The Girl Power 4 Change project
August 20, 2024
Dance 4 Life
August 20, 2024
PROJECT BRIEF
The Youth Public and Policy Advocacy Campaign to End Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Abuse, and Early Marriage by UNICEF, executed by Curious Minds Ghana, was a project implemented nationwide from June to October 2023. The goal of the project was to contribute to a reduction of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), child marriage, harmful practices, and sexual reproductive health and rights across Ghana through young people, community empowerment, and awareness engagements with several activities, including the capacity building training on the Youth Advocacy Guide for advocates and organisations, localisation of the UNICEF youth advocacy guide, colloquia, radio programs, parliamentarian engagement, digital media campaigns, and program monitoring and communication to end harmful practices. The project impacted 1,148 people directly in policy advocacy at the national level to eliminate harmful practices, developed a localised version of the youth advocacy guide, and contributed to engaging six parliamentarians, which resulted in reinforcing legislative actions leading to the implementation of the Ghana Education Service’s guidelines to prevent adolescent pregnancy and facilitate the re-entry of adolescent mothers to schools, and the increased coverage of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty cash transfer programme as well as the bill passed to scrap import taxes on sanitary products.
Donor: UNICEF Duration: June - October 2023
Project Description
The project focused on addressing the prevalent issues of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), child marriage, harmful practices, and promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) across Ghana. It aimed to create lasting change by engaging young people, empowering communities, and raising awareness at national and regional levels. The project was implemented nationwide, with efforts to engage young people in advocacy, create safe platforms for dialogue, and contribute to the development of better policies to end harmful practices.
Goal
To contribute to a reduction in GBV, child marriage, harmful practices, and improvement in SRHR across Ghana through youth empowerment, community engagement, and advocacy by the end of 2023.
Key Activities Implemented
- Social Media Awareness Campaigns
- Weekly Radio Programs
- Regional and National Colloquia
- Advocacy Training
- Engagement with Parliamentarians
PROJECT RESULTS
20,750,000
Expansion of National Awareness of Harmful Practices
A total of 20,750,000 listeners engaged with the weekly radio programs across national radio stations on topics such as child marriage, GBV, and VAWC.
313,766
Youth Engagement in Advocacy
289,532 total impressions were generated through social media awareness campaigns. The digital media campaign also saw a total engagement of 24,034, signaling widespread reach and resonance of the campaign messages.
6
Youth Policy Advocacy Contributions
6 Parliamentarians directly engaged in policy discussions, committing to advocate for the removal of taxes on sanitary products and the improvement of SRHR policies, including the re-entry of adolescent mothers into school.
137
Training and Capacity Building
37 youth advocates and 29 youth organizations received capacity-building training through the UNICEF Youth Advocacy Guide. These trained youth advocates went on to educate 70 peers and engaged 1 CSO in the process.
5
Regional and National Engagements
5 colloquia were organized (including one additional community-based colloquium) to engage youth, traditional leaders, and policymakers on eliminating harmful practices, exceeding the initial plan of 4 regional colloquia. 902 individuals were reached.
1
Youth Advocacy Guide Development
A localized version of the UNICEF Youth Advocacy Guide was successfully developed, involving 10 trained youth advocates and a consultant. This guide is now a tool for youth advocacy efforts across the country.
KEY ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED
Advocacy Training
Youth advocates and organizations were trained on the UNICEF Youth Advocacy Guide (YAG) to help them lead campaigns and push for policy changes.
Regional and National Colloquia
These events provided young people with the opportunity to engage with key stakeholders like policymakers, traditional leaders, and civil society organizations.
Engagement with Parliamentarians
Discussions with MPs focused on advocacy for better legislation around SRHR, including the passage of the bill to scrap import taxes on sanitary products.
Weekly Radio Programs
Aimed at educating the public on child marriage, GBV, and Violence Against Women and Their Children, the radio programs reached over 20 million listeners nationwide.
Social Media Awareness Campaigns
Extensive campaigns on social media raised awareness about harmful practices like GBV, child marriage, and SRHR, engaging over 289,000 young people.
