodowa District; and the Women and Development Project (WADEP) in Nkwanta South District. All these organizations focus on women, children, youth, community development, economic and social justice, and human rights.
Esenam has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Sociology from the University of Ghana. She also holds a diploma in adult education from the University of Ghana, a Teacher’s Certification from Jasikan Teacher Training College and a General Certificate of Education from Taviefe Secondary School.
Project Title: Reproductive and Maternal Health Care in Community Hands
Esenam’s ALP aimed to reduce maternal mortality and improve maternal healthcare in the Akwopem North District in Ghana by increasing young women’s knowledge on reproductive health. The project built the capacity of 30 selected JHS (Junior High School) on health rights and advocacy, and reached 100 community members and educated them on reproductive health rights, gender, and available health facilities in their district. The “My Body My Health My Future’ (BHF) club was also established. The club facilitates workshop sessions to members on human rights, gender, leadership, the need for women’s participation, and women’s economic rights. These activities increased knowledge on reproductive health rights and improved maternal care among pregnant adolescents and young mothers in the district.
Main Gains/ Outcomes
Assistant to the Head of Planning Department,BXC Company Ghana Limited
Jamila is a strong advocate for gender equality and ethnicity in all spheres of society. Jamila would like to become an Executive Director in a non-government or international organization that seeks to address issues on gender and human rights specific to gender based violence. Charting a pathway towards this goal, she worked with The Ark Foundation, Ghana, as a Volunteer Project Coordinator. As a passionate young woman with the desire for change, Jamila embarked on sensitization and education on human rights and gender base violence. Jamila is currently the Assistant to the Head of Planning Department with BXC Company Ghana Limited, a private company where she gained experience in strategies for social change.
Jamila is one of thirty young women who executed the “Nuisance Project-Young Women Speak Peace to Power”, which advocated for peace before the December 2012 elections. A notable accomplishment of the project was getting the support of over 1000 leaders, including the Chief Justice, to sign a petition for peace. From her experiences on the project, Jamila believes that one can always find a way to make a positive impact in society. She also received an award for her tireless contribution to the success of the Nuisance Project.
Jamila also worked as a service person with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Africa and Regional Integration Bureau in Ghana. In this role, she was part of the team that successfully organized a permanent joint commission for cooperation between Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. She was also the Public Relations Officer of the Faculty of Social Science Electoral Commission at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Jamila is an alumna of the Women’s Law and Human Rights Institute of the Ark Foundation. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where she served as Canteen Chairperson in her hall of residence. Jamila enjoys learning new things and meeting people from different backgrounds. In her spare time she likes listening to music and travelling.
Project Title: Speak Up
Jamila’s ALP aimed to build the confidence of adolescents in schools and sensitizes them on the effects of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and the need to prevent it. Jamila’s ALP aimed to educate 200 girls through a series of trainings and poster campaigns for teenage girls at the Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Haatso Area. The project introduced young girls to the psychological, emotional and physical consequences of IPV through questionnaires, workshops, school presentations, and motivational talks on self-worth. Students learned how to speak up and to seek help if they found themselves in such situations. The project also offered workshops to parents and teachers on how to recognize IPV in adolescents and how to support them.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Program Coordinator, District Assembly, Agona Swedru
Ernestina is a passionate and self-motivated young woman with experience in marketing, communications, project coordination, public speaking, advocacy on women and youth issues and a Master of Arts student in Gender, Peace and Security at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.
Ernestina currently schools and works with the District Assembly in Agona Swedru as the Program Coordinator of the Gender Desk and as an Internal Auditor. Prior to her work at the District Assembly, she volunteered as an Executive Assistant at Totally Youth where she helped train young girls in ICT.
Ernestina worked as Assistant Projects Coordinator and Spokesperson for Women in Democracy with Political Safari, which screened the movie ‘An African Election’, a political participation project developed by Urban Republic, an organization based in Los Angeles and Ghana. The project sought to promote peace and women’s participation in governance.
Ernestina served as Women’s Commissioner of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), the largest student organization in Ghana that seeks to empower students. In fulfilling her mandate, Ernestina embarked on a nationwide ICT project to provide training in leadership and advocacy. Most beneficiaries of the project are currently employed in paid positions while in school. Ernestina loves travelling and sightseeing.
Project Title: Women in Democracy and Development
Ernestina’s ALP aimed to empower young women to take up political leadership positions in the various Student Representative Council (SRCs) from the Universities in Ghana and the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS). This project trained young women to sensitize the general public on the need to accommodate women leaders, and advocate for an improved standard of living for every woman. The project equipped young girls with leadership skills through meetings with other student leaders, a leadership conference and various media campaigns.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Program Officer for Human Resources, Abantu for Development
Grace possesses thirteen years of experience as the Human Resource Officer for ABANTU for Development, a gender rights and policy advocacy organization. As a gender activist, Grace is passionate to support the work of the women’s movement in Ghana and in the sub region. Her roles include engaging with ABANTU’s constituents at different levels, in particular, at the local and national levels of governance.
Prior to her position as Human Resource Officer, Grace coordinated ABANTU’s Young Women’s Mentorship Program for more than seven years. In this role, she was given the opportunity to take on leadership challenges and mentor a significant number of young women from second cycle institutions. As a result, approximately 80 percent of these young women have actually assumed leadership positions in different capacities upon entering the tertiary institution and beyond.
From these experiences, Grace witnessed and appreciated different groups of women navigating through their political aspirations and careers; from being mentees to local level or district assembly aspirants and members, and finally as members of parliament. Grace has participated and contributed at national, regional and international workshops and conferences such as the Association for Women’s Rights in Development’s (AWID) 11th International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development in South Africa, where the theme was “The Power of Movements”, and a Community of Practice (CoP) for young women’s mentorship, an interactive and sharing conference in Canada.
Project Title: Young Women Mentorship Program
Grace’s ALP, The Young Women’s Mentorship Program (YWMP) was a comprehensive leadership-training program for young women in Ghana between the ages of 16-25. The program aimed to create awareness in an effort to empower young women to develop the skills, knowledge and experience they need to take up leadership positions in their communities and country as a whole. In total twenty (20) young women were selected from two Senior High Schools; Trinity and O’Reilly Senior High Schools in the Spintex Community in Accra. The training and mentorship program included topics such as: gender inequality, leadership & development, gender and governance, peace building and security; climate change, and media.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Relations Manager,Leading Ladies Network
Regina Antwi’s passion for leadership is born out of a genuine desire to bring about a paradigm shift to humanity and mankind. She believes that mentoring is a vital tool in the life of a young, ambitious and energetic person. Regina has mentored many young individuals to realize their dreams in terms of taking up leadership roles in all aspect of their lives. She has volunteered in Civil Service Organisations to impact the lives of the less privileged in society. Regina’s rod is not to give any thought to herself only but to the wellbeing of other people with the inspiration that if an individual is empowered a whole community is empowered. She holds a certificate in NGO Management from Cambridge Centre of Excellence, Ghana, a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Purchasing and Supply Management Studies from Accra Polytechnic. Regina has also participated in a one year Leadership Program organized by Friedrich – Ebert – Stiftung Ghana, FES and another at the Research Centre for Leadership in Action at NYU Wagner, in Accra - Ghana and New York.
Project Title: My Future, My Life
Regina’s ALP, My Future My Life was a transformative leadership program that seeked to build the confidence and leadership skills of 25 adolescents by supporting their active participation in decision making and developing their hidden potential. The project was intended to contribute to developing teenagers’ leadership capacities, and increasing opportunities and awareness on gender equality issues through training. The transformational leadership training included a six (6) month intensive program designed for teenagers between the ages of 13 – 19 in the Junior High Schools. The project was implemented in the Eastern Region of Ghana, in the Yilo Krobo Municipality at Somanya.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Legal Aid Coordinator, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-GHANA)
Noelle Theara Appiah holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. A passionate and goal driven young woman, she is the legal aid coordinator with seven years of experience at the legal aid department of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). Her hard work and team spirit shaped her life and career, leading her to be the change agent she desires to see in her society. Being innovative and practical led her to the additional role of organizing events for various organizations.
Noelle began her career at FIDA as a National Service Personnel where she transitioned to Program Assistant and then to the Legal Aid Coordinator. Her resourcefulness and strengths have contributed to her personal trajectory and the organization’s development.
Working in FIDA strengthened her skills and competencies in proposal writing and grant management. Recently she had the opportunity to facilitate a meeting for state actors on how to be responsive to women’s rights violations. At this meeting she also made a presentation on the trends of women rights violations’ cases at FIDA, featured in the national daily newspaper.
Noelle aspires to be a lawyer and women’s rights advocate. She has a strong passion to help the vulnerable and change the marginalization of women’s access to justice. Noelle currently resides in Accra, Ghana. When she is not at work organizing and participating in outreach programs, trainings or monitoring visits, she is busy with family and friends.
Project Title: Roses and Thorns of Marriages
Noelle’s ALP aimed to educate women and the general public about equity during divorce. A new spousal property bill was introduced before parliament and Noelle was seeking to utilize her ALP through FIDA’s organizational capacity to educate the public, especially women and the vulnerable on the laws that affect them. Noelle wrote a series of articles on these themes, did research and used data collected by FIDA. Noelle wanted to highlight legal rights and identify successful case studies and lessons learned. To disseminate her articles and find a publication outlet, Noelle reached out to the Orthodox Church editorial boards to have her articles published in the church newsletters.
Main Gains/ Outcomes
Senior Technical Advisor, Human Rights Advocacy Centre
Wendy Abbey has six years of postgraduate professional experience in human rights and social protection. Three years of her work have been in management positions, first as a Coordinator for Reproductive Rights and HIV Programs, and Acting Executive Director of the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) in Accra, Ghana since February 2013. As part of an Access to Justice Program at the HRAC, Wendy supervises the operations of a 104-member network of pro bono lawyers providing confidential legal aid to indigent and vulnerable populations in Ghana. Wendy is also the liaison between the HRAC and its constituencies of policymakers, community leaders, vulnerable populations and donors. She works on behalf of project communities to ensure compliance with donor project deliverables.
In 2012, Wendy was part of a team of researchers conducting the first ever-legal audit of HIV and AIDS related laws and policies in Ghana. The report influenced the National Commissions on HIV and AIDS in Ghana to develop a National Draft Bill on HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections. She also organized stakeholders’ forums with the executive body of the National Health Insurance Authority in 2011. These forums influenced the inclusion of a provision on family planning commodities coverage under the 2012 National Health Insurance Scheme Act.
Wendy has experience delivering human rights presentations at the domestic and international levels. She represented the HRAC at forums in Ethiopia, Malaysia and the United States. Currently, Wendy manages and coaches a team of HRAC local staff and international interns who work to protect the human rights of all persons in Ghana.
Wendy is passionate about the protection of the human dignity of all persons and through her work she is dedicated to efforts that create an all-inclusive social justice system in Ghana.
Project Title: Development Framework for Visibility Upgrade of the Human Rights
Wendy’s ALP aimed to develop and implement a communication strategy plan to improve HRAC’s visibility and support its vision to provide information on human rights and legal aid to the public and vulnerable populations. As part of the project Wendy developed targeted messages around the program work focus, provided periodic updates on the website and published articles, reports, and newsletters. The project increased access to information and strengthened HRAC’s internal organizational development for constituents, policymakers and donors through social media platforms and sharing of activity reports and newsletters.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Principal Research Assistant and Administrator, Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy, University of Ghana
Mabel Pinkrah is the Administrator at the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy at the University of Ghana. Mabel joined the University in 2003 as National Service Personnel at the Development and Women’s Studies Unit of the Institute of African Studies, and later the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy.
For the past ten years, Mabel has been working as project supervisor on several research projects at the center. She performs administrative and supervisory duties, managing the disbursement of project funds, preparing budgets and monitors expenses for the running of the center, prepares reports, and assists in the design of multi-stakeholder projects. Mabel also coordinates colloquia, symposia, film shows, consultative committee meetings and a variety of workshops including curriculum development, strategic planning and proposal writing.
Mabel is currently pursuing a Masters in Organization Development at the University of Cape Coast and an MBA in Human Resource Development at the University of Ghana. She has a postgraduate Diploma in Organization Development from University of Cape Coast, a certificate in Project Planning and Management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Ghana.
Mabel is a member of the International Society for Organization Development (ISOD), a worldwide network of practitioners, scholars, and students interested in continued growth and development, and a member of Sisters against Disrespectful Advertisement (SADA), a women’s advocacy group working to ensure that media and advertisement portray women as human beings with dignity and respect. Mabel has a passion for children and the elderly. She aspires to support others in their professional development.
Project Title: Sexual Harassment Policy
Mabel’s ALP aimed to spread awareness of the sexual harassment policy at the University of Ghana, promote dialogue about sexual harassment among students and staff, and help them understand their role and responsibility in ensuring an academic institution free of sexual harassment. This project addressed and developed an abridged version of the sexual harassment policy and distributed 5000 copies of the policy brochures to students and faculty. Mabel aimed to increase awareness among students and members of the University community on the need to prevent and reduce sexual harassment through discussions with students, interactive programming, educational campaigns, and monthly dialogue series.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Communications Officer,Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition
Beauty is a passionate development communicator and currently serves as Communications Officer at Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, a multi-stakeholder grouping of public, private and civil society organizations with the sole aim of building a national effort to confront the problem of corruption and effective control measures. Beauty facilitates communication and advocacy activities to assure stakeholder commitment and consensus building in the fight against corruption in Ghana. Beauty’s prior professional experience includes working more than 7 years in diverse development issues, including areas of gender, the socially disadvantaged, sustainable forest management and good governance. Beauty holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Communication and Development and a graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Ohio University, United States. Beauty also has a certificate in Executive Communications and Governance Reform from the World Bank and the Annenberg School in the United States.
Project Title: Advancing the issues of transparency and accountability in Ghana through social media
Beauty’s ALP addressed the need to improve the use of social media platforms in her organization to engage a key segment of stakeholders in the fight against corruption in Ghana. This project aimed to utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to disseminate activities of GACC, as well as empower a critical mass of society (especially the youth) with the relevant knowledge and tools to advance issues of transparency and accountability in Ghana. Beauty worked with the GACC team to develop and post anti-corruption related information on social media platforms, educate people on the need to identify corrupt practices, and provide opportunity for feedback. This project empowered stakeholders to demand accountability through the use of social media platforms and other media outlets. The project also produced 6 monthly newsletters and a short educational video.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Assistant Lecturer, National Film and Television Institute
Mary has over six years of experience in radio and television news production as a news producer, assignment editor, research executive and reporter. Currently, she is an assistant lecturer at the Broadcast Journalism department of the National Film and television Institute (NAFTI) in Accra. In this position, she anchors, produces, and reports for the institute’s Television magazine program- INDEPTH as well as co-teaches liberal arts courses. As part of her project for the Ghanaian Women’s Social Leadership Program, she developed a curriculum for the introduction of gender, media and culture course for first year students of the National Film and Television Institute. She will co-lecture this course with another seasoned lecturer in the school.
Previously, she served as a Public Relations Manager for Ogilvy Africa media, Ghana. In that position, she was involved in the planning, developing and implementing of PR strategies; as well as researching, writing, and distributing press releases to targeted media. She enjoys volunteerism especially with regard to children’s educational needs and is curious about the circumstances leading to high incidence of maternal mortality in Africa and especially Ghana. Her areas of interest include Broadcast Journalism, Public Relations, Gender and development, maternal health and public speaking.
She has a postgraduate diploma in teaching and learning in Higher Education from the University of Education Winneba, Ghana. She has a Certificate in Television Field Reporting from Canal France International (CFI). She holds a Master of Communication with her research focusing on women’s participation in political talk shows on TV, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana. She is a member of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Toastmasters International (a world leader in communication and leadership development that helps members improve their speaking and leadership skills), and member of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana. Mary enjoys public speaking, researching, reading, watching and analyzing football and volunteerism. She is married to Jasper Segbefia and they have a son.
Project Title: Developing a Gender, Media and Arts Education Course
Mary’s ALP aimed to design and implement a course that would offer NAFTI students introductory knowledge on gender and media arts education thereby enabling them to promote gender sensitivity in their research and in their work as film makers. Mary presented her plan to the NAFTI academic board, wrote a concept paper on the theme, engaged gender experts and professionals from NAFTI and other institutions. Mary drafted the appropriate curriculum for the course with input from key faculty from NAFTI and Ghana University. Mary is also developing a plan to monitor and evaluate progress/impact of the gender and media arts education course and aims to identify a team to monitor and carry the appropriate evaluation of this initiative.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Development Director, Orphan Aid Africa
Miracle Abena Damanka is an Information Studies graduate with over six years of experience in both the public and private sectors, including field experiences in Ghana and Mauritania. Committed to people development and enlarging the entrepreneurial space for young people in Africa, Miracle specializes in administration, strategic planning, project and grant management, training and facilitation, pro-poor enterprise and microfinance – the expertise necessary for leading the poor to sustainable development and financial independence.
After her undergraduate studies in the University of Ghana, Legon, Miracle trained in conflict resolution, social work, microfinance and pro-poor enterprise, operations, and project management. Miracle has served with the U.S. Peace Corps Ghana, ECLOF Ghana (now CCML) and is currently the Director of Development for Orphan Aid Africa. She also serves as the National Consultant for Innovations for Financial Inclusion (IFI).
A woman with extraordinary passion for social change and development for the marginalized, she will stop at nothing to ensure that the orphans and vulnerable children of Ghana receive the attention they deserve. Miracle founded Abapa Fie Company Limited, a microfinance institution, and Finlit Ghana, a nongovernmental organization that implements projects for economic empowerment of the poor and provides all its beneficiaries with financial literacy education.
Aside from her professional life, Miracle is involved in Christian Youth Ministry and is a member of ‘Christ like Disciple makers Movement’. Miracle is happily married and blessed with a daughter, Adeline. Her hobbies include acting and listening to music.
Project Title: Foster One-Encouraging Positive Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (hereinafter OVC) Fostering in Ghana
Miracles’ project, Foster One aimed to increase concern for OVCs and improve the fostering culture of OVCs in Ghana by conducting research on the legislative provisions concerning fosterage, creating awareness on risks and advantages of fostering and producing a policy brief with recommendations that will inform the ongoing review of the Children’s Act 1998 (Act 640). This document was intended to inform policymakers in the quest to move the agenda of de-institutionalizing foster homes. The document was shared with key policymakers who have the power to transform fostering in Ghana.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Rehabilitation Manager, Challenging Heights
Linda is a young leader and a social work professional in Ghana and Africa. Linda has been a strong force behind global actions towards ending modern-day slavery around the world. Having significantly contributed to the lives of several young Ghanaians, especially women through personal initiatives and educational leadership opportunities, Linda joined Challenging Heights in 2011. The organization presented opportunities to achieve her passion by contributing to Challenging Height’s vision of “a world where every child is in school and living in a loving and caring family”.
Linda is currently senior staff and a member of Challenging Heights’ Management Committee. As the Rehabilitation Manager, Linda provides oversight responsibility and leadership for 21 staff in the day-to-day operation of Challenging Heights Hovde House; a 65-capacity transitional shelter for victims of child slavery and abuse in Ghana. While in the role, 222 former child slaves rescued from the fishing industry of Ghana were provided holistic rehabilitation and onward reintegration between 2012 and 2014. As a social work professional, she has strong experiential knowledge and skills in managing social change through participatory approach, project management, conflict management, behavior management and modification for traumatized children and monitoring and evaluation of development interventions.
Prior to joining Challenging Heights, Linda worked with the National Youth Authority of Ghana where she managed a National Youth Network on adolescent reproductive health by leading a team of 6 young men and women to launch the network in 10 administrative regions of Ghana. Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Social Work from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Human Rights at the University of Education, Winneba. In Linda’s spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking and swimming.
Project Title: Building the Capacity of Children Right Advocates (CRA)
Linda’s ALP aimed to provide leadership development training to thirty adolescent girls from two communities in Central Ghana (Sankor in the Eddutu Municipality and Winneba & Achiase in the Gomoa East District), and prepare them to serve as peer educators and Children Rights Advocates in their schools and communities. The project seeked to achieve three objectives: 1) Provide leadership training to empower selected teenagers to take up leadership roles and positions in Junior and Senior High School and in their communities; 2) To create awareness on gender issues among teenage girls involved in the program; 3) To strengthen program participants’ understanding of adolescent reproductive health issues and rights and extend training to other teenagers Overall, the project aimed to develop leaders and create awareness about children rights as a way to prevent child trafficking, teenage pregnancy and school dropouts which are serious issues affecting youth in Central Ghana.
Main Gains/Outcomes:
Project Officer, Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Center
Joyce Lena Danquah is a development practitioner with experience in water and sanitation as well as the women’s rights sectors of Ghana’s development. Joyce has engaged with various civil society organizations such as Water Aid Ghana, Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre and the Institute of Economic Affairs. She has served with the Millennium Development Authority and the Ghana Statistical Service. In other capacities she has served as Administrative Officer, Gender Focal Person, and Program Coordinator. She is a woman with a strong passion for women’s development issues with particular interest in improving the living standards of young women. She is a product of the University of Cape Coast and the Business School of the University of Ghana. As a product of the Ghanaian Women’s Social Leadership Program, she has realized among other things the value of mentoring programs for young women.
Project Title: Four Years Encounter with the Gender Centre –An Inspirational Journey
After working at a gender based organization for more than four years, Lena noticed that some of the staff, particularly non-project staff were unable to articulate on women’s rights issues. Lena’s project documented her experience around these issues though an article which aimed to be published on different internet platforms. The article allowed her to reflect on her experiences, and motivated other organizations to think about the need of developing communication tools and fostering an organizational learning culture. Her project aimed to support a learning and reflective environment at the Gender Centre, and served as a source of motivation for other gender-rights based organizations to address similar issues.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Senior Human Resource Specialist, Compassion International Ghana
Patience is a passionate achiever with over fifteen years of experience in development work, human resource development and project management. She has worked with both international and national nongovernmental organizations, such as, Freedom from Hunger, Habitat for Humanity and Training, Research and Networking for Development (TREND). She is currently the Senior Human Resource Specialist at Compassion International Ghana where she held other positions including Program Communications Manager, Senior Training Officer, Community Development Expert and Training and Support Manager. Within her current role, Patience led her office to improve employee engagement through measurable indicators such as Gallup surveys, a comprehensive employee handbook and on-line job application process. She has also trained managers and supervisors in behavioral interview process and built staff capacity in areas such as performance management, time management, and multi-tasking.
Prior to her current role, Patience took up assignments in rural housing, water and sanitation, micro-finance, institutional capacity building, health education and holistic child development. She advanced this work with funding from the World Bank, DANIDA, Germany Development Services, the Department for International Development, Plan Ghana, Action Aid Ghana, and Compassion International. Patience was a trainer for Peace Corps volunteers and assisted in a number of research work with the Department of Social Work at the University of Ghana, Legon, under the sponsorship of UNICEF. She co-authored “Social Work in Ghana: A Participatory Action Research Project looking at Culturally Appropriate Training and Practice” published inSocial Work Education.
Patience holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a degree in Social Work both from the University of Ghana, Legon. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), USA and the Institute of Human Resource Practitioners, Ghana.
Based on Gallup’s Strength Finder assessment, Patience’s top five strengths are responsibility, achiever, futurist, learner and belief. She is self-motivated, results oriented with proven capability to lead people; a good team player, keen on acquiring knowledge on new or current innovations and has excellent communications skills. She enjoys reading, interacting with people, travelling and listening to inspirational messages and music.
Project Title: Assessing “Auxano” as a New Performance Management and Learning System in Compassion International Ghana
Patience’s ALP aimed to assess the effectiveness of “Auxano,” a new Performance Management and Learning System at Compassion International. Patience designed a process to collect staff feedback to address the needs and concerns of both female and male staff related to the new system. This project allowed the staff to assess performance management and learning functions to determine whether the system addresses the problems encountered in the previous performance management system. The project seeked to support a learning culture within the organization for dialogue and feedback through staff assessment teams, meetings and discussions, a survey, and producing a report to improve the Auxano System. The main objective of the assessment was to identify the level of understanding of staff in the use of Auxano. A survey was carried out. Out of 70 staff that used Auxano, 52 participated in the survey.
Main Gains/Outcomes
Project Officer, Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation in Ghana
Ama is a professional social worker dedicated to promoting the welfare of the vulnerable in society. Ama is passionate about advocating for the rights of people living with disabilities, youth, orphans, refugees, older people, abused women and children. Ama has over seven years' experience as social worker in various capacities, with skills which include project management and research, interpersonal, analytical and communication skills and the ability to adapt to changing and challenging circumstances.
Ama successfully implemented the projects “Strengthening Institutional Structures and Mechanisms” for the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act in Ghana and "Realizing the Rights of Marginalized Older People," a monitoring project commissioned by Helpage International. Ama launched these projects in six deprived communities in three regions in Ghana. As part of these projects, Ama developed packages of care and policies and monitored access to health care, including HIV/AIDS, pensions and the LEAP cash transfer program by using questionnaires to ensure that rights of beneficiaries were upheld.
Ama is currently the Executive Secretary of the Environmental Services Providers Association. She is also the treasurer for the 1993 Achimota School Year Group. Ama previously served as Director of the Department of Social Welfare in Ningo-Prampram District. She has worked with the Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation in Ghana, Helpage Ghana and Women Initiative for Self-Empowerment. Ama holds Masters of Philosophy in Social Work and is a member of General Social Care Council, United Kingdom. Ama is interested in home improvement and is a volunteer-worker.
Project Title: Sustainable Waste Management Project
Ama’s ALP aimed to sensitize women groups to take up leadership roles to ensure their communities are clean, to raise awareness and to promote good practices around waste management and disposal in the Prampram region in Ghana. Ama used media to sensitize and to create awareness on sanitation challenges facing Ghana. The project produced print, electronic media campaigns and newspaper publications to educate the public on sanitation challenges. The project also aimed to have a stakeholder forum on sustainable waste management to get policymakers and service providers to partner and collaborate with other stakeholders in the WASH sector.
Main Gains/Outcomes