Twenty five Seamstresses drawn from 10 communities in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region have benefited from a six month free training, under the Women Economic Resilience Programme (WERP), being implemented by Pyxera Global, with funding from Newmont Ghana.
The six-month training program aims at upgrading the sewing skills of the 25 women beneficiaries, in order to sew items for Newmont Ghana, the Security services and other sub-contractors, will take place at Adausena in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region, at the newly refurbished training centre.
Beneficiary host communities, within which the 25 women were drawn include;Hweakwae, Adausena, Ajenua, Old Town, Mamanso, New Abirem, Ntronang, Yayaaso and Old Tano.
The Women Economic Resilience Programme (WERP) is an integrated business and community support initiative that seeks to empower and sustain women-owned micro, small, medium and informal dressmaking businesses through technical and business management training,within Newmont Ghana’s host communities.
The WERP is expected to ultimately create about 300 jobs for women and young dressmakers in Newmont’s catchment areas, including Ahafo North, Ahafo South and Akyem areas.
The WERP is an integrated business and community support initiative implemented by PYXERA Global and funded by Newmont Corporation.
The program aims to empower and sustain women-owned micro, small, medium and informal dressmaking businesses through technical and business management training in the Akyem district of Ghana.
The event will highlight WERP’s goals and objectives, key partners, target groups, as well as outline its program activities. There will also be the official commissioning of the Sewing Centre and outdooring of beneficiaries.
Speaking at the official launch of WERP at the Adausena Social Centre on Friday, Mr. Derek Boateng, Senior Manager in charge of Sustainability and External Relations at Newmont Ghana indicated that, the socio-economic empowerment of their host communities is integral to the operations and sustainability of their mines.
He said at Newmont, they believed that for women to succeed and advance economically, they require skills and resources to compete, as well as fair and equal access to economic institutions, hence their involvement in the programme.
To Mr. Derek Boateng, the company would continue to play an important role in catalysing the economic development and social well-being of host governments and communities through job creation, local sourcing, community investments and paying taxes and royalties.
“This is why we value investment in women and youth within our host communities. By doing so, we are able to build resilient communities with good social capital beyond the life of mine and in the face of global pandemics such as COVID-19” he stressed.
According to him, women all over the world, particularly in resource rich communities, should be given the requisite tools to increase their access to wealth creation and decent employment, in order for them to thrive and promote their socio-economic wellbeing.
He said at Newmont, they believe that inclusive growth is the way to go. This is one of the many reasons why they have partnered with Pyxera Global to implement this significant programme, as Newmont continues to contribute to equitable and economic empowerment for women and youth in their host communities.
“WERP will support women in our host communities to enhance their skills in casual, industrial and domestic garment making. This, we believe, will boost their financial wellbeing and provide them with the needed business and technical knowhow, to make them competitive in the garments value chain.”
Mr. Boateng continued that providing jobs especially for women in their local communities can stimulate the local economy in the Birim North District and by extension, the Eastern Region to achieve sustainable development.
He said, in May, this year, they launched and implemented a similar programme in our Ahafo North host communities with their partners Pyxera Global and others where thirty women were beneficiaries.
He added that the short-term impact of the programme has resulted in their being here today to witness another launch for twenty-five women in their ten host communities.
“As you can see, we have set up this centre and equipped it with industrial sewing and knitting machines to support the training needs and logistics of the beneficiaries. It is our hope that they will make the most of this investment so we can all benefit from its multiplier effect.
“Would it not be such an exceptional feat if we can nurture global fashion brands of the likes of Joyce Ababio, PISTIS and Kweku Bediako, coming out of small towns in the Birim North District? This is a great opportunity to make a meaningful impact across our host communities.”
He, therefore, charged the twenty-five beneficiaries to make optimum use of this 6-month opportunity, adding that “you were selected out of the many who could have qualified. Do not let anything hold you back.
“Eschew negative attitudes that will hinder your success and the future of this programme, as its progress depends on each one of you. We all know that partners may not be encouraged to reinvest in this programme to the benefit of others if your commitment to its success is poor.”
On his part, Mr. Kofi Koomson, Programme Director of Pyxera Global, indicated that“under the WERP, participating dressmakers within selected communities in the district will receive training and business advisory support to enable them to improve their technical and operational capacities, broaden their customer base and enter new markets.”
He advised young women to equip themselves with all the skills and knowledge required to become economically independent and also to be able to impact the younger generation and step into the world of economic freedom, break the gender-bias barriers by taking advantage of opportunities available to them.
The beneficiaries thanked the organisers of the programme and hoped that it would help enhance their capabilities.
