The Hunger Project holds review workshop

THE Women Empowerment Project (WEP), an initiative of The Hunger Project Ghana (THP-Ghana), has held its annual review workshop at Bunso in the Eastern Region.
Sixty-two trained women selected from the Eastern, Volta, Ashanti, Central and Greater Accra Regions, who have been trained in various aspects of leadership, legal, education, and economic empowerment issues of women, attended the ceremony.
Known as animators, the women, who serve as volunteers, carry out community level education and sensitisation programmes in their respective areas of operation.
The Bunso review workshop was to assess the activities of the animators of WEP, progress made and challenges faced in the year under review.
As part of the review, the women also considered how to achieve certain aspects of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the WEP initiatives in their operational areas.
Although scientific data is yet to be compiled by the THP on the activities of WEP, initial indications are that enormous success has been made by the women in the eradication of hunger and poverty, the first target of the MDGs, in their communities.
At the Akotekrom Epicentre made up of rural communities in Ningo-Prampram in the Eastern Region, through the WEP and support from THP, women in the area have established a community farm to support women in that community to gain economic empowerment.
The community farm is expected to feed the food bank of the epicentre in that community and the initiative has helped to complement the income of women in the community.
In many communities, particularly those in the Easter Region, access to land for farming activities, has increased for women as a result of THP’s initiative.
The leader of the Adunsua Bebease Epicentre at Nkawkaw, Madam Comfort Twumwah, said she facilitated the reunion of seven boys from Abor in the Volta Region with their family.
She said the epicentre, in collaboration with other epicentres nearby, hosted various programmes on Obuoba FM and Live FM to educate women and the public on issues affecting women.
In their report, Madam Rose Sekyi and Madam Augustina Ampere from the Banka Epicentre in the Ashanti Region, said until a year ago, the pass rate of female pupils in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was zero, but the interventions of WEP, the number of girls who enrolled in senior high schools (SHS) had increased from zero to eight in the year under review.
The animators from the Awate community said they mobilised women in the community to mould cement blocks which they sold to the VRA for the construction of KVIP for the community.
The animators also used proceeds from the sale of the cement blocks to finance electrification project in that community.
Despite these remarkable achievements by the animators, they are faced with a number of challenges, including lack of access to agricultural information and agricultural extension services by many women in some selected communities, particularly the Eastern Region.
According to the animators, in some instances, the effort by the women to educate people on the importance of family planning was hampered by certain religious beliefs in some communities.
In her presentation after the two-day workshop, the Country Director of THP-Ghana, Dr Naana Agyeman-Mensah, said women who aspired into leadership positions, particularly politics, must of necessity let their voices be heard in their communities.
"The political parties will choose persons who have worked hard at the grassroot level. You must therefore begin to participate at the local level in community activities for you to create that identity for yourself", she advised.
Dr Agyeman-Mensah said THP-Ghana was making positive impact in its operational areas but admitted, "The task facing the THP in trying to eradicate poverty and ensuring food security is very huge and it will take a lot of effort and collaboration to tackle it”.