Ghana Overview
On March 8, countries around the world will give pause and celebrate International Women’s Day. This month, we invite you to learn more about ActionAid’s work on basic women’s rights issues in Ghana. ActionAid kicked off our work in Ghana in 1990 and is now working with more then 1 million people in six out of the ten regions. Although great strides have been made to empower women, more work remains. Please read on and see how you can support the people of Ghana.
A group of girls pose for a picture at a primary school in Mole National Park. ActionAid funded the school's renovation and it now houses nearly 400 students.
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ActionAid and Ghana
Ghana is surrounded by Burkina Faso on the north, Togo on the east, the Atlantic Ocean on the south and Côte d'Ivoire on the west. Formerly a British colony, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah led the country to its independence on March 6, 1957, making it the first African country to achieve independence from colonial rule.
Since 1990, when ActionAid established its first program in Ghana’s Upper East Region, we have explored poverty issues associated with the region. Surveys and other poverty studies, informed us that the root cause of poverty in the Upper East is due to powerlessness and the lack of voice of the vulnerable in the formulation of public policies and decisions that deeply affect their livelihoods and well-being. The research became a catalyst for our work that has helped with the establishment of the “Widows and Orphans Movement,” work in the conflict-torn village of Bawku and much more.
Today, ActionAid’s work spans the country with work in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Volta regions.
Every month in 2009, ActionAid will introduce you to our work by featuring one of the 50 countries we are working in. We know it can be overwhelming when contemplating the challenges faced by poor people and communities around the world. It can be even more difficult to understand how you can have a role in solutions to global poverty.
But there is hope. Because of our network of supporters and activists, ActionAid is making day-to-day life better for millions of the world’s poorest citizens while working to change the fundamental causes of poverty, project by project, policy by policy.