Improving Economic Opportunities

The Enough project seeks to create an enabling environment for women and girls to know, claim and exercise their rights to ending Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in Ghana, Liberia, and Mali through taking positive actions. The project partners in Ghana include Oxfam, WiLDAF, and eight (8) subgrantees third parties (CSOs).

Norsaac is one of the implementing partners that implements the project in three (3) districts in Northern and Savanna regions. In the Northern region, the project is implemented in Tamale Metro and Zabzugu district. In the Savanna region, it is implemented in Sawla/Tuna/Kalba district. For each district, two communities are targeted with the project beneficiaries being women, girls, men and boys.

Donor: Oxfam / IBIS

Project Duration: 3 years

HerStart: Innovate the Future is a 7-year initiative designed by Youth Challenge International (YCI), in partnership with leading local organizations, with the goal to foster and create innovative solutions for a more equitable and prosperous economy within Ghana, Zanzibar and Uganda. In Ghana, project is co-implemented with Norsaac and YEFL- Ghana located in Tamale.  HerStart aims Support over 3,000 young women to become social entrepreneurs over the 7years period and build an enabling environment for social innovation and women’s social enterprise development, while increasing awareness of and support for social ventures.

Project Duration: 7 years

Donor: YCI

Digital Property Tax Initiative (DPTI)

As Ghana attained middle-income status in 2010 there has been a major shift in foreign donor attitudes on support for the country as most are moving from aid to trade and subsequent decline in donor support has significantly narrowed the fiscal space for the government despite increases in revenues from oil and gas. The coronavirus pandemic has also exacerbated the weak revenue situation and compelled the country to resort to borrowing from the local and international markets to meet its immediate revenue needs.

The shortfall in revenues resulting in the decline of donor support has put a strain on the country’s economic and development indicators which still reflect the status of a low-income country. Ghana’s tax system is highly disproportionate as many Ghanaians, especially women and young people are burdened by high indirect taxes and do not have enough information, power, expertise, or formally organized voice to hold local and national governments to account. Entrenched political and economic power among privileged people (usually men), and structural exclusion of women act as a deterrent to addressing gender gaps in budgeting, spending and revenue-raising measures. Oxfam and Norsaac consider implementing DPTI imperative to increasing revenues for the government while reducing the unfair tax burden on women and young people.

This work fits within Oxfam’s overall global programming on fiscal accountability for inequality reduction.

Duration: 2 years

Donor: Oxfam