Fostering cross-learning at Learning Exchange on nontraditional livelihoods in Ghana

Posted 17 October 2019 in EMpower News, Grantee Partner News   |   Share

In late September, EMpower hosted a three-day learning exchange in Accra, Ghana, on nontraditional livelihoods, bringing together seven of our Ghanaian and Nigerian partners!

The workshops included six Ghanaian and one Nigerian grantee partner: NORSAAC, Songtaba – Women’s Rights Coalition, Network of Women in Growth, Net-Organization for Youth Empowerment and Development, Challenging Heights, Urban Agriculture Network and Girl Power Initiative.

All Ghana grantee partners focus on creating livelihood opportunities for young people in resource poor communities who are also at risk of migration. Many of the initiatives supported aim at helping young women build nontraditional livelihoods at the same times as addressing gender equity issues in the communities in which they work. Most organizations had a program practitioner and adolescent girls present at the Leaning Exchange, providing an inspiring mixture of experiences and perspectives. The adolescent
girls brought key insights on their perspectives on work skills and self-perception.

The workshops addressed a variety of topics relating to non-traditional livelihoods and was designed for the organizations to share experiences:

- Why do we focus on non-traditional livelihoods and why girls?

- How do we measure the success of our programs?

- Sharing of programmatic tools with your peers and EMpower

The workshops including the girls created enriching discussions. The girls were asked to give a presentation on the importance of centering girls and their experience in nontraditional livelihoods. Another exercise asked them to make an analysis on themselves before and after completing the program. They were able to exercise their presentation skills when several EMpower donors and Board Directors joined on the third day. The girls all provided an introduction on their organization and showed excellent presentation skills, obtained during their program enrolment. Many thanks to all partners for making it an inspiring and educational three days! Check out the photos here!