Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH), a women empowerment Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has launched a project to enhance the protection of women and young girls against violence.

The initiative is expected to promote gender equality at all levels in the Northern region.

The project, dubbed: "Women Empowerment for Leadership and Action for Development (Women-LEAD)," seeks to enhance women and girls empowerment through mobilization and establishment of capacity building and advocacy platforms.
It would also influence the implementation of gender-sensitive policies through engagements with duty bearers and stakeholders responsible for women issues.

The three-year project is being funded by Global Affairs Canada and Plan International Ghana, under the auspices of Plan International's "Women's Voice and Leadership" project in Ghana.
It would be implemented in five communities in the Tamale Metropolis and five communities in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern region.

Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, the Executive Director of SWIDA-GH, said at the launch of the project that SWIDA-GH had identified issues of a high prevalence of gender-based roles and responsibilities faced by women in the implementing districts, hence, the need to undertake the project to help curb the problem.

"We also identified the problem of the low level of women's participation in decision making in their communities, which we deem necessary to tackle the issue through this project so that women can also contribute to the development of their communities," she added.

Miss Khadijah Abdul-Samed, Women-LEAD Project Lead at the SWIDA-GH, said as part of the project they would form girls in leadership clubs in basic and tertiary schools to help the campaign against gender-based violence in their communities.

She said they would also train women economic associations on entrepreneurship and agribusiness opportunities to help improve on the livelihoods of women and girls.
She explained that the NGO would dialogue with religious and traditional authorities on social norms that impeded women and girls empowerment and find lasting solutions to such issues.