Rightify Ghana trains dozens of queer youth leaders in advocacy
Workshop series is training Ghana’s next generation of LGBTQ leaders
The LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group Rightify Ghana recently concluded three days of training sessions on advocacy skills and democracy for 33 queer youth leaders from throughout Ghana.
The workshops, held in Kumasi, were part of the group’s Peace and Democracy Champions initiative and were the organization’s 14th workshop of the year.
The training sessions come at a time when the members of Ghana’s parliament are discussing whether to add harsher punishments to the cruel anti-LGBTQ bill it passed on May 29. That bill has not been signed into law by President John Mahama.
Rightify Ghana says its democracy and advocacy training sessions “equipped participants with practical skills in leadership, public speaking, political participation, and civic engagement.
“Through interactive exercises and role plays, participants explored how to advocate for their rights and interests, participate meaningfully in political and civic spaces, build confidence as young leaders, engage the media and respond to interviews, communicate effectively through public speaking, debate issues and influence public conversations.
“The training also connected participants with experienced mentors for continued one-on-one learning and leadership development beyond the programme. Thirty-three participants were selected from more than two hundred people who responded to an online call for applications,” the organization said in a statement about the workshop posted to Instagram.
“The initiative responds to the growing challenges facing inclusive civic participation in Ghana, particularly the impact of political rhetoric, misinformation, discrimination and hostility on LGBTQI+ people and other marginalised communities.”
“Rightify Ghana is supporting young people to claim their space in democracy while advancing the principles of Participation, Protection, Prevention and Partnerships under UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security,” the statement says. “The 33 participants now form a network of Peace and Democracy Champions, ready to take their skills and knowledge back to their communities and contribute to peaceful, inclusive and meaningful democratic participation across Ghana. Young people are not just the future of democracy. We are part of its present.”
The organization says it will host more workshops in Ho, Accra and Cape Coast on topics of digital security, online safety, and combating misinformation, building on the success of previous workshops on that theme.
