The Miss Ghana Foundation (MGF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) – Ghana, as part of its social intervention projects for the Miss Ghana @60 activities/ Diamond Jubilee celebrations to champion a drive on HIV, Ebola and Feminine Hygiene Awareness Campaigns using the Ghana Protect the Goal Campaign as an umbrella.
The partnership will see the Miss Ghana Foundation support the prevention of HIV infections among Ghanaian youth, create awareness about Ebola virus and also take part in activation to promote female hygiene.
This would further empower Ghanaian youth, especially young women and adolescent girls with knowledge on how to avoid infections related to HIV and Ebola as well as educate on female hygiene. The partnership was signed in Accra on Monday 20 February 2017.
According to Ms Inna Patty, CEO of Exclusive Events, organizers of Miss Ghana pageant the Miss Ghana Foundation, “delighted to work with UNAIDS Ghana and we are also delighted to be part of this great cause in support of awareness among the Ghanaian youth. The Miss Ghana Foundation is dedicated to various social intervention projects to impact lives of less privileged in society while creating social entrepreneurs and also training of our youth. One of our key areas is health and we are consequently happy to align with the UNAIDS to save our society from any disease or infections,” she said.
In his part, the UNAIDS Country Director, Mr Girmay Haile, stressed the need to for innovative partnership to focus on prevention programmes to reduce new HIV infections in Ghana. He said “What we see in Ghana is a national AIDS response that has shown progress but is equally challenged by attitudes and behaviors that keep putting more and more young people and adolescents at risk of new HIV infection.
He went to elaborate saying “We must realize that the very low condom use, lack of willingness to know own HIV status and adopting a lifestyle that defies safe sex practices are our main challenges and all these speak more of the individual than the system”. He also applauded the Miss Ghana Foundation for choosing to work on HIV, Ebola and female hygiene awareness with its pageants on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Ghana @60.
The Miss Ghana Foundation is a registered charity arm of the prestigious Miss Ghana beauty pageant. Over the years, past Miss Ghana queens have taken up different social projects that help transform and positively impact lives of the most vulnerable or less privileged in society. The MGF Management has realized that though such projects are laudable, their sustainability is low or non-existent, therefore, the Management initiated the concept of having all newly crowned Miss Ghana Queens, their runner ups and regional queens (finalists) work under the Miss Ghana Foundation umbrella so as to ensure sustainability of charity projects in each of the ten region of Ghana and beyond.
The Diamond Jubilee queens shall surely have exciting and highly impactful projects to champion this year.
