The five core activities of Achievers are as follows (in order of importance):
Education (scholarships): Using a variety of educational approaches to build knowledge, skills, and self-confidence. The top priority of Achievers, providing funds for school fees, books and uniforms. The level of funding support is decided after certain selection criteria are met for each girl. Girls of basic school age are favoured to maximise long-term impact. The progress of each girl, including grades and attendance are regularly evaluated.
ICT/Coding: Using technology to advocate, connect, and increase awareness of key issues affecting girls and to support girls in slum communities that are constantly learning, mobilizing and evolving. And also to inspire, educate and equip a girl child in a slum community with the computing skills. Achievers Coding Girls program are providing unparalleled computer science education to girls at the community level — giving them the hard and soft skills needed to become the technologists of tomorrow. We don’t just offer exposure to technology, we train tomorrow’s engineers. We believe that more girls exposed to computer science at a young age will lead to more women working in the technology and engineering fields.
Leadership and Mentorship: To change attitudes and systems, women and girls must be leaders – in protest, advocacy, representation and mobilization. This includes providing young women with important leadership and mentoring opportunities. Meeting and hearing from role models that girls can relate to is invaluable in sparking their interest in various careers. We invite female who are professionals to share information about their career paths, professional and personal life, and why they think their careers are interesting. This discussion is done in small groups, inspirational talks or round table discussions. We try to avoid lecturing and let girls ask questions freely.
Career Skills Development: Girls are stalled between school and productive work: more than a third—34%—of young women in developing countries are jobless—out of the labour force and not in school (World Bank, 2014). Although the gender gap in school enrolment has been closing, the gender gap in labour force participation is on the rise.
Reaching girls during adolescence is critical—decisions made and behaviours established during this period affect their horizons later in life. During this formative period in their lives it is important to provide adolescent girls with the tools they need to become economically empowered young women. Achievers Ghana teaches deprive girls in batik, tie & dye, liquid soup making, bead making, painting etc. in order to be empowered economically.
Community Advocacy: Achievers Ghana across the communities have long been advocating for more protections to prevent adolescent girls from being forced to get married before they are ready and prevention of all form of Gender Based Violence.
Fundamentally, child marriage is a violation of human rights. It’s also a harmful practice that drags down communities and economies. When girls are safe, healthy, educated, and empowered, research has shown that they help have healthier children, earn more income, and help grow economies – making them powerful agents of positive change.