The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative, Dr Wilfred Ochan, has called for a shift in how programmes for vulnerable young women are designed, stressing that skills training must be linked to markets, income, enterprise development, decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
Dr Ochan said empowering young women should go beyond providing them with vocational and life skills and urged government, development partners, civil society, the private sector, traditional and religious leaders, and consumers to help create sustainable markets for products made by trained young women.
Using the example of young women producing liquid soap, he said stronger demand from supermarkets could stimulate increased production, improve product quality and generate substantially higher incomes and employment.
Image of a woman conference
Dr Ochan was speaking at the maiden "The Image of a Woman Conference" in Accra organised by the Purim Africa Youth Development Platform (PAYDP), on the theme: “Empowered to Influence, Equipped to Lead, and Created to Impact”.
The three-day conference was dedicated to inspiring, empowering and celebrating women while creating opportunities for leadership development, mentorship, entrepreneurship, networking and social transformation.
The event also saw the launch of a book titled 'The Image of a Woman', written by PAYDP Executive Director and founder of Glorious Abundant Ministries International, Prophetess Aku Xornam Adzraku-Kevi.
In attendance was the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, who was the keynote speaker.
Youth empowerment
Dr Ochan commended PAYDP Executive Director, Prophetess Adzraku-Kevi, for her longstanding commitment to youth empowerment, particularly work supporting vulnerable young people, including head porters (kayayei) and adolescent mothers.
According to him, her interventions have helped young women return to school, acquire alternative sources of income, enter trades traditionally dominated by men and form enterprises.
Dr Ochan highlighted examples of young women who had progressed from carrying loads in markets to becoming tailors, painters and entrepreneurs.
He also cited a group of kayayei who had established an enterprise and secured a market to export products to Israel, describing that as evidence of the transformation that occurs when individual skills development is connected to collective enterprise and market opportunities.
He said UNFPA, in partnership with PAYDP, International Needs Ghana and other organisations, had supported vulnerable girls and young women with life and livelihood skills, helping them build confidence, make healthier choices and move towards economic independence.
“Skills without opportunity can become frustrations,” he cautioned, arguing that the focus must now shift from asking what skills could be given to vulnerable young women to asking how those skills could be connected to income, enterprises, decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
Discovering purpose
Prophetess Adzraku-Kevi called on women and girls to recognise their worth, discover their God-given purpose and use their abilities to make a meaningful impact in society.
She explained that her book, The Image of a Woman, was inspired by a desire to address the marginalisation, cultural pressures and challenges confronting women and girls in Africa.
She said the book sought to correct misconceptions about the role of women, including the notion that being a “helper” made a woman weak or subordinate.
According to her, a woman was created in the image of God and should, therefore, be empowered, confident and equipped to fulfil her purpose.
