Empowering young people with disabilities in Ghana
The Youth Education and Gender Equality (YEG) project supported young people in Ghana to make their voices heard and empower them to take action towards creating conditions and opportunities for inclusion. The project has contributed to an increase in equity, gender equality and the inclusion of marginalized young people, especially young women, in formal and non-formal quality education and training. The goal was to achieve holistic inclusion of all young people, therefore, a special effort was put into integrating and empowering Ghana’s Young People with Disabilities (YPWD).
Through the YEG project all partners promoted the wishes, abilities and rights of YPWDs to include them in youth networks and ensure their presence in decision-making processes. A central focus in promoting inclusivity was to include YPWD in all stages of project design and implementation to identify their own priorities and then work on building capacity and creating strategies to bring about the changes they wanted to see.
Led by the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), Oxfam worked in partnership with the Ghana Federation of Disability organizations (GFD), the Center for Research and Development Alternatives (CREDA), Norsaac and Regional Youth Networks in Volta, Ashanti, Greater Accra and Northern regions. Over one year, these partners worked particularly closely with YPWDs and youth networks to bring about change.
To achieve sustainable life changes and bring benefits to YPWDs, the project used several steps to increase community awareness and inclusion of marginalized groups.
The first phase of the project was to learn and understand the needs of YPWD. FOSDA and Oxfam established collaborative relationships with organisations of people with disabilities. Project implementation was strongly supported by the Ghana Federation of Persons Living with Disabilities (GFD) and overseen by a steering committee with representation from GFD and other Youth Networks, including Youth Living with Disabilities. An external consultant conducted mapping of YPWD organisations and individuals and this informed project implementation.
A learning event was organised to evaluate successes and challenges using a series of learning questions asked through group work and plenary discussions. YPWD had the opportunity to speak up and share their thoughts and participants shared their own experiences and how the project influenced their lives. The discussions highlighted specific challenges that prevented participants from being present and engaged in youth networks and other activities, such as the stigmatization of people with disabilities, lack of access to information, difficulty of communication (especially for deaf people), and lack of organization due to funding difficulties. Another important issue was the lack of access to meeting locations, as young people from rural and remote areas often do not have the means to travel easily.
The information learned through the interviews supported youth networks and organizations to re-evaluate their organizational structure and strategic goals in order to be more accountable to YPWD. This step implied strengthening capacity building, improving the visibility of YPWD at district, regional and national levels and improving partnerships with likeminded organizations.
YEG project activities were constantly recorded and published. By involving the media, writing articles and creating material such as two documentary videos that could be shared easily, the wider community was educated about the challenges faced by YPWD.
Positive impacts of the project
Creation of spaces for including the YPWD community in leadership positions and decision-making processes.
Many changes have taken place, especially in the youth networks, where the attendance quotas for YPWD have increased and there are spaces reserved for people with disabilities to participate at all levels.
The networks have also revised their constitutions, policies, and action plans to include the needs and views of the YPWD. Special attention has been given to include all youth, irrespective of gender or type of disability, and further measures are being taken to create the conditions for all to participate, an important example being to hire more sign language interpreters that support deaf people.
Reduced stigma and increased socialising within and across networks through multiple actions to raise awareness in local communities and encourage inclusion of YPWDs. An important element of this was sensitizing the language used when talking about YPWD and learning to see beyond their disabilities to recognise them as young adults full of capabilities that are qualified and willing to take responsibilities and make changes in their communities.
The project benefitted participating organisations and young people involved in them in the following more specific ways:
All eight sub-national youth networks in the country integrated young people with disabilities into their membership
Systemic changes within partner and youth organisations
Impact on policy and the curriculum of the University for Development in Ghana
A policy proposition has been presented to the Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health
Click below to see further details of the Youth Education and Gender Equality project in Ghana.