The ANZANSI Family Program seeks to pilot test the feasibility of an innovative combination intervention (Family economic empowerment and MFG) amongst adolescent girls at risk of dropping out of school in Northern Ghana. By promoting financial stability and strengthening family relations, this study seeks to reduce the increasing numbers of unaccompanied minors migrating from rural to urban areas searching for better economic opportunities. This January, the team obtained IRB approval from both Washington University in St. Louis and Ghana Health Service. They also completed the initial adaptation of the Multiple Family Group (MFG) manual, Dang-Malgu (Family Togetherness in Dagbani). Study Co-Investigators Drs. Abdallah Ibrahim and Proscovia Nabunya, and the ICHAD-Uganda team, will be traveling to Ghana this February to meet with in-country collaborating partners, BasicNeeds Ghana and BIBIR. During this trip, they will hold meetings with community stakeholders to review the adapted MFG and financial literacy training (FLT) for content and contextual relevance, train the trainers (who will be delivering MFG and FLT), and meet officials from the banks that will house the child development accounts for the participants.
