More than six hundred and forty-eight deprived teen mothers from twenty-five communities in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region, have undergone skills training to empower them economically.

The six-month training on livelihood empowerment, was organised under the Strategic Approaches to Girls' Education (STAGE) Project.

They were trained in the production and marketing of liquid soap, pastries, hair styling, beads making, business management, and bookkeeping techniques.

The beneficiaries who were largely school dropouts were also taught numeracy and literacy to enhance their reading and writing skills to support them in their chosen vocation to break the chain of abject poverty in their various communities.

It is aimed at lowering the barriers that vulnerable and marginalized girls faced in achieving quality education through learning, transition, and long term sustainability.

The training, which sensitised them on their reproductive health, was arranged by the Red Cross Society of Ghana in collaboration with the World Education and funded by UKaid.

Addressing the graduands at a ceremony at Apam, Mr John Ekow Aidoo, Regional Manager of the Red Cross Society of Ghana, encouraged beneficiaries to put their skills to good use to transform their lives.

Similarly, he said more than 500 young girls in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality had benefited from a similar initiative, which trained marginalized girls in Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALP).

The STAGE project in the Central Region seeks to provide a mutually supportive track for 2,000 highly marginalized school girls with non-formal education from 80 communities under the tutelage of 80 community facilitators or volunteers.

Mr Aidoo expressed the readiness of Red Cross and partners to effectively support girl child education as an important tool for economic and socio-political empowerment.

Nana Ampatsiwa-Ewool I, Chief of Apam-Nsawam, underlined the essence of girl-child education and said it was incumbent on parents to show the needed respect, love, and humility to their husbands so that they would not neglect their responsibilities.

He told the girls to put their skills to use and train others to stem unemployment and better themselves economically.

Rosemary Appiah, a beneficiary, thanked the Organizer and partners for the initiative and appealed to the government to invest in the youth through skills training to secure their future.

She was happy that the training would empower them to help develop their communities and the country at large and expressed her dream to become a fashion designer.