Health

Promoting Women Mental Health in Ghana

Ghana Somubi Dwumadie (Ghana Participation Programme) is a four-year disability programme in Ghana, with a specific focus on mental health. This programme is funded with UK aid from the UK government. The programme is run by an Options’ led consortium, which also consists of BasicNeeds-Ghana, Kings College London, Sightsavers International and Tropical Health, and focuses on four key areas:

Promoting stronger policies and systems that respect the rights of people with disabilities, including people with mental health disabilities
Scaling up high quality and accessible mental health services
Reducing stigma and discrimination against people with disabilities, including mental health disabilities
Generating evidence to inform policy and practice on the effectiveness of disability and mental health programmes and interventions

Songtaba as part of the second call for proposal was selected as a large grant partner to implement 33 months initiative to promote policies that incorporate the gender dimension of mental health into public health and address women’s needs and concerns from childhood to old age by mainstreaming gender perspectives. This is expected to particularly deepen the discussion on the basic needs and trauma of women accused of witchcraft go through, which is regarded as a critical mental health issue but unrecognized by Ghanaians, especially, the state.

Over 14 years Songtaba has been working with women living in exclusion at the alleged witches’ camps in Ghana, the project would support providing evidence of trauma and depression as well as other mental health-related issues on women accused of witchcraft go through.

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The project is also working to strengthen the implementation of legislation on mental Health in Ghana through facilitating the development of an LI to ensure the effective implementation of the Mental Health Act in Ghana to support the mental health needs of Ghanaian, especially women through an improvement in quality access to mental health services. and securing protection from the state and its chartered bodies for women.

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Girls Advocacy Alliance

This project is a 5-year project running from July 2016 to December 2020 and fully financed by the Dutch Govt and Plan Netherlands to plan Ghana. In partnership with Plan International Ghana, Songtaba is implanting the project with two other non- Governmental organizations; SILDEP in the upper west region, CRESCENT in the Eastern Region, and Songtaba in the Northern region. The project is working with Adolescents and young women in particular as they are prone to experiencing abuses in the form of violence, rape, and sexual assault, and sexual exploitation, at home, at school, and in the workplace. In the northern region, Songtaba is implementing it in three districts, Sagnarigu, Saboba, and Gusheigu Districts. Where it is working with 30 schools and communities.

The Overall project goal is Equal Rights and Opportunities for Girls and Young women

The project is focused on four areas

Child marriages
Sexual violence and abuse
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Sex Tourism
Access to TVET and decent (self) employment opportunities for girls and young women.

The project will build alliance and partnership with, Government ministries, Unions and Associations, Traditional and Religious Leaders, CSO’s, Coalitions and Networks, National Civil Society organizations and groups, teachers, and parents to work to address the above-stated issues.

By working together to:

raise awareness of the issue of violence against girls and women
develop and strengthen the use of laws and policies
implement concrete, practical initiatives to achieve Equal Rights and Opportunities for Girls and Young Women ( GYW)

Songtaba is working with 210 Community child protection team (CCPT) and 15 key change agents as a strategy to curb violence and ensure redress for girls and young women who have been violated and get cases reported through official channels. The project is working with 1800 girls and young women to build their capacities about their bodies, to appreciate issues, conduct advocacy work and fight to get their voices and opinions heard and to make informed decisions and access decent work. The project intervention has already reached out to 130 teachers, 3 girls’ child education officers from the implementing districts on sexual and reproductive health issues with a focus on early sexual education to girls and preventive measures as well as the need to provide safe spaces for girls.