The Regional Director for West and Central Africa of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Sennen Hounton, has paid a field visit to the Adolescent Health and Nutrition Centre at the Ussher Hospital in James Town to interact with beneficiaries, health workers and implementing partners of an adolescent health and empowerment programme.
The programme combines sexual and reproductive health services with livelihood support to address multiple challenges facing adolescent girls in the James Town community.
It is being implemented by UNFPA Ghana in partnership with the Ghana Health Service, Ussher Hospital and International Needs Ghana (INGH).
Programme
A community survey by UNFPA identified gonorrhoea as the most common sexually transmitted infection among adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years, reinforcing the need for targeted interventions that respond to the realities of young people.
A key component of the Programme is the UNFPA-Prada Group partnership, dubbed “Fashion Expressions: The Stories She Wears”, which is also in collaboration with International Needs Ghana and the Ussher Hospital Sewing Centre, and has provided intensive fashion design training for 15 vulnerable young women and girls.
The trainees have been linked to Ghanaian fashion brands to help them develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing their vulnerability to sexual and gender-based violence, harmful practices and economic dependence.
Partnership
The Regional Director commended the Ussher Hospital team for their passion and dedication to providing sexual and reproductive health services and expressed commitment to helping expand and strengthen efforts made.
“We want to thank you for the work that you are doing. I want to say that we are committed to doing our utmost best. We will continue supporting you," he said.
The Medical Superintendent of Ussher Hospital, Dr Philomina Bonsu, said the hospital’s adolescent health programme, which operated under the Ghana Health Service’s Public Health Unit, had been running for years.
However, she said since UNFPA joined the programme in 2017, support for an adolescent-friendly corner had significantly enhanced the hospital’s ability to respond to the needs of vulnerable young people.
She said UNFPA provided sewing machines, stipends and business start-up support for beneficiaries after completing a three-year vocational training programme.
Dr Bonsu, however, said the programme needed to be expanded to accommodate the diverse interests of young people, stating that while current intervention focused mainly on dressmaking, many beneficiaries had expressed interest in pursuing careers in hairdressing, nail technology and other beauty-related trades.
Adolescent corner
A Public Health Nurse at the Ussher Hospital, Doris Pokuaa Appiah, speaking on the impact of the programme, said about 30 young women had been enrolled under the UNFPA-supported vocational training initiative since 2021, with 10 successfully completing the programme and graduating.
She also said that from 2014 to 2016, the facility had provided services to 14,532 adolescents, comprising 9,643 females and 4,889 males.
Out of the total, 10,671 were in school, while 3,861 were out of school, with 1,092 enrolled in apprenticeship programmes.
Ms Appiah said data from the programme showed positive outcomes, but reiterated some challenges, including trainee dropouts caused by financial difficulties, the desire to get married before completing the training programme and social pressures.
