In Bugya Kura, in Ghana’s North East Region, a group of adolescent girls sat together, listening, learning and imagining futures that poverty, early pregnancy, child marriage and school dropout often try to cut short. Some had left school. Some were young mothers. Others were at risk of taking on adult responsibilities too soon. Yet in that space, each lesson carried a quiet promise: that a girl’s future can still be protected before crisis becomes her only option.
The visit was part of a UNICEF programme-learning mission to West Mamprusi Municipal and Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District from 13 to 16 July 2026 under the Adolescent Girls’ Programme Phase II. The mission examined how integrated support is reaching adolescent girls where they live, learn and access services.
The Adolescent Girls Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion Programme, known as LEPIP, helps vulnerable out-of-school adolescent girls gain life skills, business skills, vocational skills, mentoring, coaching and start-up support. Led by the Social Policy and Inclusion Section in UNICEF Ghana, , LEPIP is delivered through local government and district implementation structures, with support from UNICEF and partners.
For many girls, LEPIP begins with something simple but deeply important: the chance to be seen before they are left behind. It offers vulnerable girls an alternative pathway into skills, livelihoods and self-reliance, while helping them protect their health, understand their rights and believe that their lives can still move forward.
During the visit, the AGP team observed girls taking part in life and business skills training covering reproductive health, childcare, hygiene, civic rights, communication, savings, customer care and basic business management. For girls who may have missed years of formal learning, the training was close, practical and connected to daily life.
“I want to use the skills I am learning to start something small for myself, so I can support my child and not depend on others for everything.”
The girls were not being treated as statistics or as problems to be solved. They were being treated as young people with agency, dreams and unfinished stories. In their questions and quiet determination, the meaning of LEPIP became clear: early support can change the direction of a girl’s life before poverty, pregnancy or marriage closes too many doors.
“Before this training, I did not know that I could still learn and do something useful with my life. Now I feel I can try.”
LEPIP combines skills training and start-up support with mentoring, referrals to essential services, community engagement and social accountability. It also links girls to protection, case management, health insurance and nutrition services, while helping communities reduce teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence and child marriage.
Across the mission, the team saw how LEPIP connects with other AGP-supported interventions, including GIFTS, adolescent-friendly health services, Safety Net services, child protection community engagement and Youth Engagement Centres. Together, these services create practical entry points for information, referrals, protection and support.
The visit also reminded us that progress is fragile. Girls still face barriers linked to poverty, menstrual health, migration, child labour, harmful relationships and weak referral systems. These are not distant challenges; they are the daily pressures that can push a girl out of school, into pregnancy, or into marriage before she is ready.
That is why support for programmes like LEPIP matters. Every mentor, every safe space, every referral, every skill learned and every small business started can help prevent a girl from falling deeper into vulnerability. It can also help a girl who is already affected to rebuild her confidence, care for her child, earn an income and make safer choices for the future.
For partners, donors and supporters, the need is clear: investing in adolescent girls is not charity; it is prevention, protection and possibility. A grant may help start a business. A skill may open a door. A mentor may help a girl keep going. A community that listens may help stop another girl from reaching crisis point.
In Bugya Kura, the girls were still at the beginning of that journey. Their futures were not yet secure, but they had taken the first steps. They gathered to learn, were given space to ask questions, and were reminded that they mattered. With the right support, more girls can be reached before hardship defines their choices, and those already affected can find a pathway back to hope. This can become possible by investing in skills, safe spaces, mentoring and services that protect girls today and prevent more girls from facing the same risks tomorrow.
