A total of 80 community ambassadors in the Mion District of the Northern Region have been trained to help promote positive behaviour change in young males towards sexuality issues confronting young females in the area.
The capacity-building training, which targeted four communities, including Sang, Nayilifong, Zakpalsi and Bayanwaya, brought together 10 young boys and 10 men from each beneficiary community to empower them on how to safeguard the rights of women and girls in their areas.
It is being implemented by Activista Ghana in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, and funded by Power to Youth Ghana, a consortium of three organisations comprising Norsaac, Songtaba and GH Alliance.
The event formed part of Activista Ghana’s four-month sensitisation campaign dubbed: ‘Positive Masculinity’, which focuses on enhancing positive behaviour change in
young males towards sexuality issues confronting young females to reduce sexual and gender-based violence in the District.
Mr Issahaku Abdul-Latif, Northern Regional Coordinator of Activista Ghana, speaking during the training, underscored the crucial role of the ambassadors, saying they would act as mediators between the various law enforcement agencies and their communities in ensuring the safety and well-being of women and girls.
He said the fight against sexual and gender-based violence was a collective responsibility, adding that aside from the ambassadors, community members are encouraged to play an integral role to ensure that the incidence of abuse meted out to women and girls was minimised.
He urged the ambassadors not to relent in their efforts to report perpetrators of domestic violence to law enforcement agencies for the necessary actions to be taken.
Participants were taken through the various channels of reporting cases of abuse, institutions mandated to receive reports of abuse cases and th
e need to raise awareness for men and young boys to support women and girls.
Mr Amadu Hamza, Assembly Member for Sang-Bayanwaya Electoral Area in the District, expressed his readiness to collaborate with the ambassadors and the security services in the area to ensure that the issues of gender-based violence were properly tackled in the communities.
Mr Nassam Amadu, President of Sang Youth Centre, commended Activista Ghana and partners for their immense contribution towards ensuring that the issues affecting women’s active participation in community development were prioritised.
Activista Ghana, as part of the campaign, has engaged traditional authorities and other opinion leaders in the area to rally their support for effective partnership between the ambassadors and the communities.
Source: Ghana News Agency