Friday, January 27, 2023

Promoting Girls’ Education receive major push

Efforts to facilitate access to quality education for girls continues to be frustrated by avoidable barriers confronting parents, girls and other actors vested in girls’ education.

STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF) recognizes the need to tackle these pervasive barriers to girls’ continuous access to education, to wit, proposed discussions would be held in collaboration with relevant partners and other stakeholders in the education sector.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

STAR-Ghana Foundation Giving for Change project reignites self-help community development

A STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF) Giving for Change (GfC) programme that seeks to promote domestic resource mobilization for development is gaining grounds in some communities in Tamale and Wa, in the Northern and Upper West regions respectively.

Indeed, 12 rural and urban communities in the Sissala West district and Wa Municipalities have accepted local philanthropy to raise funds for public goods and services such as clinics, schools, and clean water, among others.

The GfC programme is a five-year project that aims to do development differently from a mindset that the citizenry is responsible for their own development.

With funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the GfC is anchored on the recognition that domestic resources are important in increasing local ownership of projects and influence civic actions for inclusive development.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Songtaba raises funds to support vulnerable groups

Songtaba, an implementing partner of the STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF’s) Giving for Change (GfC) project, is leading a community mobilization project aimed at empowering communities to take control of their own development.

Known as the Faako (relief) Social Fund (FSF), the project which is currently ongoing in Tamale in the Northern region seeks to raise money, and get in-kind contributions from communities, purposely, to support the less privilege, especially women in the alleged witches’ camp.

The Head of Programmes and Policy at Songtaba, Shani Abdul Kasiru, explained the FSF is a local philanthropic fund that connects Ghanaians, both home and abroad to contribute for purposes of bringing development to the people.

“Since implementation of the project, we have supported women living in exclusion (alleged witches) in food, clothing, and others. We have decided to do that because living in such deplorable conditions they have been neglected and there is no form of social support,” he said.

He said the support has renewed hopes at the camp.https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/561-songtaba-raises-funds-to-support-vulnerable-groups

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The Women Who Stood up for "Witches" in Northern Ghana

In 2020, a 90-year-old woman, Madam Denteh, was publicly lynched to death in the Savannah region in Ghana after being accused of witchcraft. The video of the lynching went viral and attracted police and national security investigations, resulting in the arrest of some of the perpetrators. Like in many parts of the world, a belief in sorcery and witchcraft still exists in Ghana, and accusations of witchcraft are followed by social stigma and discrimination. While both men and women have been accused of witchcraft, the accused are disproportionately women. In some cases, they have been murdered and mobbed following allegations of witchcraft against them. This is the incredible story of communities in Ghana as active funders of human rights issues and using community philanthropy to challenge age-old stigmas. Follow “The Women Who Stood up for Witches in Northern Ghana” to read the full inspiring story as captured by Shift the Power.

Friday, December 09, 2022

Promoting community-led approaches to end sexual and gender-based violence - Traditional, opinion leaders urged to lead discussions

With studies proving that victims of SGBV normally are skeptical about reporting to formal institutions such as the police and health services, these community leaders have been urged to help with education and sensitization at that level.

The Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF), Miss Eunice Racheal Agbenyadzi, at a forum organized by the Foundation to mark this year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Cape Coast, appealed to the community leaders to drive such discussions.

She said the discussions have reinforced the need to have more of such conversations on how to end SGBV.

“I am extending an invitation to our traditional leaders to help organize such conversations next time so that you will be in the driver’s seat, and we support you. SGF wants to as much as possible see people who are at the core of an issue driving it,” she said.

She also called on the traditional leaders and local authorities to enforce community bye-laws that promote girls’ education and punish violence and abuse of women and girls.

Over the past decade and more, there have been efforts at the national level to respond to challenges faced by women and girls including the different forms of SGBV.

While these efforts have yielded some positive results, the menace persists. The prevalence of SGBV calls for renewed activism, advocacy at various levels, and urgent actions to address the problem.

Monday, December 05, 2022

Include treatment of victims of all Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence under the NHIS

A forum by STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF), to mark this year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Cape Coast, has called on government to include treatment of victims of all Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

It emerged that among the major setbacks to the fight against SGBV is the inability of victims to pay for medical examinations and police reports that will assist in dealing with the perpetrators. Other setbacks include cultural beliefs and stigmatization which continue to pose challenges for victims of SGBV. The Head of Programmes at SGF, Eunice Racheal Agbenyadzi, said the forum was the Foundation’s flagship event because there have been ongoing activities to mark the 16 Days of Activism. She said SGF has launched a social media campaign where it is sharing information and asking people to share their opinions around how women and girls can better be protected from /against all forms of violence.

Monday, November 28, 2022

AVID Project holds an information session for its partners

Prospective applicants of STAR-Ghana Foundation’s Action for Voice and Inclusive Development (AVID) Project, have been enlightened on processes and requirements for submission of their proposals.

The virtual information session was organized by the Foundation to, among other objectives, clarify and address concerns from organizations seeking to partner in the implementation of the project, which targets minority and underserved groups. A total of 91 organizations comprising of Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Representatives of the Fulbe groups, and organizations working with women and person with disabilities joined the session.

With funding from the Flora & Hewlett Foundation, the AVID Project is targeted at organisations of disadvantaged social groups (citizens) with the aim of increasing their voices and participation in governance, inclusive access to quality public goods and services and contribute to the sustainability of these organisations as vehicles for citizen mobilisation. During the two-hour session, participants were taken through presentations on the Call for partnership advertisement, concept note template, eligibility criteria, focus areas, timelines and other grants application guiding principles required to respond to the call for partnerships appropriately.

Thursday, November 03, 2022

STAR-Ghana Foundation engages border communities on social cohesion and livelihoods support to build resilience to border security threats

03 Nov, 2022

Residents of selected border communities in Ghana’s Upper East region have identified among other interventions, the promotion of dialogue between community members and border security agencies, as well as the provision of livelihood support schemes as effective strategies for strengthening border management and building resilience. This comes in the wake of threats of radicalization and infiltration by violent extremists whose attacks have been recorded in countries sharing close borders with Ghana. These proposals were proffered at inception meetings on the implementation of the Community Cohesion and the Community Livelihoods Empowerment Projects organized by STAR-Ghana Foundation with funding from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Journalists urged to take science reporting seriously

Journalists urged to take science reporting seriously: A FORMER Director General of the CSIR, Professor Kenneth Danso, has charged journalists in the country to be more interested in science reporting.

Ama Achiaa Amankwah Baafi