The Upper West Regional branch of the Ghana NGOs Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC), has observed that extreme poverty in the region was pushing many families into yielding to false promises of opportunities for their children outside their communities. Mr. Augustine Tugbog, Programme Officer, Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) and the Regional Focal Person for GNCRC, made the observation during a media dialogue on the implementation of the “Girl Power Project” in Wa on Thursday. The Coalition further observed during its community sensitization forums in the Wa Municipal and Wa West District that most young girls had not been able to go beyond the Junior High School level since the establishment of schools in their communities. Mr. Tugbog said while a good percentage of girls in the Region had never been to school, others were out of school helping their mothers in buying and selling or labour trafficking to the South. He noted that such poor upbringing of children in rural communities had left many children, particularly the girl child, less assertive and vulnerable to abuses and exploitations. Mr Tugbog, therefore, stated that empowering girls and young women through basic and post primary education would lessen their vulnerability, enhance their access to job opportunities, economic security and social protection. He stated that it was in the light of this, that the GNCRC was collaborating with CEDEP and the Youth Action on Reproductive Health Order (YARO) to implement the project in the two districts with plans to reach out to the rest of the districts in the near future. Mr. Kanton Salifu Yussif, YARO Wa Programme Coordinator, said the goal of the project was to strengthen civil society to ensure equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women and their full participation in social, economic and political development of the society. The project also intended to reduce sexual and gender-based violence against girls and young women, increase their socio-economic empowerment through access to quality education and finally increase their socio-political empowerment by promoting their participation in decision making processes. He said the purpose for organizing the media dialogue was therefore to build their capacity on the implementation of the project to enable them to help educate the public for them to understand what the project was all about.