Through the knowledge acquired by the Legal Literacy Volunteer (LLV) program by WILDAF, Shea Network, Norsac, and other partners, the Chief, Imam, Magajia, and the people of Kananto in the West Gonja Municipal Assembly in Savannah Region. The community launched and signed bylaws to protect and preserve economic trees (Shea and Dawadawa) and to promote an equitable future for their families, especially women and children.
For many Ghanaian females, daily challenges include early marriage, physical and sexual abuse, inadequate access to education, and hurdles in achieving economic independence. And though there have been strides in gender quality, there persist challenges and issues relating to gender which is meshed in the social structures of communities.
“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it” – Sandra Day O’Connor
Oxfam with funding from the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is implementing a five-year project dubbed the WEACT initiative in partnership with WILDAF, Shea Network, NORSAC and other consortium partners in Ghana. The project focuses on women in Ghana’s Western, Savannah, Upper East, Upper West, and Western North regions whose economic activities revolve around the cocoa and shea value chains. The project seeks to tackle the fundamental barriers that Ghanaian women encounter in their pursuit of economic and social equality.
The primary objective is to increase women’s ability to overcome legal obstacles and increase their access to useful resources with the aim to reduce gender-specific barriers while fostering environments that are conducive for women’s participation in economic growth across all the six geographical regions.
POLICY BRIEF BY WILDAF GHANA
WiLDAF launched the policy briefs on strengthening multistakeholder collaboration on access to justice to promote women’s economic advancement under the WEACT project. This policy brief was launched by WILDAF, together with the key partners, traditional leaders, policy implementors, influencers, and governmental agencies on the policy recommendations to enhance women’s access to justice and productive resources.
BUILDING ECONOMIC CAPACITY THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES
Oxfam, Shea Network, Friends of the Nation and other implementing agencies recognizes the need to empower women suffering from domestic violence, poverty, early marriages among other barriers that hinders their progress in life. These implementing partners through the WEACT project have trained women in acquiring skills in Shea butter, pastry making, animal rearing, start-up capitals among other initiatives to improve their living conditions in the six selected regions in Ghana.
Ramatu Karim, a beneficiary of the entrepreneurial initiative is a single mother who through the WEACT project has been able to acquire the skills in pastry making and is able to cater for her kids without having to seek help from anyone.
She said,
“I have even been able to raise money to help my kid sister through her dressmaking journey”, not only did she benefit from the entrepreneurship skills, but she has also been trained in leadership facilitation program as an LLV volunteer.
This WEACT project is a good initiative for reducing the daily burden of women in the selected six regions, while providing them with an opportunity to work and earn profit, take up leadership roles in their communities, knowledge of their rights among other benefits.
