Youth development, Accra

Nima is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Ghana’s capital city. People live in cramped quarters and there are no places where children and young people can meet, do homework and learn. There are no public playgrounds or any kind of children’s and youth centers where there is counseling on important issues such as sexual violence, domestic violence, pregnancy, etc. The lives of the children and young people therefore largely take place on the streets. Due to the rural exodus, more and more children and adolescents are stranded as street children in Nima and neighboring districts such as Mamobi and New Town. They live and sleep on the streets, at the mercy of violence, sexual assault and exploitation. Many of them end up in prostitution and/or drug addiction. There is an additional lack of public schools and parents cannot buy school materials for their children. Sometimes the children attend at least elementary school and then have to drop out again because secondary schools cost even more money.

The primary target group of this project are children and adolescents who have no access to school and extracurricular education. This includes street children, who are thus protected from abuse and violence. But the project also aims to reach girls and women and offer them a place to turn for advice and protection. Another important target group is people with disabilities, as they receive virtually no support in Ghana.