Women in the project district often work in lower paid, less physical roles. Despite Ghana’s progress in poverty reduction, an important share of rural men and women in the country still lack descent work opportunities. Economic Justice is the idea that the economy will be more successful if it is fairer. The goal is to create opportunities for all to thrive and that prosperity and justice go hand in hand than opposition to one another.
PRESED works especially with women and vulnerable persons to address issues of gender Justice n gender equity by using sustainable development programs to tackle injustice and discrimination that keep too many women n vulnerable persons poor n excluded.
Rural women in particular face greater difficulties in transforming their labour into more productive employment activities in their paid work into higher and more secure incomes. PRESED works especially with women and youth groups:
In this thematic area activities include:
- Skills training for the poor and vulnerable women and the youth
- Economic empowerment of women
Supporting Activities
Sexual reproductive health, HIV and AIDS Prevention activities in Schools, Churches, Mosques and Communities- Promote Basic Education in deprived communities
- Promotion of Libraries and the formation of reading clubs in deprived schools and communities to enhance children’s academic performance
- Support to orphaned and vulnerable children.
Poverty Reduction Through Economic Empowerment of Rural Women
The Presbyterian Relief Services and Development had the opportunity to collaborate with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa to economically empower poor rural women in the Kwahu Afram Plains South District (KAPSD) in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The overall goal of the project is to increase poor women smallholder farmer productivity and empowerment in more equitable agriculture systems in the Kwahu Afram Plains District. The vision of the program is one of empowered women smallholder farmers celebrated for their contributions to achieving secure and resilient livelihoods and sustainable futures for their households, communities and beyond. This is being achieved by promoting women’s leadership and productive and profitable engagement in intensified, sustainable agriculture value chains.
The project direct impacts on 500 poor women smallholder farmers to increase their income, food security and standard of living, and indirectly on 115,812 persons in the Kwahu Afram Plains South District in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
Beneficiaries were made to own the project activities and given thorough training on its desired impact and outcome through clear definition of project design, implementation and stakeholder engagement to ensure sustainability.
The project “Poverty Reduction through Economic Empowerment of Rural Women” sought to create opportunities for women to learn how to participate in the socio-economic reconstruction and reducing poverty in their own communities.
The objectives of the project were;
- Access to skills and technical knowledge required for effective management of sustainable small-scale ventures to achieving maximum results for rural women.
- Make available to identified rural women factors of production that will enable them establish and manage Agro businesses to improve their standard of living
- Use economic empowerment as a tool for fighting STIs, HIV and AIDS amongst poor rural women.
Impact
The project contributed positively to the living conditions of women and making them more economically empowered and self sustaining in their communities.
- Most women can now support their wards and other families.
- Their self- esteem and confidence levels have improved
- brought respect and prestige as they no longer rely on families and their friends
- Financial stability to expand their business portfolio and to pay their children’s school fees
- Ownership over resources such as land for cultivation
- Nutritional and healthy living standards
- Increased land size and cultivation
The Golden Line works for the social and economic empowerment of women in and around selected artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities in Ghana in the Western and Ashanti Regions. The five years programme (2016–2020) by consortium partners, Simavi, Solidaridad and Healthy Entrepreneurs combine their complementary expertise to improve women’s working conditions and economic position within gold mines. The Golden Line also works to increase the ability of women in mining communities to engage in economic activities by improving their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and their access to and control over resources.
PRESED is a local consortium member working in the communities to achieve the goal of sustainable economic empowerment of women in and around artisanal gold mining areas in the Western and Ashanti Regions.
Components
The overall goal is to economically empower women in artisanal small scale mining communities.
- Formation of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA’s)
- Gender Discussion Series (GDS)
- Engaging Men in Accountable Practices (EMAP)
- Business Skills training for VSLA’s per community
- Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR)
- Domestic Violence, Advocacy, Gender and Development
Achievements
- 76 VSLA’s formed in the 22 communities; 1,453 women involved in the western and Ashanti regions
Gender discussion series in households where men and their spouses are able to plan and work together. - Series of sensitizations and capacity building organized to increase knowledge on SRHR issues and to improve upon the household economy recognizing the voice of the woman in the family.
- Chiefs, elders and opinion leaders involvement in the programme enabled the programme team achieve maximum results.
- More women seek to join the groups due to the success stories shared by their peers during share out sessions and community engagements.
- More women now occupy positions at the community level, as unit committee members amongst other roles.
- Male change agents groups formed to improve the overall well-being of women to prevent violence against women and girls.