The role of Vocational Skills Training in promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality to reduce poverty for sustainable development in Ghana

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of vocational skills in promoting women‟s empowerment and gender equality to reduce poverty in Ghana. The purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 15 interviewees for the study. Semi-structured interview was employed to elicit responses for the study. Data collected from the interview was transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis in order to answer the specified research questions.  The study found that vocational skills promotes women‟s empowerment and addresses gender inequalities in Ghana. It also established that vocational skills help to reduce poverty among women. Additionally, the findings of the study posited that promotion of vocational skill trainingis not formalized. Its promotion is being facilitated by individual women, who double as workers and trainers.  In spite of foregone contribution of vocational skills identified by the study, the study discovered that the presence of single parenting, financial problem, teenage pregnancy and non-maintenance of children by their fathers thwart the efforts of women in the fight against poverty in the district. In view of these results of the study, recommendations were made to sustain the impact vocational skills have on women‟s empowerment, gender equality and poverty reduction.  To sustain women‟s empowerment to address gender inequalities and poverty reduction in the district, it was recommended that women who acquired vocation skills be given financial and logistics support to enable them set up and pursue their vocation. To make vocational education and training accessible in the district, it was again recommended an immediate establishment of vocational skills training center should be a top most priority on the agenda of the district assembly, Non-governmental organizations and other women advocate partners in the district and Ghana in general.