Civil society urged to adopt double-edged approach in advocacy

 The Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, has urged civil society to adopt a double-edged approach in their advocacy work.

He said their work must not just focus on reporting to align with the objectives and requirements of their donors but also geared towards development effectiveness.

According to Alhaji Tanko, civil society actors often force themselves to pick up positives, where perhaps it might have been more useful for them if they focused on the challenges.

“We are always focusing on what has worked because that is what the donor wants to hear. But if we do that, we lose sight of very important lessons. What hasn’t worked, what didn’t work, why didn’t it work? How do we use that moving forward.

“Donors don’t incentivise that type of learning, so we go through all kinds of concoctions to glean some results. As we move forward, we should be clear on what we want to learn or else we will go through endless learning workshops and not much coming out of it,” he said during a STAR-Ghana Foundation end of phase learning event for grant partners under the Gender Rights and Empowerment programme (G-REP), with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), at Aburi in the Eastern Region.

He challenged civil society organisations to move beyond learning for contractual purposes, to learning beyond donor demands and for development effectiveness.

read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/584-civil-society-urged-to-adopt-double-edged-approach-in-advocacy

Community-led Philanthropy Projects driving change

 As a result of local philanthropy, Abanga Moses Aningiba is currently pursuing a degree at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Community-led philanthropy is critical to the development of every society. Developmental projects through local philanthropy is largely need-based, thus addressing specific issues with distinctive tailor-made methods depending on the community. Today, a lot of Communities in Ghana are buying into the idea of owning their development by mobilizing capital and human resources through STAR-Ghana Foundation’s Giving for Change (GfC) Programme.

During a monitoring and support visit to project implementing partners under the GfC Programme, it emerged that project communities are building school blocks, health centers, places of worship as well as undertaking education support and livelihood empowerment activities to benefit needy community members.

The visit was aimed at ascertainning progress made on implementing projects against their expected deliverables. It also served as a check for compliance against required financial practices while strategic support is offered on effective implementation of the projects.

Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/573-community-led-philanthropy-projects-driving-change

Stakeholders push for more investments to improve girl’s education

 

Speakers at a STAR-Ghana Foundation forum have called for increased investments in education to improve access to education for all.

The call is coming on the back of concerns that poverty and cost-related (hidden) challenges remain foremost on the list of barriers that confront girls’ continuous access to education.

Therefore, the unique needs of girls should be factored into education financing to enable girls to enroll, remain and complete their education.

The forum was held under the theme ‘Increasing Inclusive Access to Continuous Quality Education for Girls.”

Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/570-stakeholders-push-for-more-investments-to-improve-girl-s-education-2

Violent Extremism and Border Security: STAR-Ghana Foundation builds capacity of border communities in Upper East Region

 Community buy-in and support is critical to the success of efforts aimed at helping improve security and or preventing conflicts. Indeed, their involvement and ownership is almost inevitable in efforts to build resilience for risk border communities against spillovers and infiltration of violent extremism.

In Ghana, the volatile security situation in neighbouring countries to the north has heightened concerns of possible infiltration of extremists and radicalization of vulnerable demographics in border communities to disturb the relative peace in the country.

As a result, under its social cohesion project being implemented in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ghana, STAR-Ghana Foundation held capacity building sessions for members of Community Dialogue Platforms in six (6) border communities in the Upper East Region to be able to effectively educate their communities and contribute to raising awareness and building resilience against border security threats. The Dialogue Platforms are made up of women leaders, youth groups, security agencies, traditional leaders, and the representatives of state agencies at the local level among other stakeholders. The current training, being the second of a series of trainings focused on Early Warning and Response Mechanisms as well as Gender Dynamics in Violent Extremism & Border Security.

Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/568-violent-extremism-and-border-security-star-ghana-foundation-builds-capacity-of-border-communities-in-upper-east-region

Leverage technology to improve livelihoods of women, girls

 

Partners under the STAR-Ghana Foundation’s Gender Rights and Empowerment Programme (G-REP) have been encouraged to use all available platforms to ensure that women and girls embrace and take advantage of technological innovations to improve their lives.

Such a move, a Projects Manager at the Foundation, Dr Ernestina Tetteh, said would also help to improve the lots of their families, communities, and the country generally.

Speaking at a forum in Ho in the Volta Region to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023, under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” she said the theme aligns with STAR-Ghana Foundation’s comprehensive Gender Equality and Social Inclusion plan that guides all its operations and partnerships.

She urged that in the pursuit of digital technology, no none ought to be left behind.

“Let’s remember that women and girls are not a homogeneous group, and there may be some, and a significant proportion at that, who may need a little more help in embracing technology and enjoying its benefit thereof. Subsequently, we all need to be intentional in our approach so that we do not end up excluding certain groups in our pursuit of gender equality.”

“I am thinking about women and girls with disabilities, women and girls from low social economic backgrounds, women and girls in rural communities, women, and girls with little or no formal education, women and girls who have no employment or training. We need to be deliberate to bring on board all categories of women, reaching the furthest behind first,” she said.

Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/572-leverage-technology-to-improve-livelihoods-of-women-girls

Partner civil society, stakeholders to achieve quality education for girls. - Gov’t urged

 

A STAR-Ghana Foundation forum on “Promoting Girls’ Education in Ghana” has called on all stakeholders to help promote access to education for all, particularly girls.

The participants were of the view that improving access to education for girls was a shared responsibility, adding that government alone cannot provide access to quality education for all.

There was therefore a call for increased collaboration among CSOs, and partnership between CSOS and government.

Speaking at the event, the Director of the Girls’ Education Unit at the Ministry of Education, Gifty Asiedu, said although government is doing its part; appointment of girls’ education officers in the regions, districts, in schools, and in some cases, men taking up the role, girls still have issues and need support.

“It is so huge that government cannot carry this burden alone. We need to deliberate on ways to give vulnerable girls the opportunity to access education. Girls need to be given opportunities, and helped,” she said.

Read more: https://www.star-ghana.org/latest-news/571-partner-civil-society-stakeholders-to-achieve-quality-education-for-girls-gov-t-urged