Funded by the United States Department of Labor, the four-year Adwuma Pa project empowered economically vulnerable women and girls within the cocoa supply chain in Ghana. Through partnership with CARE International, YOTA supported 5,000 women and girls vulnerable to child labour, forced labour, and other violations of labour rights in 80 cocoa-producing and cocoa-processing communities – 40 communities in Tano South and Asunafo North Districts of the Brong-Ahafo Region, 20 communities in Asikuma-Odoben Brakwa District of the Central Region, and 20 communities in Bibiani, Anhwiaso, and Bekwai Districts of the Western Region.

We deployed a strategic combination of globally recognised evidence-based women’s economic empowerment interventions and context-specific child-labour monitoring systems, curriculum and training programmes to improve the meaningful economic participation of women and girls in the target locations. We did this by listening to women and girls’ needs, desires, and barriers to success; co-creating interventions in a participatory way; increasing women and girls’ understanding of their labour rights; and enhancing women and girls’ technical and business skills.

We also worked with men and boys within cocoa-growing communities to change local behavioural norms against women’s economic engagement; increased women and girls’ opportunities for advancement through peer and business networking; designed a labour monitoring and mitigation system to protect against child labour and forced labour, including a community hotline; provided gender, equity, and diversity (GED) training for private sector actors; and elevated community recognition for protecting against child labour and forced labour in a national awareness-raising campaign.