MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
The MASO Programme was established to help create employment opportunities in the cocoa sector for Ghanaian youth. This MASO has done by providing agronomic and business skills to the youth. In addition, the programme provides life skills including Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) and Legal Literacy.
Reproductive health and legal literacy although was not part of the initial plan designed for the MASO programme, it was realized that youth in the programme were sexually active and therefore the need to equip them with the needed information to help them make good productive health decisions.
Most youth in the MASO communities have been trained in collaboration with Aflatoun a consortia member.
According to Stephanie Donu, the Youth and Gender Coordinator at Solidaridad in Ghana, “the main motive for introducing SRHR to the youth is the high rate of teenage pregnancy among young ladies and its attendant health risks for them”.
She further stated that “Child-spacing among the youth is quite poor hence, it is imperative for them to understand the child-spacing to reduce irresponsible parenthood”.
SRHR and Legal Literacy survey
MASO All Women Academy
MASO first piloted the training on SRHR and Legal Literacy in 2017. It has subsequently, been mainstreamed in the MASO Life Skills curriculum.
After almost two years of training the youth on their reproductive rights and legal literacy, MASO is conducting a survey to measure the understanding and the effectiveness of the training to respondents. Results from the survey will be incorporated into the training models to be used in other communities.
The questionnaire which is in two folds will focus on SRHR and Legal Literacy to gather appropriate and accurate data from interviewees. Respondents will be required to answer questions on: Menstruation, health and economic benefits, abortions, human rights, gender discrimination among others.
The survey starts on the 24th April to 5th May, 2019. MASO is conducting the survey in selected communities within Ashanti, Volta, Western North, Bono and Central Regions
