Youth and Women Empowerment (YOWE) was established to support poor and marginalised rural communities especially youth and women in the year 2000 as CBO but was formally registered with Registrar General Department as NGO in October 2002 with registration No. G10,392 and Social Welfare Department in 2004 with number 2242.
YOWE is an entity committed to the process of building the capacities of youth and women groups to be able to work towards reducing their poverty, addressing and challenging the basic factors that make them poor and working towards a society in which the poor and marginalized can operate freely. The organization is currently operating forty-three rural communities in the Lower Manya Krobo, Upper Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo districts of the Eastern region of Ghana.
Vision
An empowered society of equal opportunities that guarantees improved living standards of the poor and vulnerable groups and establishes for them the mechanisms for the enjoyment of the blessings of human rights and freedoms.
Mission
To support empowerment of vulnerable groups to improve quality of life through community initiatives that support adult learning mechanisms, promote human rights and citizenship, engage with duty bearers and strengthen Community Based Organizations for improved livelihoods.
To develop an effective and efficient organization capable of mobilizing resources and networking with others by motivating and providing learning opportunities for all stakeholders.
Core Values
The core values and standards provide the guiding principles upon which YOWE operates; they constitute the basic ethical and moral issues that will lead YOWE to achieve its mission and vision.
Professionalism
YOWE is committed to professionalism, good institutional governance, respect for others views, effective team work and learning for all, it will seek to maintain acceptable behavior in the delivery of services to all stakeholders.
Transparency
YOWE is accountable to al stakeholders with transparent financial and administrative management, ethical fundraising practice and non tolerance of corruption. It shall ran an open and clean organisation with respect to core organizational ethos.
Non Discrimination
The organisation will ensure that fairness and equality be incorporated into issues related to gender, tribalism and religions and that no one shall be discriminated upon on the basis of gender, ethnicity, physical disability or religious orientation..
Partnership
YOWE will network and collaborate with other organizations that are committed to working with vulnerable groups and share in its vision and core values in areas of funding, training, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes.
Grassroots Commitment
Upholding grassroots initiatives and working with local population and structures will continue to be the main focus of the YOWE, the organisation will therefore remain rural in all its dispensations and will priorities the rural communities in all its dealings.
Funding Sources
The organization depends on both international and local funding sources in its fund raising drives. International sources include Village Aid UK, Community Fund, Comic Relief
The local sources include Ghana Aids Commission, Action Aid Ghana, Send Foundation for West Africa and Manya krobo District Assembly.
YOWE
is currently implementing a 4-year project being funded by Medicore – UK.
Achievements
REFLECT Activities
·Literacy levels of circle participants improved
drastically as many of them now found themselves as part of the leading members
of the society that reads bible and material developed in the local materials.
·Quite number of actions that emerged from circle
activities are being implemented to satisfy the needs of the entire society.
·Records keeping habit among participants especially
women has generally improved as women are now able to maintain simple records
on daily sales, credit items, cash received and other areas.
Educational support
·Needy but brilliant children in five communities
supplied with school learning materials
·A significant number of school droop outs returned to
school
Bee Keeping
·Over four hundred beneficiaries from twenty-five
communities have been trained in bee keeping and honey processing.
·All the twenty-five REFLECT circles supplied with bee
hives in addition to the apiary set up in six communities with total bee hives
of over sixty.
·A new bee keeping training and honey processing centre
has been established at Otrokper .
Micro Credit
·Expansion of rural credit delivery to cover additional
twenty-five communities. Currently thirty-nine rural communities are benefiting
from the organisation’s loan portfolio designed to satisfy the need of the
rural dwellers.
·Establishment urban support loan scheme with women in
small scale businesses as main target has contributed greatly in expanding
businesses in Odumase-Krobo, Somanya and Asesewa areas.
HIV and AIDS
·HIV and AIDS consciousness among youth and women has
been raised due to various sensitisation activities carried out in recent
times.
·Support for PLHIV to access ART have been sustained
for the past three years
·Counselling and referral centres have been established
in six communities to encourage peoplr to know their status.
Challenges
Inadequate funding considering the activities and targets as against the inflow of funds to ensure smooth operation.
Lack of vehicle
Inadequate loan capital to meet the growing demand coming from Odumase and Somanya townships.
