The third quarter of 2022 has been an interesting one for the Advocacy and Communications Unit. Below is an update on our activities:
Facilitation Material for WEE-NORTH
Funded by Global Affairs Canada, WEE-NORTH helps women join the workforce as welders, agricultural mechanics, small engine repair technicians and electricians. These opportunities increase productivity, profitability and access to work for women. Over the past two quarters, PDA’s ACU has supported them with the development of facilitation material for the empowerment training necessary to prepare these young women to join male-dominated industries.
Webinar on Mainstreaming Organizational Safeguarding
PDA’s webinar series provides a quarterly platform for PDA, partners, and stakeholders in the development space to share, learn and apply contextually-relevant and engaging issues. In the third quarter, the ACU successfully held a highly-patronized webinar on “Mainstreaming Safeguarding Systems & Practices within Organizations: The PDA Experience.” You can watch the full recording here. Our final webinar for the year will complement the 6h Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Child Protection.
Previous webinars have focused on conducting a community needs assessment and research findings from an assessment of remote learning programmes in Ghana.
Partnership Innovation Fund
The Artisans Association of Ghana (AAG), in partnership with Participatory Development Associates (PDA), has commenced the implementation of the Young Female Businesses for Growth (YoFeB-4G) project in Accra, to assist young female artisans to formalize their businesses. The 2-year project which was co-created by the two organizations, and is funded by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), is being implemented in the Madina and Ashaiman municipalities.
YoFeB-4G is a gender-mainstreaming project which targets 100 young female artisans aged 18-34 to help mitigate the myriad of challenges they are faced with in their quest to secure appropriate documentation for their businesses and have access to decent jobs/employment opportunities within the construction sector. The YoFeB-4G comprises four major components:
(a) Business Formalization and Development Support programs for young female artisans
(b) Enhancing the technical and vocational training skills of young female artisans so that they are abreast with emerging innovations and technologies;
(c) Providing coaching and mentorship programs for young female artisans, and
(d) Running advocacy campaign programs to create safe, secure and healthy work environments for young female artisans in the construction sector.
Future of Work Dialogue
In February and July 2022, the ACU hosted events dubbed “Future of Work Dialogue” with the support of the INVEST team to highlight the usefulness of digital technologies in the world of work, as well as the many opportunities it offers, especially for young people in Technical, and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The INVEST initiative strives to build sustainable pathways to enhanced economic empowerment, well-being and inclusive growth for women in Ghana by supporting 5000 women to enter and thrive within high-growth, male-dominated trades. Recordings of these events are available here and here, even as discussions continue regarding the possibility of expanding the dialogue into other cities outside Accra.
In the fourth quarter, the ACU is slated to host a special edition of Future of Work dubbed “Future of Work: Green Business” during the IGNI+E Partners Forum.
PDA Child Abuse Tracker
PDA remains committed to advocating for the protection of children from all forms of abuse by using data from its child abuse tracker. Since its deployment in 2017, the online platform has recorded over five hundred cases of child abuse reported in selected print and online media in Ghana. Access the platform and the quarterly infographic reports here. ICYMI, you can read a feature article on how PDA uses the Ushahidi platform here!
6th Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Child Protection
The ACU is excitedly preparing for its annual flagship workshop on child protection. For the first time ever, the workshop will be truly hybrid as most participants will be able to conveniently join in from wherever they are.
In partnership with Free The Slaves and the Department of Children (under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection), the workshop is themed “Child Labor and the Working Child: Institutional Approaches to Child Labor Remediation in Ghana,” and will address topical issues on the interaction between working children and the menace of child labour.
The event will feature presentations from the Child Labour Unit (Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations), Free The Slaves, and PDA, as well as a panel discussion populated by leading voices spearheading child labour remediation efforts across various sectors in the country. The virtual audience will also be able to ask all their questions and contribute meaningfully to the conversation. All interested persons are invited to register now .
Digital Activity
The ACU manages the communications arm of PDA, and has navigated the past quarter with innovative and engaging content on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter social media pages. We are also glad to have welcomed a volunteer from the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Mr. Paul Atsu, whose contributions have been invaluable.
Paul recently participated in the UNOWAS (United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel) workshop on youth empowerment for climate action, peace, and security in West Africa and the Sahel, which was held on 11th and 12th October in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. During the workshop, Paul shared how PDA has been working with youth in designing and implementing climate-resilient solutions through participatory and knowledge-sharing interactions across sectors in Ghana.