NEWIG Ghana with support from Coca-Cola Foundation trains 120 women in Accra

The Network of Women in Growth (NEWIG Ghana), with support from the Coca-Cola Foundation, has successfully trained 120 women in the Greater Accra Region.

 The intensive training, held at the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, empowered selected beneficiaries with essential skills and knowledge in mushroom cultivation, soap making, and snail farming, aimed at achieving economic independence and sustainable livelihoods.

The training represented the first phase of a two-year project dubbed "Economic Inclusion of Marginalised Women Living in Urban Areas," which is being implemented in four urban centers; Accra, Sekondi-Takoradi, Kumasi and Tamale.

Graduation

A graduation ceremony was held to award participants with certificates and start-up kits following the successful two-day intensive training, which included soft skills training in business management, pensions, and financial literacy.

A total of 55 of them are in mushroom farming, 55 in soap making, and 35 in snail rearing, which is the first phase of a comprehensive skills training program in the Greater Accra Region.

The initiative was meant to empower marginalised women by providing them with essential vocational and business management skills to enhance their economic opportunities.

Supporting Women

The Executive Director of NEWIG Ghana, Mawulawoe Awity, speaking at the graduation ceremony, mentioned that their partners, the Ghana Enterprise Agency in Ashaiman, were committed to supporting all the trained women in establishing their own businesses after their graduation.

“I firmly believe that women are the backbone of Ghana's economy. The impact of the informal sector on our economy's growth is evident,” she said. 

“We are dedicated to economically empowering women through skills development. With funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, we have targeted regions such as Greater Accra, Western, Northern, and Ashanti to provide essential training. This initiative is to equip women with vocational skills and offer them business management and financial literacy education,” she added.

TVET Curricula

Speaking at the event, the Director General of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Service (TVETS), Mawusi Nudekor, has hinted that her outfit has initiated steps to standardise the curricula and certification in vocational training to ensure trainees gain formal employment opportunities.

According to her, currently, many training initiatives in the informal sector utilise non-standardised curricula, leading to participants receiving certificates of participation instead of recognised qualifications, adding that the plan was to align training initiatives with the curriculum, followed by assessments for certification.

That, she said, when implemented, would enable participants to obtain proficiency certificates that are aligned with the national qualification framework to improve their access to job opportunities and contracts.

Madam Nudekor asserted during a graduation event organised by the Network of Women in Growth (NEWIG) Ghana, a non-profit organisation, for vocational trainees at the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly in Ashaiman near Accra.

“Capacity-building efforts will precede these assessments to ensure consistency and quality across the country. Phase one of this initiative has already been completed in four regions, with further encouragement for organisation and participation.

“Our goal is to ensure that participants receive recognised qualifications that enhance their employability and economic opportunities,” she said.

Madam Nudekor explained that by aligning training initiatives with the TVET Commission's curriculum, “we aim to provide proficiency certificates that are aligned with the national qualification framework."

She also called for the empowerment of women through TVET as it directly benefited them, their families and communities, as well as contributed to economic strength and poverty reduction in the country. 

The Municipal Chief Executive of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, Albert Boakye Okyere, who praised the efforts of the participants and the impact of the training, said, “Today's graduation ceremony speaks of the need for support for women, particularly the unemployed, in areas of skills training.

“I commend The Coca-Cola Foundation for its support in empowering marginalised women through this project,” he said.