Past Activities

2012

Intergenerational Dialogue in celebration of International Women's Day

As part of the organization's Young Girls' Transformative Leadership project and in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD), the Women, Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) hosted an intergenerational dialogue with the theme- 'Taking a Step' between different generations of feminists and young girls from private and public junior and senior high schools to commemorate the 101st IWD on March 8, 2012. The dialogue brought together a total of 105 participants: 65 young girls and 20 female teachers from private and public senior and junior high schools in Accra, Kumasi, Volta and Central regions and 5 feminists from different professional backgrounds.

The effectiveness of the dialogue was assessed through questionnaires developed by WIPSEN-Africa. The statistics clearly show that WIPSEN-Africa's intergenerational dialogue was a success. The one day intervention resulted in significantly improved motivation among young girls to claim their rights and be responsible citizens. The young participants were able to identify with the experiences of the women leaders and believe that they can become successful like them, despite gender based discrimination. Moreover, evaluation results asserted that the dialogue met the expectations of the young girls and that effective methods were used to inspire and knowledge. 



Assessment of the the status of girls in Lofa and Nimba counties.

Since 2008, the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) has being working with young girls in secondary schools between ages 17-24. WIPSEN –Africa's engagement with girls in rural community under its' Young Girls Transformative Project specifically; has been centred around Leadership capacity building, mentorship, career development as well as the holistic view on women peace and security looking at the UNHCR 1325. The project has contributed to the enhancement of young girls' leadership potentials, active participation in peer education, community service and political process (voter's education and registration). Moreover, it has also established community and /or school grouping among girls, created girls as student council president and peer educators. It was against this background, that 4 communities in Lofa and Nimba two of each County was selected to carry out the 4th phase of the training. 

 FIELD ASSESSTMENT 25th JANUARY – 02nd FEBURARY, 2012 

To commence the process of engagement, a 7 day filed assessment of girls and schools was conducted in these 4 communities;

  1. Sinequellie and Ganta ,Nimba county
  2. Vionjama and ZorZor, Lofa County
The field assessment which is the first component of the project, contributed a lot of design and tailoring of training needs. The principal objective (s) of the field assessment was to;
  • Identify number of High schools in the city and gather students data from principal or school master office
  • Conduct capacity needs assessment among girls with the use of questionnaires
  • Acquire total number of students per school including girls and boys enrollment for 211-2012 academy year
  • Identify women groups and women to serve as mentors
  • Meet with District Education Officer (DEO) and County Education Officer (CEO) to provide general statistic on schools in county and at district level

YOUNG GIRLS DIALOGUE PROJECT 06TH – 10TH FEBURARY, 2012 

WIPSEN-Africa Girls' project was finally established in Nimba and Lofa Counties for the second phase of the project which is the dialogue with selected participants from field. The team of WIPSEN staff made a 7 day trip to four cities (Sanniquelle, Ganta, Voinjama, and Zorzor) in two counties to conduct a dialogue and a tip on leadership with high school female students in these areas. The training is done to see how well girls can disclose and expose issues or challenges they faced. It is also done as a tool of selecting qualified girls for the third phase of the training which is the actual training session. Based upon the girls' performance, participation and qualifications, they are selected to participate in the next round where there will be interaction among girls from different schools and counties. The below information were gathered during the dialogues.