Africa-Press – Ghana. The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, has organized a two-day orientation and training workshop for Municipal and District implementation teams under the Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion Programme (LEPIP).
The programme initially commenced in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region and the East Mamprusi District in the North East Region on pilot basis within the last quarter of 2024.
It was designed to address issues of early child marriage and teenage pregnancy, and following the outcomes and lessons from the pilot phase, the Ministry, with support from UNICEF, scaled the programme to additional 12 MDAs across the Upper East, North East, Northern and Savannah Regions.
In the Upper East Region, the beneficiary MDAs include the Bawku West, Bongo, and Builsa South Districts, with the aim to enhance the socio-economic well-being of vulnerable out-of-school adolescent girls aged 16 to 21, through a comprehensive package of life skills, basic business management skills and vocational skills training.
It was also designed to provide start-up grants with accompanying coaching and mentoring support to ensure beneficiaries were economically empowered not to fall prey to factors of child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
Mr Desmond Duametu, the National Productive Inclusion Specialist at the Ministry, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during the workshop, emphasized that the LEPIP was intended to focus on out-of-school girls.
“We sought to provide participants with the needed skills and know-how to identify the girls, screen, validate and build interest in them, and get them to subscribe to the programme and subsequently help them to make the right investment decisions.
“We are doing all of these to empower the girls and position them against the ills that lead them into teenage pregnancy and early child marriage,” Mr Duametu said.
He said the LEPIP was in collaboration with the Ghana Enterprises Agency, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, local level master craftsmen among other stakeholders to mentor the girls to strive in their investments.
Alhaji Amin Abdul-Rahaman, the Chief Director for the Ministry, noted that several adolescent girls across the country remained out of school and were exposed to heightened risks of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and generational poverty.
“These young girls, many of them between the ages of 16 and 21, are among the most vulnerable members of our society. LEPIP is a direct response to these challenges,” the Chief Director said.
He described the LEPIP as integrated social protection and empowerment programme aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty by equipping the young girls with practical and life skills, start-up support and mentorship.
Alhaji Abdul-Rahaman expressed gratitude to UNICEF for the financial support and technical contribution to the initiative saying, “Also, the Ministry acknowledges the extensive technical support provided by the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project Phase II as well as all stakeholders.”
Mrs Christiana Gbedemah, UNICEF’s Social Policy Specialist, noted that although child marriage rates had declined over the past three decades in Ghana according to the Ghana Child Marriage Country Profile, the progress was uneven across regions.
She said the key drivers included poverty, economic hardship, rural living, inadequate education and livelihood opportunities, adolescent pregnancy, social and gender norms, and traditional practices.
She said the LEPIP was designed to contribute to the achievement of several key targets under the Sustainable Development Goals one, five and 10, “These include implement nationally appropriate social protection system and measures for all.
“Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, eliminate all harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation, and includes a target to end child marriage by 2030.”
She highlighted the crucial role of all stakeholders in the effective implementation of the LEPIP saying “Let us remember every effort counts.”
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