Gender
Plan International Ghana’s intervention enhances girls’ education
Plan International Ghana’s adolescent girls’ intervention in some communities in northern Ghana has helped retain adolescent girls in school and enhance their education to enable them to achieve their life aspirations.
These interventions included the adolescent Drop-in Centres, school Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, improved access to and use of sanitary pads and changing rooms for girls.
The Drop-in Centres had been equipped with indoor and outdoor games, including ludu, oware, and footballs and a television set, to keep the girls lively while going through mentorship and sensitisation at the Centre.
That became known during a field visit to the Mimima, Sagadugu and Guabuliga communities in the North East Region, where those interventions were being implemented to ascertain the impact of the projects on the people.
The visit was to climax a three-day capacity-building workshop for some journalists and media practitioners in northern Ghana organised by Plan International Ghana, a development and humanitarian Non-governmental Organisation (NGO).
At the Mimima community, where a Drop-in Centre had been constructed, some adolescent girls told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the Centre was empowering them to take responsibility for their bodies.
Agnes, 14 (not her real name), said they were receiving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR) education, including menstrual hygiene management, which had enhanced their dignity.
She noted that had enabled them stay in school during their menstrual periods, ensuring their effective participation in academic activities and improving their educational performances.
Ms Hamdya Baaba, the facilitator at the Drop-in Centre at Mimima, said she had been teaching the girls good menstrual hygiene management and SRHR to prevent them from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Some parents in the community also praised the interventions as they saved their girl children from using rags to manage their menstruation.
“Some of us used to fold rags for our girl children during their menstrual periods, and because of that, they sometimes stained themselves with blood. But when Plan International Ghana came to this community, it taught the girls how to use sanitary pads.”
The NGO also gave the girls some reusable sanitary pads that they can always wash and use, and because of that, the girls are always in school even during their menstrual periods,” Madam Abena Miyanga, a parent, stated.
The Mimima community is also benefiting from the Educational Outcome Fund (EOF) project, where out-of-school children from the age of eight to 16 receive a nine-month cycle of literacy and numeracy training through Complementary Basic Education (CBE) and were integrated into the mainstream education.
Madam Miyanga told the GNA that her child, who dropped out of school, had returned and was currently in basic five through the EOF’s CBE programme.
Eleven-year-old Magdalene, a participant of the project and currently in basic six, expressed gratitude to Plan International Ghana for the intervention, as it had given her the opportunity to acquire formal education.
The Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (IPADEV) project constructed a WASH facility and girls’ changing rooms at the Sagadugu R/C Basic School to ensure safe access to WASH services and a place for menstrual hygiene management while in school. —GNA
Gender
Ngleshie Alata Queen mother pledges to champion girl-child education
The newly enstooled Paramount Queenmother of Ngleshie Alata, James Town in Accra, Naa Affipong IV, has pledged to make girl-child education the cornerstone of her reign, emphasising its critical role in transforming communities and empowering future generations.
Speaking after her recent enstoolment, Naa Affipong IV, known in private life as Mrs Alberta Addo, called on parents and guardians to prioritise the education of their daughters, stressing that educating a girl has a far-reaching impact beyond the individual.
“I pledge to dedicate my reign to champion girl-child education, which is a crucial tool for youth empowerment and community development,” she declared.
She pointed out that empowering girls through both academic and vocational training would not only reduce social issues such as teenage pregnancy but also prepare them to become responsible and influential leaders in society.
Naa Affipong IV highlighted the urgent need to provide young girls with equal opportunities and create environments that support their growth and confidence.
She urged parents to be intentional about their daughters’ futures, saying “an educated girl has the power to lift her entire family out of poverty and transform her community. We must not fail them.”
The Queen mother also appealed to chiefs, elders, and community leaders to join forces in promoting initiatives aimed at empowering the youth, particularly young girls, through education, mentorship, and entrepreneurship.
While advocating girl-child education, Naa Affipong IV stressed the importance of peace, unity, and moral values within the community, especially among the youth.
The Queenmother also emphasised the importance of collaboration between traditional authorities and state institutions to address broader community challenges such as unemployment, infrastructure deficits, and social vices.
Her enstoolment ceremony was marked by vibrant cultural displays and attended by chiefs, queen mothers, elders, and residents of the Ngleshie Alata community. As part of the rites, she swore an oath of allegiance to the elders of Adjumako Durampong, promising to serve her people with dedication
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
Gender
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang visits five families of victims of helicopter tragedy
Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang on Tuesday led a government delegation to pay a courtesy visit on the families of the five civilian victims of the August 6 helicopter tragedy.
The visit, which was on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, who is currently on a working visit to Japan, was to comfort the widows and children of the deceased persons, and to find out how they were doing.
The Vice President’s delegation visited the families of Dr Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Mr Samuel Aboagye, Deputy Director-General, National Disaster management Organisation (NADMO).
The rest were the families of Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, Deputy National Security Coordinator in-charge of Human Security; Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Defence Minister and Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology.
Members of the Vice President’s delegation included Mr Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff at the Presidency; Dr Valarie Sawyerr, a Senior Presidential Advisor for Governmental Affairs; Mr Alex Segbefia, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Vice President and Mr Seth Terkper, Economic Advisor to the President.
The rest are Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, Deputy Chief of Staff in-charge of Finance and Administration; Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC); Hajia Shamima Muslim, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson; Nana Yaa Jantuah, a Presidential Staffer and Mr Rex Omar, Presidential Staffer.
The Limuna Family expressed gratitude to the Government for the visit, stating that the visit would go a long way to strengthen and comfort them.
Hajia Shamima Muslim, a Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, speaking to the media at the end of the visit, said President Mahama had directed that the delegation should visit each family of the deceased persons to find out how they were doing, especially the spouses and the children.
She noted that because the President was out of the jurisdiction, the Acting President, Vice President Professor Opoku-Agyemang, led the delegation to pay visitations to each one of the families of the victims of the tragedy.
She said basically, the visit was also to communicate the President’s commitment to support the families through this very difficult period and to reassure them of the pledge that he had made, especially for the families with young children, who were still in school, with the announcement of the Children’s Support Fund.
Hajia Shamima Muslim announced that a lot of donations were already coming through.
She said those who might want to also visit the Government Communication portals on how they could also donate to the Children’s Support Fund for the various victims or the families of the nation’s fallen heroes could do so.
That, she said, was also to help the Government ensure that whatever their fathers would have done for them, the Government would step in and do the same.
Touching on the adult children of the victims, Hajia Shamima Muslim said conversations were around on how to support their own aspirations; stating that it was the same commitment to them.
“So today we just came to reassure the families that the President is with them and will stand with them throughout this very difficult period,” she said.-GNA
