Ozge Sensoy Bahar, Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD) at the Brown School, together with Penina Acayo Laker, Associate Professor at the Sam Fox School, received Tier 2 funding from Here & Next to collaborate with colleagues at the University of Ghana to develop a set of age-appropriate, culturally relevant signage and visual messaging around adolescent girls’ unaccompanied migration for work and associated risks in Northern Ghana.
More specifically, the study named “Ti Zaa Bohimma! (Let’s Learn Together)” will co-design these visuals together with school-going adolescent girls through a series of workshops that will also be informed by focus groups with adolescent girls, school leadership, and Kayayei (head-load carriers) returnees, with the goal of raising awareness about factors and risks associated with independent child migration for labor. These visuals will then be displayed in classrooms and other relevant school structures.
Independent migration of adolescent girls for labor is a growing concern in the region with important public health implications. Hence, we look forward to co-developing these visual solutions and displaying them in school settings
Bahar
Knowledge from this study will inform the development of a larger study to test the impact of displaying the finalized visual solutions in school environments on adolescent girls’ awareness of child labor and risks associated with independent migration for work, especially Kaya work.