Youth Advocacy on Rights and Opportunities (YARO) has initiated a project to protect the rights of the girl-child through education and training with the aim of safeguarding population with minimum reproductive problems.

Dubbed: “Girl Power”, the project will benefit 20 communities in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region. It will be implemented in partnership with the Youth Alive and the Ghana Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Coalition on the Rights of Children.

Busa, Biihee, Danko, Seng, Nakori, Konjieh, Kongu, Kperisi, Guli, Bamahu, Charia, Tampieni, Yi-bile, Jongua, Kadoli, Tanzu, Sagu Nyagli and Piisi are some of the beneficiary communities.

This was made known on Tuesday in Wa at a multi–stakeholder meeting organised by YARO and Youth Alive.

The meeting was meant to discuss the project as well as the role Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), NGOs and the media could play to ensure that the objective of the project was achieved.

Mr. Justice Bennin, the Programmes Coordinator for YARO noted that Gender based violence was a daily occurrence in most rural communities where poverty levels were high.

He stated that women usually had very little say in decision making and suffered from domestic servitude and force marriages.

“Girls in basic schools are very often withdrawn and married to older men, while some are trafficked and exploited as house helps or forced into prostitution,” he added.

Mr. Bennin said the project would help the selected communities to uphold the rights of the girls and young women and empower them to achieve their developmental goals.

He stated that they would monitor the implementation of children’s rights with regards to girls and young women and provide government, regional and international bodies with facts and evidence to enable government take action on girl’s issues.

Mr. Bennin called on all to help sensitize children about their rights in development and increase their capacity to claim their rights.