Power Her Potential

UNICEF in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and other stakeholders, commenced implementation of the Adolescent Girls Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion Programme (LEPIP) in 2024 on a pilot basis in two districts -Kesena Nankena and East Mamprusi - with funding support from GPECM.From 2025, the programme is being expanded to 24 additional districts –20 supported by funding from Eleva Foundation and 4 by Global Affairs Canada. Overall, over 7,000 girls will be reached by 2027-2028.

Objectives of LEPIP

The programme is designed to provide income security and access to essential complementary social services for extremely poor, vulnerable and at-risk out-of-school adolescent girls to reduce early child marriage and teenage pregnancy and address vulnerabilities faced by young mothers that could impact their wellbeing and that of their children.

Programme Approach

The programme is leveraging on existing government programmes and systems to select and enroll eligible girls into the programme. LEPIP is targeted at girls living in LEAP households, beneficiaries of the Ghana Health Service Adolescent Girls Safety Net Programme and extremely poor adolescent girls identified through the Ghana National Household Registry-(the government’s social protection targeting system).

Expected Programme Outcomes

1. Providing income-generating livelihoods opportunities through life skills training, business management, vocational skills, financial inclusion, and micro-enterprise start-up grants including business mentoring and coaching.
2. Enabling access to integrated social services (health insurance, nutrition, complementary education, psychosocial support, case management and referral services) for adolescent girls.
3. Protecting girls from child marriage and early pregnancy through community engagement activities and empowerment of adolescent girls through safe spaces to promote a gender-equal and supportive environment, with focus on parenting and caregiver support, including for parents of adolescents and adolescent mothers.
4. Enhancing the participation of adolescent girls in social accountability mechanisms to amplify their voices via UNICEF ‘We Deserve Better initiative’.

Implementing Stakeholders

Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, the Office of the Head of Local Government Service, Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training Service, Department of Community Development, Department of Social Welfare, Ghana Enterprises Agency.