The Widows and Orphans Movement has held focus group discussions with residents of Vunania in the Kassena-Nankana municipality of the Upper East Region, which seeks to document harmful religious and traditional norms and practises that inhibit Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).
The SRHR project is a partnership between the Widows and Orphans Movement and WaterAid Ghana. It is expected to last for a period of five years in two districts and two municipalities in the Upper East Region. They are Bongo and Kassena-Nankana West districts, as well as Builsa North and Kassena-Nankana municipalities.
At the Vunania community in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, the staff of the Widows and Orphans Movement sensitised and educated residents in the community on the subject matter. The education and sensitization, which focus on documenting work and addressing harmful gender norms and traditional practises on sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), saw the staff of WOM group residents on the basis of sex and age for the discussion.
The Executive Director for the Widows and Orphans Movement, Abigail Fati Abdulai, said in an interview with A1 News at Vunania that the engagement with the community seeks to help community members recognise traditional and religious practises that are harmful to them in the community.
“The Widows and Orphans Movement is working with WaterAid Ghana to implement a five-year programme entitled the SRHR Project: Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Education, and as part of the project we are trying to document harmful religion and traditional norms that inhibit the promotion of Sexual Reproductive Health Rights. So as part of this, we are at Vunania today to have a focus group discussion with the men, women, boys, and girls to understand how some of these traditional and religious norms are affecting their lives and together, what are the proposals for how we can solve these practices.”
Madam Fati Abigail noted that, after engaging with all the selected communities in the four municipalities and districts in the region, they will document the harmful practises that are not helpful and that community members are unhappy about, and together they will consider either the abolishment of them or their modernization.
On his part, Assembly Member for the Vunania electoral area, Matthew Akayonmse, who spoke on behalf of the community, lauded the decision by the Widows and Orphans Movement and WaterAid Ghana for selecting the community for the project. In an exclusive interview with A1 News, Mr. Akayomse called on community members to embrace the project because it’s one that will go a long way toward helping the development of the community.
Source:A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure |Vunania|
