More than 30 senior managers, human resource professionals and gender leads from the Ghana Immigration Service, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana and the Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians’ Association participated in a practical capacity-building session on 21 August 2026. The session formed part of the Gender-Friendly Workplaces Programme, implemented by Konfidants in partnership with UNFPA Ghana, and focused on strengthening institutional responses to reproductive health needs and gender-based violence in the workplace.
The programme supports participating institutions to create workplaces that respond more effectively to employees’ needs across different stages and experiences of working life. These include menstruation, fertility and conception, pregnancy, maternity and paternity, pregnancy loss, adoption and surrogacy, menopause and andropause. It also addresses the prevention of gender-based violence, confidential disclosure mechanisms, and safe referral pathways that employees can access without fear of stigma or retaliation.
The August session marked an important step in the programme’s progression, from helping institutions understand their current policies and practices to building their capacity to act on the findings.
Moving from assessment to action
The capacity-building session built on a voluntary institutional assessment conducted a few months earlier. The assessment provided each participating institution with an opportunity to reflect on existing policies, systems and practices, while identifying areas where further strengthening may be needed.
The session created space for institutions to work through these findings and consider what practical improvements could look like in their own organisational contexts.
Through real workplace situations and facilitated discussions, participants explored how their institutions can strengthen training approaches, improve access to support and referral services, respond appropriately to GBV disclosures, finance reproductive health and gender-based violence initiatives, and translate policies into practices that workers can actually use.
The discussions also highlighted several priority actions for consideration as institutions strengthen their gender-friendly workplace practices. These included greater attention to paternity provisions and male reproductive health advocacy; creating simple lactation spaces; strengthening confidentiality around reproductive health and workplace harassment; identifying focal persons to champion reproductive health and GBV prevention; building strategic partnerships to strengthen support and advocacy; and exploring financial literacy and financial assistance for reproductive health needs.
Together, these priorities provide practical entry points for translating assessment findings and discussions into stronger workplace systems and practices.
Learning from different workplace contexts
Peer learning was an important part of the session.
Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana shared its experience of putting gender-friendly workplace policies into practice, offering participants practical insight into how institutional commitments can translate into workplace systems and employee support.
A representative of the Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians’ Association brought a different perspective, reflecting the realities of workers and businesses operating outside traditional formal workplace structures.
The Ghana Immigration Service also brought its own institutional experience and priorities into the discussion, highlighting the importance of approaches that respond to the specific needs of employees within public service institutions.
Together, these experiences demonstrated that while the principles of a gender-friendly workplace may be shared, approaches need to respond to the realities of different organisations, sectors and operating environments.
Building towards organisational roadmaps
A key outcome of the session was helping each participating institution identify what it can take forward.
The process that began with a voluntary institutional assessment has now moved into a practical capacity-building stage, creating a stronger basis for each organisation to develop an organisational roadmap for action.
This progression from understanding where an institution currently stands, to identifying opportunities for improvement, building capacity and defining practical next steps is central to strengthening gender-friendly workplaces in a way that goes beyond policy commitments.
Strengthening what workers can experience
Ultimately, gender-friendly workplaces are about more than policies and institutional commitments. They are about whether workers can access the information, support, referral systems and protections those commitments are intended to provide.
The discussions, practical exercises and priorities identified during the session give participating institutions a clearer basis for strengthening workplace systems around reproductive health, gender-based violence, confidentiality and employee support.
The session also demonstrated the value of bringing institutions together to learn from one another. Different workplace realities produced different priorities, but a shared recognition emerged: policies become meaningful when they are supported by systems that employees can access, trust and use.
Konfidants appreciates UNFPA Ghana for its continued partnership on the Gender-Friendly Workplaces Programme and for helping create the space for institutions to reflect, learn and translate workplace evidence into practical action.
We are also grateful to the Ghana Immigration Service, Standard Chartered Bank and the Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians’ Association for their openness, thoughtful contributions and willingness to share experiences and learn from one another.
The next step is clear: turning what was identified and learned into action that workers can see, access and experience.
The Ghana Gender-Friendly Workplaces Programme is implemented by Konfidants in partnership with UNFPA Ghana.
