Building opportunities

Since its conception in 1995 Youth Alive has helped hundreds of vulnerable children create better futures for themselves through education and vocational training. Currently we are supporting many beneficiaries to attend university and there are many previous beneficiaries running their own businesses following apprenticeships. Not only are they off the street, but they are now able provide an education for their own children.

Free Health Care for all beneficiaries

The Ghanaian government introduced a health insurance scheme in 2003 that, for a yearly fee, would cover all basic health costs. However, children were only covered if their parents were covered. This meant that the majority of our beneficiaries had no access to health care. Youth Alive successfully lobbied the government health authority to designate our beneficiaries as a group entitled to free basic health care.

Child Protection Network

Youth Alive, with support from UNICEF, led the creation of the Child Protection Network (CPN) that consists of NGOs and government departments that link together to monitor and act on child protection issues in each of the three northern regions.

FGM

Working through the Child Protection Network, Youth Alive has had great success with its Anti-Female Genital Mutilation campaign in the Daffiema-Tuore area in the Upper West region. Once almost universal in the community, the practice is now confirmed by local health practitioners to have been abolished. In fact, the community is now turning away girls sent from neighbouring Burkina Faso, where the practise is also illegal.

Demand-led programmes

We hold quarterly stakeholder meetings, including meetings with all of our children. This allows them to bring up any concerns they have. The children can inform us about what is and what is not working well for them and have an input in decisions about services we provide. This empowers our beneficiaries, allowing them to take more responsibility for their education/training and gives them some control over their lives, which they have never had. For us, it means that we spend our funding specifically on the needs of beneficiaries rather than dictating what they need.