Tamale: A six-month project aimed at fostering collective action to address issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in northern Ghana has been launched. The initiative, titled 'Champions of Change: Collective Resilient Action Against SGBV', is being implemented in Tamale and Sagnarigu Municipalities in the Northern Region, as well as Bole and North Gonja Districts in the Savannah Region.
According to Ghana News Agency, the project focuses on empowerment, advocacy, prevention, and support for survivors of SGBV within the beneficiary communities. The implementation strategy includes empowering 200 women on financial resilience, promoting gender family module practices in 20 communities to address household-level SGBV, and establishing district-level gender action movements to champion SGBV.
The project is spearheaded by PureTrust Foundation LBG, a non-governmental organization based in Tamale, with funding support from GIZ under the S(HE) project. Other partners include Vibrant Village Foundation LBG, Bole District Community Foundation, Songtaba, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
The launch event attracted stakeholders from government agencies, traditional and religious institutions, the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD), women's empowerment organizations, and youth groups. Madam Jamila Tahiru, Projects Coordinator at PureTrust Foundation LBG, highlighted the persistent issues of patriarchy, inequality, and social injustice in northern Ghana, which continue to perpetuate the abuse of women and girls.
Madam Tahiru emphasized that the project is designed to address these challenges through capacity-building and empowerment programs aimed at enhancing inclusivity. She noted that the initiative seeks to promote gender resilience and address SGBV through a united movement of change actors utilizing participatory and digital advocacy, community-led action, and inclusive engagement.
Madam Tahiru expressed optimism that by the end of the project, survivors of SGBV would have greater access to protection and support services, women would demonstrate improved financial resilience, community leaders would commit to making their communities SGBV-free, and community foundations would prioritize SGBV initiatives in their grant-making.
Mr. Inusah Iddrisu, Principal Public Education Officer and Investigator at CHRAJ, Northern Region, stressed the negative implications of SGBV on community development and described the project as strategic and timely. He urged stakeholders to support its effective implementation to reduce SGBV in the targeted communities.
During a roundtable panel discussion at the event, Alhaji Musah Abdul-Majeed, Social Welfare Officer at Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, urged opinion leaders and family heads to stop shielding perpetrators of SGBV, stating that such actions only emboldened abusers. A representative from Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) also emphasized the safe spaces PPAG was currently providing for SGBV survivors and urged everyone to utilize them.
Mrs. Shahadatu Abubakar Nimatu, Northern Regional President of GFD, commended PureTrust Foundation LBG and its partners for the initiative, noting that its successful implementation would significantly protect vulnerable groups, especially persons with disabilities, who are often victims of SGBV.
Mr. Habib Haruna, Chief Executive Officer of PureTrust Foundation LBG, expressed gratitude to the GIZ S(HE) project and other collaborating partners for supporting the campaign against SGBV.
