Tag Archives: Ghana

Girls’ Ed in Pakistan, Shakira Promotes Girls’ Ed & More

Girls’ Education in Pakistan: Not So Easy
In Balochistan, girls face many challenges to receiving basic education, including a lack of teachers and supplies as well as attacks on schools. Read more here.

Is the Ghana Education Service Corrupt?
The Chairperson of the Accra Chapter of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), Judith S. Sawyer, has described the Ghana Education Service (GES) as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country. She says the corrupt nature of the Service is preventing donor institutions and development partners from extending financial support to the sector. Read more here.

University Scholarships Offered to Women in Sierra Leone
The southern city of Bo, Sierra Leone is offering a five-year scholarship to girls who remain abstinent until they complete university. Read the story here.

Shakira Continues to Highlight Need for Improved Education in India
Pop singer Shakira recently visited a group of adolescent females in a residential education program in Udaipur, Rajasthan to tell them the need for education, especially for girls and women. In Udaipur the literacy level is around five percent for women and Shakira acknowledged the need for major improvement, saying that “girls are a precious resource of intellectual and physical ability – a resource that can help to further society. They need the chance to be educated and empowered.” Read more here.

Ghana’s Girls Guide Association Celebrates 90th Anniversary
Ms. Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology in Ghana, recently spoke at the 90th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Guides Association in Accra. Ayittey, a strong advocate for the education and empowerment of girls and women, affirmed the celebrations’ theme, “Together Women Can Change the World” by saying that given needed education and empowerment, women can become agents of change. Check it out.

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Northern Uganda Gets New Ambassador for Girls’ Ed, NGOs Promote Girls’ Ed in Ghana

Northern Uganda Gets New Ambassador for Girls’ Ed
Daughter of the Ugandan President, Natasha Museveni Karugire, has been installed as the patron of girls’ education in Nebbi Diocese. Natasha will mentor young women in career and educational goals in provinces that have strong cultural beliefs of women being the weaker sex. She said, “It is time to come out of the shadows and do something. I am ready to support girls’ education in Nebbi and Zombo districts.” Read more on the first daughter’s efforts here.

NGOs Promote Girls Education in Bole District of Ghana
The Bole District Director of Education in Ghana, Mr Alhassan S. Moomen, has said working in partnership with NGOs has helped to improve the education of girls in the district. He credits the dispersement of school uniforms, sandals, bags, and learning materials as a great assistance to the district. Read more here.

Plea for More Government Orphanages for Girls in India
Despite there being nearly 65 private homes for orphaned children in the Coimbatore district of India, there is only one Government-run orphanage. Philanthropists and members of NGOs believe that there is an urgent need to provide homes and also education to the children of the region, especially the girls. Read more here.

Kristof’s Latest Post a Tribute to Microsaving
In his latest column, New York Times reporter Nick Kristof tells the story of Jane Ngoiri, a woman who turned her life around through microsaving. Read the column here.

Denmark Elects Its First Female PM
After all the votes were counted, Helle Thorning-Schmidt is set to become the first female Prime Minister of Denmark. She defeated the incumbent Lars Lokke Rasmussen with her platform of tax raises and increased public spending.  Thorning-Schmidt said of her victory, “We did it… today we’ve written history.” Read more here.

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Darfur’s Youth Dream Big, Camp for Girls’ Ed in Ghana, and More



Darfur’s Youth Dream Big
Yousra Suleiman Al-Toum Ahmed is a 16-year-old girl with big dreams for both herself and the future of Darfur. Although this is a region plagued by conflict and war, optimism remains in many young voices that still believe and dream in a future with more opportunities for everyone. Yousra is leading the way as she works toward her dream of graduating from university and working as a journalist. (Read more.)

Grant Helps Flood-Hit Pakistan Rebuild
USAID has approved a grant of $155 million for the promotion of education in Sindh, a region in Pakistan devastated by floods last year. The grant will be used to reconstruct damaged school, while improving the quality and availability of education to people living in remote areas. Additionally, the Sindh Education Secretary Siddiq Memon hopes to use the assistance in order to ensure that girls will not only get enrolled in schools but also complete their education. (Read more.)

Camp Promotes Education for Girls in Ghana
“Creating Champions Against Violence Against Girls,” an event recently held in Ghana, aims to promote equality and respect for girls and women. The event sought to teach young boys the importance of educated girls in society, while changing their negative perception about females and adopting a better attitude that promotes equal relations between both sexes. Participants were taught that females should be given equal opportunities to obtain an education, which enables them to develop in their fullest capacity. (Read more.)

Success in Fight Against HIV in South Sudan
A five year $27 million project of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is allowing thousands of people in South Sudan to receive lifesaving HIV treatment. As of March 2011 around 130,000 people had received voluntary HIV counseling and testing and more than 158,000 young people have been educated about the virus. This is a setting where, according to latest research, less than ten percent of people have comprehensive knowledge of effective HIV prevention methods. (Read more.)

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Eliminating Child Labor in Ghana, British MP Visits Nepal

Maisy News Burst Photo

Eliminating Child Labour Among Girls Through Education
A report from the Ghana News Agency cites that the situation of girls is one that ought to be given exceptional attention. While it is evident that both boys and girls participate in child labor in Ghana, girls are significantly more effected because of their tendency to be more heavily involved in household chores. This typically puts their educational pursuits in greater jeopardy. Ghanaian girls are struggling to extricate themselves from the norm that their role in society should be assessed by how best they contribute to the running of the home, particularly the kitchen. Many people in Ghana have realized the need for girls to attain education. After all, girls have the right to grow and develop free of child labour, and to education and they should be given a chance to make these rights a reality. Read more here.

British MP Visits Kathmandu in Support of Girls’ Education
A British parliamentarian is arriving in Kathmandu to work as a volunteer for VSO, a leading international development agency, to help young girls receive a better education. She will be one of 15 MPs and Peers who are taking part in the VSO’s Parliamentary Volunteering Scheme this year; with her placement focused on working with local teachers to address gender inequality in the education system. Read more here.

North Indian Leader Auctions Gifts for Girls’ Education
Chief minister Narendra Modi has started giving away gifts that he gets as CM to the state treasury for auction to fund girls’ education. Modi has garnered significant praise for his actions in support of girls’ education. Under the project, Modi and his ministers undertake a drive every June to enroll girls in schools and donate books, kits and toys to ensure they do not drop out. Modi has managed to collect Rs 48.76 crore as special fund for the project and improved the female literacy rate in the state. Read more here.

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Social media in Africa, Scholarships in Ghana, Dowry in Kenya

Africa’s new generation is using social media to push change

Enter the “Cheetah Generation,” a group of grassroots movers and shakers ready to reshape the state of their continent by utilizing the world of social media. Hungry for change, these young innovators are seeking to turn around the all-too-common story that gets told whenever Africa comes into conversation: a war-torn, impoverished continent. Opportunities are brewing as these young go getters make their voices heard via Twitter and other powerful social networking tools, standing up for the country they are proud to call home. Read more here…

School ‘pays dowry’ to save girls from childhood marriage

It is not uncommon for a girl born into a Kenyan tribe to be booked for an early marriage at birth. However, a school in Kenya’s Rift Valley is working to aid the destructive practice of child marriage to keep the Maasai girls in school longer. The Naning’oi Girls Boarding School, opened by Childfund International, offers to “pay the traditional dowry of livestock or gifts that is usually paid to a young girl’s father by her future husband.” The alternative dowry system is an attempt to prevent the girls from goin through things they are too young to handle: child marriage, early pregnancy, female genital mutilation and her becoming an outcast in her society when she becomes pregnant before marriage. Read more here…

WFP gives scholarship to 129 girls

A total of 129 girls from three regions in Ghana will benefit this year from a scholarship given out by the World Food Programme to prevent school drop-out rates. This initiative is meant to improve the state of equal access to education while closing in on Ghana’s completion of Millennium Development Goal 2, at the 80% mark in 2008. Part of the program includes a takeaway for girls who attend school over 85% of the time: a package of cereal, vegetable oil, and iodized salt for their family. Read more here…

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