Source: VibeGhana
A total of 1,000 young urban girls aged between 15 and 24 in the Tamale Metropolis are to benefit from an economic, reproductive health and information and communication technology (ICT) empowerment initiative by the Northern Sector Action on Awareness (NORSAAC).

The initiative being implemented in two locations, Accra and Tamale, also seeks to unearth economic talents, expose beneficiaries to available job opportunities, reduce the menace of head porters or “Kayaye” and groom young women to be able to contribute to the nation’s economic growth.

Mr Allhassan M. Awal, Executive Director of NORSAAC in-charge of the implementation of the Tamale project who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, said work on an ultra-modern center to train beneficiaries had started at Tuuntigli in Tamale and would be completed in May, 2014.

He said the facility, which is being sponsored by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), would have a library hall, a counseling center, a playing ground and a computer laboratory.

“For the meantime a structure has already been erected to start training the 1000 young girls who have already been registered for the programme. They have been divided into groups”, he said.

Mr Awal said the initiative was prompted by a study conducted in 2012 by Action Aid Ghana, a British NGO which revealed that due to constraints in accessing paid work among the Bulpela population in the Tamale Metropolis, many young girls from that community and its surroundings migrate to south to engage in head porting and dish washing in chop bars.

He said the survey, which made use of focus group discussions revealed that head porters returned from the southern cities with ‘bleached skin’, more trendy clothing and savings, creating an incentive for other girls in the community to follow in search of similar ‘benefits’.
Mr Awal noted that there were many barriers to employment, particularly for young women, which act as a disincentive for adolescent girls to continue their education.

“Self-employment is higher among urban women than among the men. While 64.3 per cent of urban employed women are self-employed, only 40.5 per cent of urban employed men are self-employed. In the self-employed category, hawking, petty trading, porter work, commercial food preparation/restaurant work, sex work and domestic care work are common with poorer urban young women,” he said

The Director said the study revealed that mostly young women routinely suffered harassment from the security agencies, with their wares destroyed during raids.

“Transactional sex emerged as a livelihood opportunity for some young women to access security and resources in a context where other employment opportunities may not be available or not as profitable. At an age where many young women are sexually active, having children poses significant challenges to continue their education and earn an independent income,” he said.

• Ghana