Ghana Girl Guides Association to train young women

The Ghana Girl Guides Association (GGGA) is an organisation launched in Accra in 1921 which has spread to towns and villages in the country. 

In 1930 the association’s headquarters were built in Accra and since 1945, cadet companies have been established in schools across the country. 

The girls-only organisation became a full member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1960, and by 2014, it had a membership of 26,909 in Ghana.

Since then, the association has been training girls and young women nationwide with the aim of developing their potential to support the country’s development.

Leadership Seminar

In line with this objective, Ghana is expected to host about 100 young women aged between 20 and 30 at a nine-day leadership seminar that will commence on Sunday, May 29.

Participants in the seminar would be engaged in vocational training and entrepreneurial skills.

The event, dubbed, ‘Juliette Low Seminar’ (JLS), is being organised in honour of the association’s founder, Juliette Gordon, who introduced girl scouting in the United States of America (USA).

The GGGA is being supported by its parent association, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in the organisation of the seminar.

Inadequate funds

Throwing light on the programme at a press conference in Accra last Monday, the Chief Commissioner of GGGA, Mrs Juliana Ofori-Kissi, said the association’s desire to train more girl scouts was being frustrated by inadequate funds.

She also said it solely depended on dues and support from its parent organisation in the running of its activities.

Mrs Ofori-Kissi, therefore, appealed to stakeholders to come to their aid and support them financially to enable them to operate effectively.

Market Ghana

As the host nation, she said, the seminar would market Ghana to the entire world by “building its reputation on the international platform in terms of tourism and social development, and as an adherent to child-protection treaties, law and protocols.

“Overall, we stand the chance of being selected to host global conferences of our cherished world body,” she added.

For her part, the Deputy Chief Commissioner of GGGA, Ms Janet Bour-Donkor, appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to include girl guide education in its curriculum.

She expressed optimism that when that was done, it would minimise worrisome issues such as child labour, child prostitution, child trafficking and hawking by children.