Plan International Women’s Voice and Leadership programme empowers 102,000 women and girls

Plan International Ghana, has rounded its five year programme christened Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) targeted at women and girls empowerment.

The programme directly impacted more than 102,000 women and girls to attain promotion of human rights and gender equality.

81 women’s rights Organisations, were engaged in the areas of female leaders, economic empowerment, and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence.

The closing ceremony brought together civil society organizations, representation from the ministry of gender, children and social protection, representation from the Canadian Embassy to Ghana and other key stakeholders to share the success findings of the programme.

Project Manager of the WVL Project, Theodora Asare, indicated that the three million Canadian dollar funding support from Global Affairs Canada, trained 286 staff of women’s rights Organisations on capacity building so they can also scale up their impact.

Statistics in the space show that in 2022, Ghana ranked 108th out of 146 countries globally in the gender gap index and 30 per cent of women experienced sexual violence at least once in a lifetime.

Hence, women impacted by the programme will have the opportunity to embark on an advocacy to reduce the trend.

Also according to the Country Director of Plan International Ghana, Constant Tchona the involvement of the 2017 Canadian Feminist International Assistance Policy has helped to positively change so many things in the gender space.

Due to this, more development partners have been engaged to invest in Women Rights Organizations locally to establish stronger foundation for women’s empowerment.

The Chief Director at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Afisa Zakariah speaking on behalf of the sector Minister expressed optimism about the advancement of the skills received by the local women and girls to make their lives better and impact others.

The Ministry, she said, had witnessed remarkable achievements through capacity-building initiatives, transformative programmes, and innovative approaches to promoting women’s rights and economic skills.

She noted: “the project deliverables promise to create an environment where all women could thrive, tackling critical issues head-on and fostering real, tangible change in communities across Ghana.”

The Head of Cooperation at the Canadian High Commission to Ghana, Kathleen Flynn-Dapaah, was happy that programme has inured to the capacity building of women and children who are often regarded as vulnerable in society.