By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA
Agogo (Ash), May 26, GNA – The Erudite Women’s Empowerment Foundation (EWEF), in partnership with Plan International Ghana and the National Youth Authority, has launched a project aimed at advancing young women’s political participation and transforming harmful social norms in communities.
The project, dubbed “Advancing Young Women’s Political Participation and Social Norms Change in Ghana,” seeks to strengthen the leadership, advocacy, and governance participation of young women through mentorship, capacity building and stakeholder collaboration.
It is being implemented by EWEF with funding support from the European Union through UN Women and would run for 18 months in the Asante Akim North, Central and South Municipalities.
Mrs. Constance Ohenewaa Ankoma, Executive Director of EWEF, said the initiative was inspired by the successes chalked under the “She Leads” project, which empowered girls and young women to participate actively in leadership and governance.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a coordination meeting and joint field monitoring activity at Agogo in the Asante Akim North District, she said some beneficiaries of the She Leads project had contested assembly member positions in their communities, demonstrating the impact of sustained leadership training and mentorship.
“We realised that we harvested a lot of impact through the She Leads project where some of our young women contested for assembly membership positions in their communities,” she said.
Mrs. Ankoma explained that while the She Leads project focused mainly on building the capacities of girls and young women, the new project would go further by connecting them to political leadership opportunities and challenging harmful social norms that hinder women’s participation in governance.
She said the project would target 150 young women across the three districts, including young women living with disabilities and those in the informal sector.
According to her, the project would focus on three key pillars – social norms transformation, capacity strengthening, and political leadership participation.
“We are looking forward to challenging harmful social norms and transforming them into positive ones so that girls and young women will be elevated in leadership,” she noted.
Mrs. Ankoma said the project would also provide mentorship opportunities by linking young women with experienced female political leaders to inspire and guide them to take up leadership positions.
She identified deep-rooted patriarchal norms, limited access to leadership opportunities and weak intergenerational mentorship structures as some of the barriers affecting women’s participation in governance and decision-making processes.
As part of the implementation strategy, the project would organise district-level young women leadership boot camps, women in politics training sessions, community dialogues with chiefs and queen mothers, as well as media campaigns promoting gender equality and women’s leadership.
The project is also expected to establish mentorship circles linking emerging female leaders with experienced women in politics, academia and civil society to build a sustainable leadership pipeline.
Mrs. Ankoma called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders, including traditional leaders, youth groups, policymakers and the media, to promote inclusive governance and create opportunities for more young women to participate in leadership and decision-making.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Yussif Ibrahim
Email: [email protected]
