VOCATIONAL SKILLS TRAINING AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AS PANACEA FOR PROMOTING GENDER EQUITY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Poverty represents a principal challenge within the Ghanaian domain particularly among women living in rural areas women. In view of tis, homes being headed by females are ridden with poverty when compared with that of the households headed by males. As a call by the UN towards sustainable development, vocational skills has been found as a worthy tool capable of empowering and promoting gender equity in the area of poverty reduction in the Ghanaian context. Purposive sampling technique was employed in the selection 20 interviewees through a semi-structured interview towards eliciting responses for the study. Data obtained from these interviews were transcribed and analysed via thematic analysis so as to provide answers to the research questions. Findings revealed that that vocational skills are potent in empowering women and addressing gender inequalities in the Ghanaian context. In addition, it was established that vocational skills can assist in the reduction of poverty among women. Findings also revealed that even though vocational skills training is still informal with its promotion being facilitated women, who individually double as both workers and trainers. It was concluded that despite how promising vocational skills, several pit falls were uncovered to inhibit its success amongst women and these include financial challenges resulting in teenage pregnancy, single parenting and non-maintenance of children by their fathers which further culminates into single parenting; all of which has further plunged women into poverty. However, women who have acquired vocation skills should be armed with both financial and logistics support to enable them chart a career in their vocation of choice.