Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA – Gh), a women empowerment Non-Governmental Organization, has organized a capacity building workshop for guidance and counseling units of selected educational institutions in the Northern Region.
The exercise is aimed at raising the capacity of the various guidance and counseling units in Tamale, as a contribution to addressing Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
The workshop, dubbed “The Situational Analysis and Capacity Building Workshop for Guidance and Counseling Units on Addressing SGBV in Educational Institutions” also aims to identify the challenges that counselors face, as it empowers them to address SGBV cases at their various institutions.
Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director for SWIDA – Gh, stated that fighting SGBV cases is supposed to be a collaborative effort of NGOs, advocates and counselors from educational institutions.
She therefore called for collaboration between the organizations and the schools.
According to the project’s lead officer, Khadijah Abdul – Samed, the workshop aims to increase counselors’ capacity to manage issues and capitalize on opportunities to promote anti-sexual violence as well as protect girls who are exposed to SGBV in educational institutions.
Speaking at the workshop, Madam Linda Amoah, Head of Girls Education Unit at Ghana Education Service, stressed that sexual jokes and spreading sexual rumors should be discouraged in all schools.
Tamale Technical University, Tamale College of Education, Ghana Education Service, and Ambariya Cluster of Schools were among the educational institutions represented at the workshop.
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