The She Matters Project
A women's health, protection, and safe space initiative in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Area, Western Region, Ghana.
Why this project exists
In Sekondi-Takoradi, women face real barriers to health and safety: stigma, low health-seeking behavior, and few confidential ways to report abuse. Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in Ghana, with most cases detected at advanced stages because screening rates are so low.
Adolescent girls and young women who survive abuse often have no safe, trusted place to seek help, which leads to under-reporting and prolonged trauma. Existing services are largely facility-based and reactive. She Matters brings prevention, education, and support directly into the community.
What the project delivers
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Community outreach
Five broad-scale awareness campaigns through churches, markets, schools, radio, and TV, on cervical cancer prevention and gender-based violence response.
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Subsidized screening
Mobile cervical cancer screening (Pap smear and HPV testing) at subsidized rates, targeting 100 women from low-income households.
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Safe Space & Support Desk
A confidential desk in a Takoradi community center offering psychosocial counselling from trained social workers and psychologists, plus referral pathways to legal aid, medical care, and social welfare. It will remain open after the project ends.
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Youth ambassadors
Thirty young people trained in advocacy, first-line response, and digital mobilization, equipped to run monthly peer awareness sessions in their own communities.
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Digital learning
WhatsApp micro-lessons, screening reminders, and training that helps women and girls use digital tools to access information, referrals, and confidential support.
The 2026 timeline
Ten months of work, with monitoring and monthly reporting throughout.
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January to March
Inception
Stakeholder engagement, partnerships, and baseline assessment.
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April to June
Launch and outreach
Digital launch, public awareness campaigns, and community outreaches.
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July to October
Capacity and services
Youth ambassador training and rollout of screening and support services.
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November to December
Evaluation
Sustainability planning, final evaluation, and reporting.
Technology that supports, never replaces
She Matters uses a privacy-conscious digital support system: WhatsApp education, confidential intake, human counselor escalation, and real-time monitoring dashboards. AI is an assistive layer for health education, content personalization, language simplification, and report summarization. Sensitive survivor cases are always reviewed by trained counselors.
- Clear consent before any personal information is collected
- Data minimization: we collect only what support and referral require
- Role-based access, so only authorized counselors see survivor details
- Encryption of case records at rest and in transit
- Human escalation for any report involving immediate danger
- No medical diagnosis, no automated risk scoring, no unsupervised counselling decisions
Aligned with bigger goals
UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3 (Good Health), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
Africa's Agenda 2063
Healthy citizens and people-driven development, empowering the continent's most vulnerable groups.
Ghana's national priorities
Preventive healthcare, social protection, GBV reduction, and the Digital Ghana agenda under the CPESDP.