The Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG) convened a comprehensive end-of-year meeting with stakeholders on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024, to evaluate the strides made in their transformative initiative.
The focus of the discussion was centered on the Shifting Gender Norms for Improved Maternal and Adolescent Health (SIMAH) project, which has been actively addressing health disparities in three districts, including Bawku West, Talensi, and West Mamprusi.
Speaking during the engagement in Bolgatanga, the project officer, Gabriel Jeffery Akandawen Ananya, emphasized the significance of the evaluation meeting as it has allowed them to share the project’s achievements, challenges, and progress with stakeholders and to receive valuable feedback.
Mr. Ananya stressed that with the project launched in March 2022 and set to conclude in February 2025, the current juncture was pivotal for his outfit to recalibrate its efforts and ensure the realization of the predetermined objectives.
Additionally, he noted that the SIMAH project has been instrumental in implementing interventions and strategies to challenge and transform prevailing gender norms that impact maternal and adolescent health in those beneficiary communities.
The collaborative effort between YHFG and the stakeholders, he therefore indicated, has been instrumental in navigating the complex nature of gender norms and health disparities.
In attendance were members of the YHFG’s local steering committee, bringing together representatives from the Ghana Health Service, Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, Federation for Persons with Disabilities, traditional leaders, and the media.
Touching on one of the successful benefits of the project, the President of the Federation for Persons with Disabilities in the Upper East Region, Mark Akubire Atiah, noted that it has been able to sensitize and encourage members of the federation to attend medical checkups at various district clinics.
He explained that at first, his members, especially those with hearing or visual impairments, were afraid of going to the various health facilities due to their inability to explain their conditions for the nurses to “patiently” understand, but now the project has given them the courage.
The project officer therefore thanked the International Development Research Centre and others for their immersive support on the project.
Source: A1Radioonline.com101.1Mhz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
