The STARR Woman Dream Edition seeks to find ways to address these pressing challenges that women entrepreneurs, especially face by engaging the various stakeholders in a round table discussion on what can be done to ensure efficient and innovative ways to improve their lives and ensure their integration into the society with topics such as tax incentives, social support and services, entrepreneurship and training, The District Assembly Common Fund and the Disability Act.
The week long advocacy series was held from the 11th to the 15th of June, 2018 and aired on Morning Starr hosted by Francis Abban.
How Ghana’s tax regime can be structured to benefit socially excluded persons was the first topic of deliberation. Diana Sebire a person living with disability (PWD), George Bimpeh, the Country Director for SEND Ghana (a GESI partner) and Dominic Naab, the Chief Revenue Officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority were the panelists on Monday. We all do know that setting up a business is an arduous task and PWDs are facing a lot more obstacles of achieving their dreams of being business owners. Diana bemoaned the lack of assistance from institutions responsible for registering their businesses are turned away and their physical structures not being disability friendly. The District Assemblies are also not of much help as they turn a blind eye on helping them acquire spaces where these vulnerable women can mount shops to start their business venture.
COVID-19 Response project, STAR Ghana Foundation meets the press
STAR Ghana Foundation together with its implementing partners of the COVID-19 Response Project has hosted a press conference in Accra, Ghana. The event held on Tuesday, July 2020, sought to inform the media, stakeholders of the Foundation, and the public of Civil Society’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.
Alhaji Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, Executive Director of STAR Ghana Foundation in his opening remarks expressed appreciation to the UKAid and the European Union for their contribution as funders of the project. He elaborated on the purpose of the COVID-19 Response Project by indicating that:
“The project seeks to increase the effectiveness of inclusive actions by state and non-state actors towards the elimination of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is designed to complement efforts by the government and other stakeholders to prevent the spread of the virus and to mitigate the effects and risks of the pandemic and response actions on vulnerable and marginalised social groups.”
Representatives of CSO partners of the project took turns to share some of the key results, challenges, and lessons learned so far with the Media. Some of the major results achieved after three months of project implementation include:
An increase in citizens’ access to accurate, timely, inclusive and relevant information on COVID-19 and response actions. The project has directly reached over 800,000 citizens with accurate and reliable information on COVID-19 pandemic through the use of among others, revered religious leaders as advocates, and addressing Fake news about COVID-19’.
Coordinated local resource mobilisation to support national and local responses to COVID-19. A CSO Fund, set-up in March 2020 raised GHS 114,612.62 of cash donations from 72 CSOs across Ghana within one month. The funds is supporting in procurement of essentials to support the very vulnerable citizens to cope with the impact of the pandemic.
Tracking Government expenditure and gathering data for advocating inclusive, transparent and accountable response measures using innovation platforms to survey citizens feedback.
Formation of a CSO Coordination Platform for COVID-19 Response. Ten (10) major Ghanaian CSOs have pioneered the group, which seeks to support coordinated actions of CSOs for a greater and sustained results.
About the STAR Ghana Foundation COVID-19 Project
In April 2020, STAR-Ghana Foundation launched its COVID-19 Response Project on the theme: `The Role of Civil Society in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The Foundation subsequently awarded approximately four million, eight hundred Ghana Cedis (GHS 4,800,000.00) to seven (7) strategic partners. The partners are also working with several sub-partners to roll-out initiatives across the length and breadth of the country.
The partners of the Project include the Christian Health Association of Ghana - CHAG; Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations - GFDO; CARITAS-Ghana; Media Foundation for West Africa - MFWA; Penplubytes; CSOs Platform on SDGs; and the West Africa Civil Society Institute - WACSI. These partners are implementing projects around Four components: Public Education; Provision of support to vulnerable groups; Policy Influencing; Documentation and sharing of learning around CSO support in the Covid-19 response.
The STARR Woman Dream Edition – The Big Conversation
The STARR Woman Dream Edition is an EIB project funded under the STAR-Ghana GESI call which seeks to ameliorate the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs with disabilities to heighten their involvement in business. Six districts within three regions have been targeted for this all important campaign.
The regions include Greater Accra, Ashanti and Northern Regions where young women between the ages of 20 and 45 years with disabilities engaged in economic ventures or are in the process of setting up their businesses in the selected regions are being supported through the project’s facilitation.
In a bid to voice out the plight of women entrepreneurs with disabilities, the STARR Woman Dream Edition has rolled out a one-week media advocacy series dubbed “The Big Conversation on Women with Disabilities Empowerment”.
The plan is to share field experiences on the project and engage duty bearers at the national level on issues relating to this marginalized group’s empowerment - pressing topics like Entrepreneurship support for PWDs including Access to Credit and Tax Incentives, Management of the District Assemblies Common Fund as a source of livelihood support for PWD entrepreneurs, Employment for PWDs and entrepreneurship and training for disabled women. The Livelihood empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), Strengthening and implementing the Disability Law 2006 (PWD Act 715), Resources at public facilities for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). This program is running live from Starr FM studio on the 11th to 15th June 2018, 9am and Empire FM in Takoradi, repeat broadcast on Ghone TV, on all EIB radio platforms across country, Daily Heritage and online.
STAR-Ghana partners join women of Ada to celebrate international women’s day
Women of Ada join the rest of the world to ring the bell of inclusion and rights of women on the international women’s day 2018. March 8, 2018 was a memorable day when women used folklore music as a medium to speak about issues that hinder women in maximising their potentials.
This celebration comes as a result of STAR Ghana’s support to its Partner’s in the Governance and Participation cluster of the Gender Equality and Social inclusion call of which Radio Ada is the lead. The cluster comprises, CILTAD/Coastal TV, Radio Builsa, Radio Justice, CODAC, Penplusbytes, ACEPA (including NORSAAC and SocioServe Ghana), VOICE Ghana, YEFL; Skyy Media Group, Lorlornyo FM, Radio Ada. Radio Ada is facilitating a women empowerment project with the aim of ensuring that women are included in the local governance processes.
After addressing the traditional and political authorities of their expected roles to include women in decision making processes and the need to make room for women in the local governance system, the women documented their challenges in what they call the Ada women’s declaration. The women of Ada read and presented their declaration to the President of the republic of Ghana through the District Chief Executive (DCE), Honourable Sarah Dugbakie Pobee. She received the declaration and assured the gathering that the administration will be proactive in delivering the declaration to the office of the President.
Twenty one days after receiving the declaration, the DCE moved a step further and presented the declaration to the first Lady Mrs Rebbaca Akuffo Addo for onward submission to the president of the republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Danqua Akuffo Addo. The DCE did not end her duty there. She came back to brief a section of the women on Wednesday 4th of April on the status of the declaration.