Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency
SWIDA GH was invited as a development partner to the Savannah Region for the Regional Extension Linkage Committee (RELC) regional planning sessions.
SWIDA-Gh made a presentation on our interventions in the various districts in the region. Besides our presentation, there were presentations from the Damongo Agriculture College, the Research Coordinator from CSIR/SARI, Fishery Commission, and the Department of Agriculture, Savannah Region.
The Executive Director for the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Gh), Hajia Alimah Sagito-Saeed presented the progress report on the implementation of the Sustainable Livelihoods and Nutrition Project to official from the World Food Programme.
The presentation was aimed at briefing the officials of the World Food Programme about the progress of work on the project, as well as what is left to be implemented.
Under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Nutrition project, SWIDA-Gh has trained bee technicians in 40 communities in the Karaga district. These technicians have been supporting women who have been trained in beekeeping.
As part of the innovation from the learning and to keep the hives and sustain the project, concrete beehives have been constructed and distributed to bee centers within the communities.
The goal of the project which is being supported by the World Food Programme, is for every woman to own a beehive which supports her economically.
The Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Gh) has graduated 250 Female Leadership Mentorship through its academy in Tamale, as part of capacity building aimed at empowering girls.
The graduation ceremony held in Tamale, was part of the SWIDA-Gh’s Flagship Leadership initiative under the Women’s Voice & Leadership (WVL) Project supported by Plan International Ghana and the Global Affairs Canada.
Ms Khadijah Abudui-Samed, WVL Project Lead said the project is aimed at enhancing the leadership capacity of girls and women.
She said the first edition was ran in 2021 in collaboration with the University for Development Studies (UDS) Women Commission’s Office and the Girl Child International (USA), from which 100 mentees were graduated after three months of intensive mentorship from seasoned mentors.
She noted that this year’s graduate mentees span from six tertiary educational campuses in Ghana with four months intensive mentorship.
Mrs. Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed, the Executive Director of SWIDA-Gh advised the graduates to focus on teamwork and be motivated by challenges.
She added that they should be female leaders in positions of influence and serve as role models to other girls in their communities.
Mr. Eric Ayaba, the Northern Sector Manager of Plan International Ghana urged the graduates to be bold and innovative in their activities.
He advised them to provide a different set of skills and imaginative perspectives starting from their institutions.
The Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency, Ghana (SWIDA – Gh) has celebrated the International Day for the Girl Child with school girls in Damankunyili, a rural community in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern region.
Overwhelming school children and teachers from the Damankunyili R/C Junior High school joined SWIDA – Gh in the celebration where the Communications and Gender Officer at SWIDA – Gh, Khadijatu Abdul-Samed called for the participation of boys in household chores to reduce the workload on the girl child at home and making her regular and punctual in school, this according to Khadijatu, will not only create time for the girl child to study but such practice will make the boy child gender conscious while growing up into leadership or husband in the future.
She underscored the need for girls to be assertive and confident in themselves and wherever they find themselves since it is a fundamental trait when it comes to leadership, adding that, leadership is not meant for only the male gender but for girls as well.
Therefore, for girls to be able to rise to leadership positions in the future they must first develop assertiveness and confidence while they take up leadership positions in their schools. “We want to advise these girls that within the school environment they should not see themselves as timid, they should see themselves as capable of going for various leadership positions.” Khadijata Abdul-Samed added.
Ayisha Mahama is the health prefect for Damankunyili JHS, who expressed gratitude to SWIDA – Gh and their partners for coming to sensitize her and her fellow girls on a special day like the International Day of the Girl Child.
Adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years but also as they mature into women. If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.
The continuous investment by SWIDA – Gh and partners in realizing the power of adolescent girls upholds their rights today and promises a more equitable and prosperous future, one in which half of humanity is an equal partner in solving the problems of climate change, political conflict, economic growth, disease prevention, and global sustainability.
Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are creating a world that is relevant for them and future generations.
The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
This comes after UN member states met in 1995 at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, the countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing the rights of not only women but girls.
The Beijing Declaration is the first to specifically call out girls’ rights.
Executive Director for SWIDA – Gh, Hajia Alima Sagito – Saeed, is a member of the Regional Ideation Team for the 2022 Kosmos Innovation Centre, UDS Agritech Challenge Classic.
She was judge at the first Classic pitch for 24 new Agritech businesses by the students.
Key Innovations to mention included
1. Use of Plantation leaves for reusable sanitary pads and paper
2. Briquettes and Biochar energy
3. Leaves as food packaging materials
4. Post Harvest solutions
5. Fruits and vegetables storage methods
6. Kuka Baobab fruit powder and leaves powder
7. Compost – Farm Fert for vegetables
Group mentoring session as part of the National Week Celebration, put together by National Youth Authority in the Northern Region.
The the for the celebration was Inter-generational solidarity; females go lead.
The session was facilitated by SWIDA – Gh Executive Director, Hajia Alima Sagito – Saeed.
Local development partner, Sacks Concept presented a citation in honour of Executive Director of SWIDA – Gh, Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed for supporting youth businesses.
Congratulations Madam!
The Executive Directors of Two strong youth-led organizations passed by SWIDA-GH office, with the Mission to further deepen partnership.
The other reason for the organizations’ visit, was to provide training to the staff of SWIDA – Gh on the various areas of capacity needs for effective team and office work.
Northern Regional Coordinator for Activista Ghana, Suglo took time to mentor interns on different areas and also mentioned the opportunities that await them when they build better networks and commit to learning.
Abdul Rafiiu Alhassan is the Executive Director for Girls Empowerment Mission (GEM Ghana), who took the insurers through public speaking tips, as well as when and how to engage and disengage.
The Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH) in partnership with Plan International Ghana, under its women voice and leadership programme, has empowered 25 women to enhance their livelihoods.
The three-day intensive training in beads making, brought together women in the operational areas of the programme in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, and some students of the Tamale Technical University.
Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA-GH, speaking during the graduation ceremony of the beneficiaries in Tamale, said empowering women would enhance their active participation in governance and leadership, and help secure their economic rights.
She said “Part of our commitment under the programme is to work through existing social norms to increase women’s agency on issues of economic empowerment, and help address domestic violence and abuse.”
She said “Acquisition of entrepreneurial skills among women groups is crucial in securing women rights and dignity. Most of the abuse cases are attributed to their low economic input.”
Ms Humaimatu Abdul-Wahab, Northern Regional Head of the Informal Apprenticeship of Ghana, TVET Service said women empowerment through skills acquisition was important fighting gender-based violence in communities.
She called on government and other non-governmental organisations to continue championing women empowerment through various economic initiatives that would help promote their livelihoods.
All trainees received certificates and start-up kits to help establish their own businesses.
Mrs Zulfawu Musah, who was adjudged best trainee, thanked SWIDA-GH and Plan International Ghana for the initiative saying it would improve her economic status.
Available figures
This data reveals that in 2020, on a daily basis, out of nearly 301 pregnancies recorded in Ghana, 13 involved teenagers.
According to the GHS, Ghana recorded a total of 109,888 teen pregnancies with the lowest girls put in the family way being 10-year olds.
The World Bank collection of development indicators reported that in 2019, about 2,380,000 teenage mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 were found in Ghana.
Per the data, girls between the ages of 10 and 14 years account for 2,856 pregnancies recorded in 2020 while another 107,023 girls from ages 15 to 19 were impregnated within the same period.
Statistics from Reproductive Health Journal, Biomedcentral.com, indicates that in 2019, about 143 teenagers got pregnant and gave birth in northern Ghana with an increase to 3,780 in 2020.
The causes
Most of the pregnancies came because of the lock down instituted by the government as a preventive measure to stop the infection and spread of COVID – 19.
The causes of teenage pregnancies include, the loss of livelihoods by parents, poverty, parental neglect, sexual exploitation and abuse, defilement or rape, curiosity or adventurous behaviours, as well as the lack of adolescent and sexual reproductive health education in communities.
This comprised their education and other opportunities, which makes them vulnerable to poverty, violence, crime and social exclusion.
Executive Director for Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA – Gh), Hajia Alimah Sagito – Saeed, said COVID – 19 increased the school dropout situation particularly among the girls in communities across the country.
She added that mostly, girls in urban areas were forced to worked by trading in the streets or engaging in head porting (kayaye), just to increase their household income.
Scenarios
In an interview during “Mobilizing media to fight COVID – 19” being implemented by Journalists for Human Rights in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association, a 14 – year old student from Nanton Kurugu Senior High School in the Northern Region told the Ghana News Agency that she became pregnant as a result of the closure of schools during the COVID – 19 period.
She said after delivery, her parents forced into marriage to the detriment of her education, while her 38 – year old husband has been supportive economically, thereby compound her situation, which compelled her to resort to selling foodstuffs in the Nanton market to enable her cater for herself and her child.
Another 12 year old primary school girl from the Bimbila Primary in the northern region shared her experience, saying she became pregnant during the lockdown period.
According to her, her parents were facing financial challenges taking care of her and five siblings she has. In Diare, a 16 year old Final year student of the Diare JHS said she was forced to marry a 40 year old man due to poverty, adding that she now has a child from the marriage.
She said the early marriage has curtailed her dream of becoming a nurse, but she desires to go to school if she gets support.
E-Learning
The government introduced enhanced learning to help students stay academically active while at home, but challenges such as the lack of electricity, the lack of television of radio sets and internet in homes of some teenage girls, compromised the quality of the programme and thus exposed learning inequalities in the country’s education system.
Working to develop better laws
A number of international commitments on improving gender equality and ending poverty, made the attainment of quality education a key concern.
These are, the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), particularly goals 4 and 5.
Key among issues being advocated, included the right to education for all, reduction in levels of women’s literacy, bridging the gender gap in education, empowerment of women to look after their children and contribute to national development.
The northern regional coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victim’s Support Unit, DSP Emmanuel Holortu in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, indicated that the menace of child marriage worsened due to economic challenges that confronted parents due to the COVID – 19 pandemic.
He stated that even though the legal age of marriage is 18 years, children more than 16 could consent to sex in Ghana.
He expressed concerns about gaps in the country’s laws on consent to sex by 16 years, saying “what has not been addressed, however, is if a child is sexually exploited and she becomes pregnant at 16 or 17, what happens to the perpetrator”?
DSP Holortu noted there was no provision for any form of sanction and the teenage girl must bare the brunt alone, adding that “this injustice is supported by the criminal offenses Act of 1960, which has entrenched violator’s impunity”.
He added that child rights advocates have engaged governments and development actors for a review of the child protection legislation such as the criminal offenses Act, the children’s Act and the Juvenile Justice Act to ensure uniformity and synchronization of the legal age of marriage to the legal age of consent, with a Romeo and Juliet clause.
Way Forward
Facilitating pregnant girls’ re – entry into school after delivery becomes one measure for reducing gender disparities in quality educational attainment.
Due to that, Ghana’s Education Ministry has developed guidelines that support teenagers with unplanned pregnancies to continue schooling or opt to return after delivery.
This guideline is in conformity with the government policy of compulsory universal basic education for every child in Ghana.
Executive Director for Songtaba, Hajia Lamnatu Adam, who was part of the stakeholder engagement, urged government and other stakeholders to speed up measures to protect children from abuse of violence and teenage pregnancy.
Conclusion
Parents should take the responsibility to control and enlighten their teenage girls on sex education.
Government and stakeholders, including human rights advocates, should push more to speed up amendments to laws that put girls at risk and in disadvantaged positions.
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