In partnership with Plan International Ghana and funding support from Global Affairs Canada under the  Women’s Voice and Leadership Ghana (Flexible Response Funding Mechanism (FRFM-MAIN) program, Dream Africa has in the past 5years responded to the Causes and Drivers of Violence Against Women (VAW) by protecting women and girls from the negative impacts.

We have provided training to 2784 women about their rights and Violence Against Women (VAW) reporting mechanisms in the Volta region of Ghana. Trainings are facilitated by an external gender expert, and co-facilitated by personnel from the Department of Social Welfare and DOVVSU in charge of VAW/GBV. Trainings were organized in selected communities at each district level, and it covered gender equality and women’s human rights in order to reduce Gender Based Violence. Women have been trained on awareness, response; management and reporting mechanism.

The training topics included human rights, violence against women, pre-violence strategy, post-violence strategy, service providing institutions, reporting and documentation of the case, case follow-ups, advocacy, networking and campaign and the role of the mass media.

In addition, 60 selected volunteers from 5 district in the Volta region have been trained as Community Change Agents at the community level. These Change Agents facilitated culturally-sensitive community dialogues and information sessions with the public around the causes and consequences of GBV, strategies to tackle the problem and assistance for survivors. The community mobilizers also acted as resource persons for GBV survivors, providing referrals to service providers who could better provide support in cases of violence. The implementation of this activity has aided the demand for rights such as lands for farming and awareness on the negative consequences of violence.