The Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), a non-governmental organization, has launched the Gender Transformative Programming (GTP), TurningPoint Project, to foster gender equality in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality.

A situational analysis WOMEC conducted in the municipality among residents revealed an increase in gender-based violence and teenage pregnancies, necessitating the project.

Ms Dulcie Delali Attipoe, WOMEC Programmes Coordinator, who launched the project, said the youth clearly understood the importance of education.

However, there was a need to target young girls with special projects to help them focus on education.

Ms Attipoe, who is also the Project Coordinator for the GTP TurningPoint project, said: "We are working with the health and education directorate in the area. We will take their patrons through some issues relating to gender equality and human rights and also train some of the girls to be peer educators."

The WOMEC report, available to the Ghana News Agency, also showed that the rate of teenage pregnancies was on the increase due to COVID-19.

Besides, the pandemic has also brought hardship and increased crime in the community.

The WOMEC report, however, revealed that COVID-19 had positively improved hygiene and changed people’s way of life.

WOMEC believe that the implementation of gender empowerment and mentorship programme would create an avenue for the girls to network and foster exchange of information, build capacity and empower girls to challenge themselves to greater heights in society.

The GTP TurningPoint Project, which is funded by Global Affairs Canada through Plan International, under the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) Ghana Project, is expected to run for three years.

The project seeks to empower adolescent girls and boys in schools in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality through Gender Clubs.

It would use innovative approaches to strengthen 14 gender clubs to adequately empower teenage girls to make informed choices about their lives.

The GTP TurningPoint project will also sensitize selected Senior High School students, especially boys, to become Gender Champions to positively influence their peers to become gender-sensitive.

Mrs Millicent Caesar, Deputy Director at the Education Directorate, said the project would help change the lives of women and girls in making their voices to be heard.