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Accra to Host West African Alternative Care Summit 2026 Focused on Family-Based Child Welfare

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In June 2026, Accra will host an event that brings together more than policy conversations—it will gather voices, cultures, and shared visions from across the continent.

The West African Alternative Care Summit (WAACS) 2026 promises to be a landmark regional meeting where leaders, practitioners, and communities unite to reshape how children are cared for across West Africa.

Taking place from June 16 to June 18 at Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training College, the summit carries the theme “From Commitment to Implementation: Scaling Family-Based Care Across West Africa.”

It signals a shift from discussion to action—moving beyond ideas toward practical steps that strengthen family-centered care systems for vulnerable children.

The gathering builds on the momentum of the first WAACS event held in Nigeria. This year’s edition brings together government leaders, policymakers, researchers, civil society organizations, faith leaders, and individuals with lived experience in alternative care.

Their shared mission is to accelerate reforms that transition children away from institutional care and toward family-based support systems such as kinship care, foster care, and adoption.

While the summit is rooted in policy and social reform, its setting in Ghana offers a broader cultural experience. Visitors attending WAACS will find themselves immersed in Accra’s dynamic atmosphere—a city known for its welcoming spirit, rich traditions, and vibrant social life.

Delegates can expect networking sessions, collaborative workshops, and thought-provoking discussions, but also moments that reflect Ghana’s strong community values.

Across the three days, participants will explore strategies to strengthen families, improve legal pathways for adoption and foster care, and establish a West Africa Alternative Care Reform Network.

The summit also aims to produce a regional framework for implementing family-based care and develop country-level scorecards to track progress across participating nations.

Beyond the conference rooms, gatherings like WAACS often create informal cultural exchanges. Conversations continue over shared meals, local music, and storytelling—experiences that reveal the human dimension behind policy decisions.

For international visitors, it’s an opportunity to engage directly with African-led solutions and perspectives shaping the future of child welfare across the region.

For Ghanaian attendees, the summit offers something equally meaningful: a chance to participate in a continental dialogue about family, community responsibility, and child protection—values deeply embedded in Ghanaian culture.

In many ways, the emphasis on family-based care reflects traditions already familiar in local communities, where extended family networks often play a key role in raising children.

By the time the summit concludes, organizers expect to establish a regional steering committee, strengthen cross-border cooperation, and lay the groundwork for practical reforms that extend far beyond the conference hall.

For anyone passionate about social development, community resilience, and the power of African collaboration, WAACS 2026 is more than an event—it’s a gathering where ideas meet action and shared values shape the future of children across West Africa.

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Festivals & Events

Empowering Women Through Community: Inside the PKO Foundation Workshop in Ghana

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On Saturday morning, as Accra slowly comes alive with the rhythm of weekend traffic, conversations, and roadside breakfasts, another kind of energy will be building indoors — one rooted in ambition, connection, and the power of women supporting women.

The PKO Foundation Female Empowerment Workshop, powered by Azalea Academy, promises more than motivational speeches and networking sessions. Scheduled for May 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the gathering is shaping up to be a vibrant meeting point for women determined to grow personally, professionally, and creatively in modern Ghana.

A Growing Movement of Female Empowerment in Ghana

Across Ghana, women-led initiatives are increasingly becoming central to conversations around leadership, entrepreneurship, and social transformation.

Events like this workshop reflect a broader cultural shift: young women are actively seeking spaces where mentorship, confidence-building, and practical skills can coexist.

The PKO Foundation’s collaboration with Azalea Academy highlights this growing ecosystem of support. While Ghana has long celebrated strong female figures in business, politics, and community leadership, newer empowerment platforms are helping bridge the gap between inspiration and opportunity for younger generations.

For international visitors, the workshop also offers a glimpse into the changing face of urban Ghana — a country where tradition and modern ambition often intersect in dynamic ways.

What Visitors Can Expect

The atmosphere is expected to feel warm, energetic, and deeply collaborative. Attendees will have opportunities to connect with entrepreneurs, professionals, students, and creatives from different backgrounds, all gathered with a shared interest in growth and empowerment.

Rather than a formal corporate setting, workshops like these in Ghana often carry a distinctly communal spirit. Conversations flow easily, mentorship happens organically, and personal stories become powerful teaching tools.

Guests can expect engaging discussions, skill-building sessions, and moments of encouragement designed to inspire confidence and action. The social side of the event matters too — networking in Ghana frequently extends beyond business cards into genuine relationship-building, often accompanied by music, refreshments and lively conversation.

Why the Event Matters

For locals, the workshop offers an opportunity to reconnect with a growing culture of collaboration among Ghanaian women. For tourists and members of the diaspora, it presents a more intimate experience of Ghana beyond beaches and nightlife — one centered on community, resilience and shared aspiration.

Events like the PKO Foundation Female Empowerment Workshop reveal the heartbeat of contemporary Ghana: youthful, ambitious and deeply people-centered.

As conversations around women’s leadership continue to grow globally, gatherings like this remind participants that empowerment is often most powerful when experienced together.

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Fashion & Style

Inside the Fashion Event Turning Osu Into a Celebration of African Style

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On any given weekend, Osu moves to its own rhythm. Music spills from cafés, fashion lovers drift between concept stores, and Accra’s creative energy pulses through the streets long after sunset.

On May 30, that energy is expected to rise even higher as Nigerian fashion label WANNI FUGA brings its celebrated pop-up experience to Accra for a one-day showcase of contemporary African luxury.

Hosted at VIVA ACCRA in Osu, the event is more than a shopping experience. It reflects a larger movement reshaping how African fashion is viewed globally — not as “emerging,” but as sophisticated, innovative, and culturally influential.

Fashion as Cultural Identity

Over the past decade, African designers have transformed international conversations around style by blending traditional craftsmanship with modern silhouettes. WANNI FUGA has become part of that evolution through pieces known for clean tailoring, rich textures, and confident femininity.

The Accra pop-up will spotlight the brand’s ÈKÓ ÈLAN Collection alongside exclusive designs available in person.

For many visitors, the appeal lies not only in the clothing itself, but in the experience of engaging directly with a brand shaping contemporary African aesthetics.

Fashion pop-ups like this have become cultural gathering points across African cities, bringing together creatives, photographers, stylists, influencers, and everyday fashion lovers in shared celebration of design and identity.

What Visitors Can Expect

Guests can expect an intimate atmosphere where fashion feels personal rather than distant. Rack displays, curated styling moments, and direct interaction with the pieces create a slower, more immersive experience than conventional retail shopping.

Osu’s lively backdrop adds to the mood. Visitors can easily turn the event into a full cultural day out — exploring nearby restaurants, cafés, music spots, and Accra’s growing creative scene after leaving the venue.

For tourists, the pop-up offers a glimpse into modern West African luxury beyond stereotypes often attached to African fashion abroad. For locals, it is a chance to reconnect with the creativity thriving within the region.

As African fashion continues gaining international recognition, events like the WANNI FUGA Ghana Pop-Up remind audiences that some of the continent’s most exciting cultural conversations are happening right here in Accra.

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Festivals & Events

Where Tradition Walks the Streets: The Story of Fetu Afahye in Cape Coast

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As dawn breaks over Cape Coast, the streets begin to pulse with life. The sharp rhythm of fontomfrom drums echoes through the old fishing town while clouds of white powder drift into the morning air.

Women wrapped in bright kente cloth balance trays of food on their heads, children weave excitedly through the crowds, and chiefs adorned in gold ornaments emerge beneath richly decorated umbrellas.

It is Oguaa Fetu Afahye season — the most celebrated festival among the Fante people of Cape Coast and one of Ghana’s most visually striking cultural events.

Held on the first Saturday of September, the festival marks far more than celebration. Historically, Oguaa Fetu Afahye began as a purification rite performed after an outbreak of disease in the old town centuries ago.

Community elders instituted sacred rituals to cleanse the area, honour the gods, and seek protection for the coming year.

Over time, the event evolved into a grand thanksgiving festival symbolising renewal, unity, and cultural pride.

The days leading to the festival are filled with anticipation. Traditional bans are placed on noise-making and fishing in certain areas as part of spiritual observances.

Families return home from across Ghana and abroad, turning Cape Coast into a vibrant reunion ground.

On festival day, the town transforms into an open-air spectacle. Asafo companies march through the streets in elaborate displays of colour and military-style pageantry, carrying flags, firing muskets, and performing ancient war dances that connect modern generations to their ancestral past.

At the heart of the celebration are the chiefs and queen mothers, whose processions draw enormous crowds. Their appearance is both ceremonial and symbolic — a reminder of the enduring authority of traditional leadership within Fante society.

Today, Oguaa Fetu Afahye remains deeply important socially and spiritually. It strengthens family ties, preserves oral traditions, promotes tourism, and reaffirms the identity of the Fante people in a rapidly modernising world.

For visitors, the festival offers something unforgettable: a chance to witness Ghanaian heritage not inside a museum, but alive in the streets, beating with drums, dancing with history, and wrapped in dazzling cloth beneath the coastal sun.

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