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PROGRAM GOALS
Identify the multifaceted barriers that prevent women in northern Ghana from starting and growing successful businesses, and opportunities to address these barriers through an integrated package of DFS+ services delivered by female agents.
About Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE)
OUR WORK IN GHANA
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Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Grameen Foundation, and Search for Common Ground (Search). WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations, private sector organizations (PSOs) in target countries to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence; advance the women, peace and security agenda; and support women’s economic empowerment. In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy and public life. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence on relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, and inclusive. WAGE is funded by the U.S. Department of State Office of Global Women’s Issues.
Women Entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana Gain Access to Integrated Services via Agent Networks (WE GAIN) is a 24-month initiative implemented by Grameen Foundation USA in close partnership with ABA ROLI and local civil society organizations RISE Ghana, Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) and Healthkeepers Network (HKN). The initiative seeks to promote women’s economic empowerment (WEE) in Northern Ghana through RISE Ghana, GDCA, and HKN’s network of community agents and Mobile Telecommunications Network Ghana’s (MTN Ghana) mobile money platform. Through training and coaching on a range of topics including digital literacy and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, WE GAIN will build the capacity of RISE Ghana, GDCA, and HKN to deliver an integrated, market-based, high impact package of financial and non-financial information, product, services, and referrals (Digital Financial Services plus (DFS+) to women entrepreneurs. Grameen will also work with MTN to identify and onboard local private sector companies onto digital payments in order to increase women’s access to productive goods and services they require for business.
Our vision is a world in which women and girls enjoy equality, freedom from violence and poverty, and meaningful inclusion in the processes that shape their communities, nations, and international affairs.
Support female community agents to launch their own DFS+ microbusinesses providing financial services to women entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana.
Increase women entrepreneurs’ access to a greater range of non-financial, business, health, and GBV services that enable them to start and grow successful businesses and live resilient lives.
PARTNERSHIPS
WAGE seeks to establish meaningful partnerships with and among CSOs, women entrepreneurs and the private sector to ensure a holistic approach to addressing the multifaceted problems facing women entrepreneurs in Ghana. By engaging with established entities, WAGE takes a locally relevant and sustainable approach to addressing key development challenges in Ghana. WAGE's partners in Ghana include Ghana Developing Communities Association, RISE-Ghana, and HealthKeepers Network.
Key Activities: Building on the assessment and incorporating consultative feedback from women entrepreneurs, WAGE will onboard, train, and support RISE, GDCA, and HKNs’ existing community agents to become MTN mobile money agents. WAGE will provide small grants to female DFS+ agents to support business startup. The program will work closely with MTN and private sector businesses to develop and deliver market-based DFS-enabled offerings that address needs identified in the WEE Assessment via MTN’s Merchant Payments Platform or other sustainable channels. WAGE will Incorporate a male engagement strategy in DFS+ agent recruitment and training process to mitigate risk of harm, including GBV.
Objective 2: Support female community agents to launch their own DFS+ microbusinesses providing financial services to women entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN NORTHERN GHANA GAIN ACCESS TO INTEGRATED SERVICES VIA AGENT NETWORKS (WE GAIN)
Key Activities: WAGE will provide agents a simple digital learning platform to deliver key messages around businesses, financial literacy, and GBV to women entrepreneurs. WAGE will train CSO agents on how to use the digital learning platform to deliver key messages to women entrepreneurs. The program will map, assess the efficacy of, and develop a directory of existing state and community based GBV services and referral networks in Northern Ghana and will use the mapping results, hold meetings and workshops at the district and/or community level with CSO partners and service providers interested in joining GBV referral networks to identify potential local collaborations.
Objective 1: Assess barriers that prevent women in Northern Ghana from starting and growing successful businesses, and opportunities to address these barriers through an integrated package of DFS+ services delivered by female agents.
Key Activities: WAGE will conduct a WEE barriers and opportunities assessment in Northern Ghana and will develop a set of actionable recommendations to address these barriers. WAGE will share the findings of the assessment with local stakeholders and partners to facilitate reflection on the findings and recommendations and to solicit their support for improving women’s participation in the local economy.
WAGE believes if trusted female community agents are effectively supported to become DFS+ agents and are able to sustainably deliver an integrated package of financial, business, health, and GBV services to underserved women entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana through market-based incentives, then more women in northern Ghana will be empowered to start and grow successful businesses.
Objective 3: Increase women entrepreneurs’ access to a greater range of non-financial, business, health, and GBV services that enable them to start and grow successful businesses and live resilient lives.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES