Madam Bernice Owen-Jonas, Australians High Commissioner to Ghana has commissioned the newly built Kraboa-Coaltar Resources and Empowerment Centre in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region.

The Centre is aimed at providing a safe space where adolescents can access sexual and reproductive health information, as well as ICT and vocational skills training.

It is one of the 12 projects funded by the DAP -in Ghana last year. The DAP is a small grants scheme that supports community-led development projects in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo.

Madam Owen-Jonas said they were pleased to support the project because it aligned strongly with the core objectives of the DAP, particularly gender equality and social inclusion.

UNICEF reports that 'for adolescent girls, the main barrier to an equitable chance in life were multiple violations of their sexual and reproductive health and rights, ranging from sexual coercion and violence to early pregnancy and child marriage.'

She said in the district alone hundreds of teenage pregnancy cases were reported each year, highlighting the impact that lack of adequate, reliable sexual and reproductive health and right to information could have.

'The resources and empowerment centre will help address this knowledge gap by making available the information adolescent girls require to make well-informed reproductive health decisions. Decisions that will enable them to stay longer in school and enjoy an improved quality of life.'

In addition to empowering girls' decision-making, the project will support skills training via the ICT lab.

'The children here and in neighbouring communities now have improved access to practical ICT training which will boost education outcomes in the district. It is an excellent example of how small grants programs can help in transforming the lives of vulnerable people our communities.'

She expressed appreciation to the ARK Development Organization, district assembly, the district directorates of health and education, the chiefs and people of the community for their support, hard work and tremendous efforts in helping to improve health and education in the region and beyond.

Mr. Emmanuel Mintah, Project Director of Ark Development Organization, said in the 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examination, (BECE), that out of the 82 schools that registered, only a few took part in ICT; due to the lack of ICT facilities in the schools.

'Data available at the health directorate of the Ayensuano District also indicated that the district was the second in the Eastern Region to record high teenage pregnancies in 2020; the reason we all embarked on this intervention.'

He said the Kraboa-Coaltar resources and empowerment center consisted of an ICT unit, a library unit, an SRHR and adolescent corner and a classroom for informal education.

'The counselling and adolescent corner unit will empower adolescent girls and boys to make informed decisions about the SRHR. The informal education unit will run training programmes that will students with income-generating skills ensuring that dropouts are reintegrated into the formal education system. The ICT unit will provide a platform for school children to gain hands-on knowledge in ICT and be digitally inclusive.'

Mr Mintah added that the Centre would also help more schools in the Ayensuano District to sit for the ICT examination during the BECE. 'Beneficiary communities include Kraboa Coaltar, Ntowkrom, Anfaso, Bepoase and Otoase.'

Barima Oketebrese Asiedu II, Chief of Coaltar and Nana Attah Darko Chief of Kraboa expressed appreciation to the High Commissioner for the project and assured that it would be used for its intended purpose. Source:Ghana News Agency