NDA, Ghana

Nyankpala - Advocating Women To Claim Their Rights From Duty Bearers

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From September 2009 to February 2010, NDA ran a project in the community of Nyankpala in the Tolon-Kumbungu District. The project addressed the under-representation of women in the decision making process, both at the household and community levels.

 

A survey was carried out which confirmed that many women were beaten by their husbands and that their opinions weren't respected by the community. The project then ran a one day capacity building workshop to teach women about their rights. This involved hosting representatives from CHRAJ (Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) and NCCE (National Commission for Civic Education) to explain to women what their rights were and how to claim them. These presentations were followed by a fruitful discussion about the issues raised, showing that women who participated in the workshop had learnt a lot.

 

This was followed by engagement meetings with the chief and assemblymen, where the assemblymen agreed to support the women and to regularly meet with women's meeting groups. Husbands present said that they would support their wives aspirations to run for leadership positions, as well as allowing them to make decisions in the house. The chief said he would pledge to help women in the community whenever they were in need of help.

 

Lastly the Suhuyili Drama Troop also came to the community and performed a show demonstrating how women were able to become leaders and make decisions. This was displayed to a much larger number of people than those who attended the workshops/engagement meetings, where only a limited number of people were able to attend. In fact, almost all people in the community, including the chief, were present at the drama.

 

The drama involved the story of two husbands with wives who wanted to become assemblywomen. One husband supported his wife, helping her become an assemblywoman. She performed so well as an assemblywomen that she won a large financial prize. The other husband didn't let his wife run, and lamented this later after seeing the success of his friend's wife.