Ghana Overview
Zimbabwe
Camfed has worked in Zimbabwe since 1992. In Zimbabwe, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Zambia
Camfed has worked in Zambia since 2001. In Zambia, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Tanzania
Camfed has worked in Tanzania since 2005. In Tanzania, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Ghana
Camfed has worked in Ghana since 1996. In Ghana, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Ghana is situated on the southern coast of West Africa between Togo, Burkina Faso and the Côte d’Ivoire. Its capital, Accra, lies on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. In 1957 Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain independence. Ghana’s population is estimated at 21.8 million (World Bank, 2005). Ghana covers an area of 238,533 sq km (92,098 sq miles). It is rich in natural resources (gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone) and in June 2007, major offshore oil reserves were discovered. Ghana is the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa.
Poor economic management and corruption has meant that, despite the richness of its natural resources, Ghana’s economy has been heavily dependent on international financial assistance. In 2002, it received assistance through the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) programme and was also included for assistance through the G-8 debt relief programme decided in Gleneagles in 2005. Most of the external debt (US$6 billion) has now been written off (World Bank, 2007). Ghana is now one of the best performing economies in Africa with GDP growth since 2005 at approximately 6% (World Bank, 2007). Economic growth has not been shared across the population: 78.5% of the population live on less than $US2 a day (UNAIDS, 2007). 320 000 people live with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2007); malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malnutrition and measles are the most common diseases killing children (UNICEF, 2007).
There is great disparity between the regions: the Northern Region has been the most excluded from the benefits of economic growth and remains in a state of intense poverty (IMF Country Report, 2003). This is reflected in a comparison of basic health indicators. Infant mortality rates and the under-five mortality rate are, respectively, two and three times higher in the Northern Region than in other regions of Ghana (UNICEF, 2007). The Northern Region is the largest region in Ghana and is culturally diverse. It is home to over 20 ethnic and religious groups and Muslims are the biggest religious group.
Ghana’s education system has improved steadily over the past 5 years but numbers of children, especially girls, excluded from education remain high. 90% of boys and 87% of girls are enrolled in primary school (UNICEF, 2005) but approximately 47% of boys and 40% of girls go on to secondary school. Girls are particularly vulnerable of education due to a combination of cultural and economic factors. Oldest daughters are often fostered to their paternal aunts, who require them to work rather than attend school. Many girls are forced by poverty to go to kayayo, a practice in which many girls go to cities, such as Accra, to work as street porters. Gender inequality in education has been targeted by international agencies such as the IMF and UNICEF as a key area requiring further investment if Ghana is to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
Read about Camfed's response to the situation in Ghana.
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