There were emotional scenes, moments of excitement, and heartfelt reflections in Sunyani as the Resilient City for Adolescents (RCA) Project held its Close-Out and Learning Summit after three years of work that transformed the lives of adolescents and strengthened communities across the municipality.
The project, implemented from 2023 to 2025 by Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), Citizens Watch Ghana, and Indigenous Women Empowerment Network (IWEN), with funding from Fondation Botnar through Ecorys UK, was widely celebrated as one of the most impactful adolescent-focused interventions undertaken in Sunyani in recent years.
The event brought together adolescents, parents, teachers, community leaders, traditional authorities, government institutions, civil society organisations, and development partners to mark the project's achievements. The mood was bittersweet, many participants said they wished the project could continue, given the transformation it brought through leadership training, advocacy, mentorship, skills development, and community engagement.
The RCA Project was designed to promote adolescent wellbeing, participation, resilience, and inclusion by building safer, more responsive urban environments where young people can thrive socially, politically, and economically. Over its lifetime, as many as 4,012 adolescents directly benefited from interventions including leadership and advocacy training, participatory video storytelling, climate and environmental education, entrepreneurship support, social media engagement, sexual and reproductive health education, and peer-to-peer mentoring.
One of the most touching moments was the screening of Participatory Video and Most Significant Change (PVMSC) stories documenting the journeys of beneficiaries including Ishaq Umar Rahima, Madina Ayabilah, Forson Lawrence, Yaa Vera, Paulina Wepia, and Ibrahim Kabore.
The story of Ishaq Umar Rahima, a teenage mother, stood out as a powerful example of youth advocacy. Through the confidence and skills she gained under the RCA Project, she championed better educational infrastructure at the African Faith Basic School at Yawhima, advocacy that helped bring about a new three-unit classroom block for the school. Alongside gaining journalism skills and hosting radio shows, she took part in the World Urban Forum in Egypt, a learning exchange in India, and a global learning forum in Ghana, and won the Most Promising Young Leader of the Year 2025 award at the Ghana Leadership Awards.
Ibrahim Kabore, Adolescent MP for Abetifi Zongo and a citizen journalist, was recognised for his consistent advocacy against poor sanitation management in the Sunyani Zongo area and local markets, work that has already produced tangible improvements.
The summit also featured a Market Square exhibition of project artefacts, communication materials, photographs, and creative works produced by beneficiaries, along with the presentation of certificates to adolescents who completed training modules under the project. The event was attended by Ecorys UK Country Director Mr. Augustine Akrofi and the Chief Director of the Bono Regional Coordinating Council, representing the Regional Minister.
GLOMEF Ghana's CEO, Mr. Raphael Godlove Ahenu, called for continuous investment in adolescents and youth-centred development, commending Fondation Botnar and Ecorys UK for strengthening relationships between young people, schools, communities, and local authorities. The Executive Director of Citizens Watch Ghana, Mr. Simon Asore, appealed to stakeholders to sustain the gains made and keep prioritising adolescent-focused programmes.
Speaking on behalf of the Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboah (Esq), the Bono Regional Coordinating Director, Mr. Nar-ire P. David, described the RCA Project as a response to challenges facing adolescents in fast-growing secondary cities, including rural-urban migration, youth unemployment, and limited access to health, education, and social services. He reaffirmed government's commitment to youth empowerment through programmes including the National Apprenticeship Programme, Adwumawura Programme, Youth Employment Entrepreneurship Initiative, expanded TVET support, the National Coders Programme, and the Youth in Agriculture and Agribusiness Initiative, and commended the Adolescent Parliament and the Intermediary City Ecosystem Platform for strengthening adolescent participation in city-level planning.
