Editorial
Of late, the United Nations Populations Fund (UNPFA), in collaboration with some Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has been conducting education for young women in the areas of gender and sexual-based violence and adolescent development as a way of ending child marriage in Ghana and changing lives and communities.
In this direction, over 30 Head Porters locally known as (kayaye) have undergone a two-day training programme
organised by Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP), one of the leading non-governmental organisation and UNPFA. It was on the theme “Provision of Integrated Legal Literacy, Livelihood Skills Training and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services for Female Head Porters”.
Madam Edna Yeboah, the Programmes Officer for PAYDP in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said it was for selected “Kayaye” who would go out to give education to their peers.
She said most of these females had been trained years back so the training was a refresher on what they had learnt previously and to give an insight to the new ones who would also go out for advocacy.
Without doubt, this initiative is a good and positive one, which ought to be encouraged. However, also without doubt, is the fact that such continuing education has had little or no effect of violence that continues to be visited on young people, particularly young women.
Whilst we commend those who champion such initiatives, however, we must continue to urge central government to take a closer and better look at the policies it can implement to make life better for young people, particularly young women.
To begin with, government should begin to make assiduous effort to ensure that young people grow up in their home environment without the need to travel beyond it for economic empowerment. Young people who are forced by poverty to move out of their home environment into unfriendly urban centres, are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to abuse. Government must pose the question as to why young people leave home, sincerely find the answers to that question, and find a lasting solution.
Secondly, government should investigate the means by which young people can be empowered economically, and socially. The more economically empowered the individual is, the less likely that such individual would be susceptible to abuse.
We believe that if and when government takes a more central role in finding solutions to the plight of the abused, the work to stem the tide would be more meaningful.
As it is, even though the UNFPA and the NGOs are doing their best, the effort is more like fetching the sea with a teaspoon. The effort is commendable, but it is unlikely that the outcomes would be positive.
