News
The courage to DARE
Situated eighty-two kilometres from Ghana’s national capital, Accra, the region is home to more than 2 million people. As beautiful as it is, the Eastern Region is one of Ghana’s regions with the highest incidence of school dropouts, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and young mothers. Teenage pregnancy is a major concern in the Eastern Region of Ghana, with the region showing one of the highest prevalence rates of adolescent childbearing in the country. According to the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (2022 GDHS), the prevalence rate is estimated at 17.6%. This statistic is gradually creating a situation where many young individuals lack skills, education, or a source of income.
Together with partners including the Mastercard Foundation, the University of Ghana Business School and the Ghana India Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICT, UNESCO through the Digital Access and Rural Empowerment (DARE) program seeks to train over two thousand young mothers selected from three districts (Yilo Krobo, Bekwai and Gushegu) while transitioning 1460 into economically viable skills to induced jobs.
The program will encapsulate entrepreneurial training for young mothers with varied capabilities, with special attention and inclusion for people living with disabilities (PWDs). Collaborating with local partners and expert trainers, the participants receive training in hairdressing, tailoring and fashion design, make-up, cosmetology and agribusiness. They collaborate with expert trainers to learn and perfect their craft and will be supported to start their own enterprises and support their families.
Amanda Kofi, not her real name, is one of the beneficiaries of the DARE Program in Yilo Krobo Municipality. Amanda is a 21-year-old out-of-school pupil who has enrolled in the DARE program to get critical skills for sustenance. At age 10, she had her leg amputated due to a medical condition that threatened her life. This situation puts a strain on her education and has made life difficult for her and her family.
She tells me what the project means to her and why she has decided to enrol.
I had always had dreams for myself before my leg got amputated due to the illness. I have tried to concentrate on my situation for an exceptionally long time, but I have come to accept it and move on. This project provides me with an opportunity to acquire skills that will help me achieve economic stability and support myself.
The DARE program aims to equip people like Amanda with economically viable skills to make life easier for them. The project, which seeks to support out-of-school mothers and youth in some selected municipalities and districts across Ghana, has a bold vision of equipping over 1400 women and young girls.
UNESCO Accra’s Head of Education Prosper Kwasi Nyavor says the program will be implemented for two years, after which the lessons and challenges will be used to design a possible scale-up program to address the increasing spate of in-school and out-of-school young mothers and youth.
