NGO launches project to achieve gender parity in Upper East

The Basic Foundation for Women Empowerment (BFWE), a gender advocate non-governmental organisation (NGO), has launched a project at Bolgatanga to help achieve gender parity in the Upper East Region.

Dubbed ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership’, the five-year project is aimed at empowering women to take up leadership roles, among other objectives.

Launching the project, its Executive Director, Ms Juliet Abajong, said it was also to help empower women economically, as well as supporting them to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Selected communities in the Bolgatanga Municipality are to benefit from the project.

She said it was part of the Planned International Ghana’s advocacy project and funded by Global Affairs of Canada.
 
Project

Ms Abajong noted that the project would involve the traditional authorities in its advocacy strategies so as to eliminate some of the socio-cultural norms that prevented the progress of women.

She said it would directly empower about 240 women and 720 women indirectly.

Ms Abajong said that although efforts had been made by various stakeholders to end gender-based discrimination, the phenomenon was still prevalent and underscored intensive advocacy strategies to make a greater impact in achieving gender parity.

She further disclosed that the project would undertake vigorous awareness creation on the gender-based discrimination against women, promote women’s rights, and build capacities of communities to eliminate stereotypical tags on women and girls, as well as facilitate the mainstreaming of issues of women and girls into the development plans of the district assemblies.

More on foundation

Ms Abajong said the foundation was established in 2012 and got registered in 2016 and had since its inception undertaken a number of activities aimed at providing economic empowerment to about 300 women and girls in the Upper East Region.

She noted that the NGO had supported 10 women groups by building their capacities through training, provision of credit facilities to them and facilitating access to market for their products. The women groups were engaged in rice parboiling, basket weaving, shea butter processing and brewing of local beer (Pito).

She said the NGO worked with relevant stakeholders to create an environment without discrimination where the vulnerable women and girls were economically empowered to live dignified lives and contribute to the attainment of the SDGs, particularly goal five, which placed emphasis on gender equality.