PATHWAYS OF WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT-GHANA HUB

Nana Yanful: Intern at Pathways

2011-10-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Nana Yanful, a law student and a Canadian of Ghanaian descent joined the Pathways, West Africa team from May to July, 2011. Below is an interview about her experience.

1. How did you get to know about Pathways of Women's Empowerment in Ghana?
I learned about Pathways through my online research for a project or organization that was using law, social work, policy, etc., to enact change, specifically in the lives of women in Ghana. I stumbled across the Pathways blog, and I instantly loved the work that was being done in Ghana. I had just received a fellowship from my Law school in Canada to go somewhere in the continent of African to contribute to something I was interested in continuing in my legal career. The Pathways project seemed like the right fit. I emailed Akofa Anyidoho for more information, and the rest is history!

2. What informed your decision to do your internship with Pathways of Women's Empowerment in Ghana?
During my research for projects or groups working towards sustainable change in Ghana, I found it hard to find something that was not run by an organization in England, France, the US or Canada. The Pathways project, although partly funded by funds from abroad, is run by Ghanaian women - and many of the women are academics who are committed to working and engaging in Ghana. That was something rare in my mind, and I looked forward to learning more about this, especially in a country like Ghana, where many young people from abroad go there to do "development" work. I was interested to see how I could contribute as a Ghanaian born in Canada.

3. During your internship what work were you engaged in?
I assisted Akofa Anyidoho with the Pathways Photo Exhibition research, collection of photos, and preliminary curation of the exhibition. I also assisted Professor Manuh and Dr. Darkwah in their research on women's work, civic and political participation and empowerment.

4. What were you hoping to learn from Pathways?
I was hoping to learn more on the legal aspect of these initiatives, for example, the forced eviction issue that was mentioned on the Pathways blog. I had hoped to work more with young women and students on campus on some of the issues we were researching, and doing more one-on-one work with community members.

5. Did your experience meet your expectations?
It was a good experience, however, because I came during the summer months, many were away taking their much needed vacations. So at the beginning the work was slow. As mentioned in #4, I had hoped to do more one-on-one work, but overall it was a nice experience.

6. What is ONE new thing you learnt from working with the Pathways team in Ghana?
Issues of sexism and homophobia (gender-based violence) are everywhere in the world. These are issues we as human beings are dealing with all around the world. I was surprised to hear many progressive views by people at Pathways around issues of homophobia, and that was a positive thing.

7. In ONE word, describe your experience.
Interesting!

Thanks for choosing to intern with us and thanks for the interview, Nana!

Blogging & Tweeting Day Against Sexual Harassment & Gender Violence

2011-06-20T02:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Blogging & Tweeting Day Against Sexual Harassment & Gender Violence in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria.

The hope is to call for a change in the rampant harassment that women in these countries face every day.

There will be a meeting by Nazra for Feminist Studies and HarassMap tomorrow, 21st June, 2011 to share thoughts on the blogging and tweeting experience. Location: 44 Talaat Harb St. , Cairo, Egpyt.

Check out the link on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170454286351470

Coming Soon! The Launch of The Witches of Gambaga

2011-01-20T02:55:00.000-08:00

The launch of The Witches of Gambaga is scheduled for Tuesday, 15th February, 2011 at the British Council Hall, Accra, Ghana at 10:00am.

So what is this film about? Curious? Read on!

The Witches of Gambaga is a haunting 55 minute documentary film about a community of women condemned to live as witches in Northern Ghana. Made over the course of 5 years, this disturbing expose is the product of a collaboration between members of the 100 strong community of 'witches', local women's movement activists and feminist researchers, united by their interest in ending abusive practices and improving women's lives in Africa. Painful experience and insight combine to generate a uniquely intimate record of the lives of women ostracized from their communities. Told largely by the women themselves, their incredible stories and struggles are rendered comprehensible to a wide range of audiences by the director’s narration. Completed in July 2010, Fadoa Films Ghana and UK, Directed by Yaba Badoe, Co-produced by Yaba Badoe and Amina Mama.

Winner, 2010 Black International Film Festival Best Documentary Award.
Has been selected to be screened at FESPACO 2011

REVIEWS of The Witches of Gambaga

"An excellent exploration of how women are victimized ...a valuable resource for understanding how to end this problem." Cornelius Moore, California Newsreel

“An admirably unsensational but powerfully affecting reminder of the terrible influence still wrought by superstition on the lives of so many women.” Geoff Andrew, film critic, British Film Institute

“A brave and brilliant production” Hope for the African Village Child Trust

“...will go a long way to promote the rights of women...” African Women’s Development Fund

Click here to see the trailer of the film on You Tube.

Yaba Badoe is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker and writer. A graduate of King’s College Cambridge, she worked as a civil servant in Ghana before becoming a General Trainee with the BBC. She has taught in Spain and Jamaica and has worked as a producer and director making documentaries for the main terrestrial channels in Britain. Her short stories have been published in Critical Quarterly and in African Love Stories: an anthology edited by Ama Ata Aidoo.In 2009, her first novel, True Murder was published by Jonathan Cape. Her TV credits include: Black and White, a ground-breaking investigation into race and racism in Bristol, using hidden video cameras for BBC1; I Want Your Sex, for Channel 4 and a six-part series, VSO, for ITV. African Love Stories is now available in Swedish from Tranan publishers under the title Kärlek x 21.

Amina Mama is a Nigerian feminist activist, researcher and scholar, who has lived and worked Nigeria, South Africa, Britain, the Netherlands and the USA. She spent 10 years establishing the University of Cape Town’s African Gender Institute and is founding editor of the African journal of gender studies, Feminist Africa. She authored Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender and Subjectivity (Routledge 1995), Women’s Studies and Studies of Women in Africa (CODESRIA, 1996), and co-edited Engendering African Social Sciences (CODESRIA 1997). She is currently developing a transnational activist research initiative on gender and militarism and pursuing her interest in documentary film. ‘The Witches of Gambaga’ is her first film.
She currently lives in Berkeley and works at University of California, Davis as Professor and Director of Women and Gender Studies.

What is Women's Empowerment?

2010-09-14T14:50:00.001-07:00

Through the various projects, the Pathways of Women's Empowerment have been learning about women's empowerment in different contexts and how they translate into women's everyday lives, policy interactions among others.

Below are videos interviews of some the researchers of the West Africa hub talking about what they understand by women's empowerment and what has come up in their research work in relation to women's empowerment.

Takyiwaa Manuh

Akosua Adomako Ampofo

Dzodzi Tsikata

Awo Asiedu

Nana Akua Anyidoho

Akosua Darkwah

What is your own understanding of women's empowerment? What experiences, observations or research has informed your definition of women's empowerment?

Do share your thoughts,
Akofa.

Women suffer from forced eviction

2010-06-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Women suffer from forced eviction
The Ghanaian Times; Tuesday, June 15, 2010; Page 22 (Regional News)
No author indicated

A human right advocate on Women and Housing for Africa has painted a pathetic picture of how women and children suffer force eviction either by individual landlords, groups and government.

“Women spend their time in slums, work, care for children and domestic chore; yet they are more affected by poor conditions and threats of evictions,” Ms Agnes Kabajuni, said at a national training workshop for media practitioners on the effective use of the media to promote housing and land rights of women in Ghana.

It was organized by the Centre on Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE) in partnership with Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), an NGO.

About 40 participants drawn from the print and electronic media attended the workshop.

Ms Kabajuni expressed concern about how women struggles to own a house or land property since most inheritances were owned by men who were either husbands, uncles or brother and did not have anywhere to go when forcibly evicted.

She said women constituted most of the slum dwellers but were inadequately house globally.

Ms Kabajuni noted that most African women found on the streets in rural areas were widows who had been thrown out of their husbands’ houses by either a landlord because the women could not afford the rent or by relatives of the husband who thought it was illegal for women to own houses.

She envisaged equal ownership, access and control of housing between men and women across the globe for people to live in peace, security and dignity, adding, “Housing is a right for everyone, everywhere.”

Ms Sylvia Noagbesenu, a COHRE officer indicated that all persons who undertake evictions were to be properly identified and evictions should not be undertaken particularly during bad weather or at night.

She said women experience rape, sexual assault before, during, after forced eviction, battering with poor living conditions.

EC’s package for women

2010-05-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

EC’s package for women
Daily Graphic, Thursday, 20th May, 2010: Back Page
Daniel Nkrumah

The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced a package to encourage more women to contest in the upcoming district level elections schedule for October 26, this year.

The Women’s Candidates Support Package is set to be introduced, with financia support from the European Union, and it will include training workshops to be attended solely by female candidates.

A Commissioner of the EC, Mrs. Pauline Adobea Dadzawa, disclosed this at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

The press conference, which was on the theme, “The 2010 District Level Election, What is in it for women in Ghana,” was organized by Abantu for Development, Women in Broadcasting and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

She indicated that the package was in recognition of the peculiar challenged women faced. “We at the commission believe that it is not enough to tell women that they are free to avail themselves to be voted for. We also believe that if the odds are weighed heavily against them, accomplishing their goals will be elusive,” she said.

She added that the EC believed that full participation of women in the electoral process was key to the growth of democracy.

“it is our fervent hope that even as we support women in our areas of operation, other methods such as quota representation, may be applied to bridge the gap between numbers of men and women in the political arena,” she added.

She advised women candidates to resist the temptation of being discouraged or confused with provocative remarks and questions and urged them to rather maintain their focus and speak on the issues.

Mrs. Dadzawa stated that the EC would deepen it commitment to encourage women to participate in the forthcoming elections.

She said that this was in line with its policy of gender mainstreaming, a conscious effort would be made, where possible, to give priority to the recruitment of women as temporary poll workers. She said the temporary toll workers to be employed for the district elections included returning officers, presiding officers, coordinating presiding officers and polling assistants.

The Deputy Chairman in charge of Programmed at the National Commission of Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Baron Y. Amoafo, stated that in 2005, with the support of the Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF), the NCCE, the EC and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs undertook intensive leadership training programmed for potential women candidates for the 2006 district level elections.

He added that in order to ensure a sustainable plan for effective women’s participation in governance, the NCCE, through its civic education clubs in senior secondary schools (SHSs), also undertook an intensive tour of selected SHSs throughout the country to whip up enthusiasm among young female students to be interested in taking up leadership positions in the near future.

He indicated that the NCCE had already captured in its plan for the public education on the 2010 district level elections programmes to empower women to participate actively in the elections.

He said it would also hold a capacity-building programme for it staff to cover issues on gender inequality and a number of programmes to enhance women’s participation in the upcoming district level elections.

The Resident Director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Daniela Kuzu, noted that the fact that Ghana had signed the UN Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the establishment a Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs was an indication that the country was taking the issues of gender equality seriously.

She, however, stated that the country’s performance in terms of gender equality needed to be improved significantly. “To take the national elections of 2004 and 2008 as an example, it is of concern that in 2004 only 10.8 percent of the seats in parliament were taken by women. In 2008, it was even reduced to 7.89 per cent,” she stated.

MOWAC to re-position itself: Towards Beijing Platform for Action

2010-05-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

MOWAC to re-position itself: Towards Beijing Platform for Action
Daily Graphic; Tuesday, May 11, 2010; Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Rebecca Quaico-Duho

The Ministry of women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) is taking steps to re-position itself to help accelerate Ghana’s progress made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).

According to the sector minister, Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghana organised a side event which is on the theme, “Beyond commitment to responsive institutional structures,” at the just ended meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held in New York.

She said participants had the opportunity to share Ghana’s perspective and experiences on the evolution of the national women’s machinery and how it plans to promote gender equality through re-engineering the ministry and involving women at the grass-roots level.

She was speaking at a forum organised in Accra by MOWAC in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and supported by the United Nations Systems, during which a statistical compendium on women and men were launched.

Mrs. Azumah-Mensah who convened the meeting to brief the public on the outcome of the CSW meeting at a forum in Accra, said a lot of programmes and policies, spearheaded by MOWAC and other ministries such as the Ministry of Health (MOH), were commended as having contributed to the empowering of women socially, economically and politically.

This year’s CSW meeting also coincided with the fifteenth-years review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its contribution to the achievements of the MDGs.

Programmes such as the issuances of policy directive to public sector agencies to roll out gender responsive budgets across ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as the ministry’s coordination with 16 key sectors such as the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Education were hailed as a good practice.

She also said MOWAC’s central management roles and the elevation of the ministry to Cabinet status were seen as an outstanding achievement. Other participants expressed interest in selling the idea to their countries.

Other achievements such as the enactment of the Domestic Violence and human Trafficking Acts, criminalization of sexual offences and the passage of laws on women’s rights in marriage and divorce, social protection policies targeting poor women, the National Health Insurance Scheme, free school uniforms for school children and the Health Service Act, which ensured free maternal care to help in addressing the country’s high maternal mortality, and the appointment of women into key positions were all commended.

She said the Commission wrapped up the 54th session by adopting several resolutions which were key to women’s empowerment and they were issues on women’s economic empowerment, women and girl child and HIC and AIDS, protecting women and girls form harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), elimination of maternal mortality and a decision to consolidate four existing offices working in issues related to gender under the United Nations into a composite gender entity.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Mr. Joseph S. Abbey, a guest speaker who spoke on ‘the importance of gender statistics for development,’ underscored the importance of having more women in decision-making positions so that they would speak for women.

He said the country would be wasting a lot of resources, if the potential of women, who formed the majority of the country’s population, was not tapped, saying, “Investment made in women should be utilised to ensure maximum returns.”

He said statistics over the years did not quantify the work of women, especially in domestic settings, and pointed out that it made it difficult to appreciate the input of women in national development.

Mr. Abbey said it was essential that the country gathered separate data for men and women so that the country would know the needs of boys and girl and men and women. This, according to him, would enable the government to build appropriate infrastructure such as clinics and school and that the gender dimensions of all these had not been focused on in the country.

The Chief Director of MWAC, Ms Nancy Dzah, in a welcoming address said as institutions and organisations promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the country, it was important that, “we avail ourselves of the global, regional and national trends of achievements and challenges confronting us in our zeal to achieve the MDG3, which is: Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

An international gender consultant and chairperson of the programme, Mrs Jane Amavi Kwaku, said Ghana had become a flagship of achieving results in many areas and it could not afford to fail in the empowerment of women.

Representatives of Parliament, MDAs, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, who were at the CSW meeting in New York, gave their impression about the way forward for MOWAC.

GSS develop handbook on gender statistics

2010-05-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

GSS develop handbook on gender statistics

Daily Graphic, Thursday, 6th May, 2010: Page 11; (Gender and Children)
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has developed a handbook on gender statistics which reflects the relative levels and differentials between women and men, and girls and boys in terms of education, health, politics, and access to credits among others.

The statistical compendium on women and men is a collection of concise, but detailed gender-sensitive indicators, which will help the formulation of policies in the country.

The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, whop launched the handbook at a programme in Accra, said the collection of sex deaggregated data was vital to women’s development in the country.

She said such data was essential to enable the country to track the progress made so far in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The minister said such data was also important to ministries, departments and agencies, since it would help them implement the gender budgeting strategy, which had been introduced by the government effectively.

Giving some highlights on the book, the minister said it dealt with household leadership and divorce, school enrollment for males and females at various levels of education, illiteracy among men and women and power and influence.

She said the statistical compendium showed that 23 per cent of female-headed household were divorced women and 51 per cent of women in the country were illiterates.

On the issue of power and influence, she said the result were nothing to write home about, and that a huge gap still existed between men and women in the decision-making process, adding that there was the need to encourage more women into politics.

She, therefore, advised women who were interested in politics to participate in active politics at the various levels, to get more women in the country’s decision-making process.

A Chief Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Mr. Baah Wadieh, who made a presentation on, “The status of the provision of gender statistics,” said developing gender statistics required that the statistical processes should be applied diligently when acquiring the data.

He said such gender-sensitive data should not be merely indicators which had been compiled and presented by sex, although it was a fundamental requirement, but should also signal gender-related changes in a condition or phenomenon over time, shed light on social processes and interventions and how these affect women and men and their relationship with one another.

He said gender statistics were one of the basic requirements of the Beijing Declaration, which calls on national, regional and international statistical institutions to “ensure that statistics related to individuals are collected, compiled, analysed and presented by sex, and age, and reflect problems, issues and questions related to women and men in society.”

The Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, said the statistical compendium would help the country gain insight into how far it had advanced, saying that, “we need to be able to assess what gains we have made” and also identify where there were problems. She said the handbook would help the country learn from its successes in terms of gender equality, empowerment and equity, and also bring out the disappointing results so that they could be dealt with.

Dr. Bediako said nationally and globally, it was difficult to see the achievements on the field, and that many organisations found it necessary to have ‘gender’ as a component of their programmes, instead of mainstreaming it into all facets of public and private life, decision-making and prorammes.

She bemoaned the fact that two-and-a-half decades after the adoption of the MDGs, with MDG 3 calling for the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, “we still have to remind policy makers that gender equality is a rights issue like poverty and survival.”

She said as a country, “we have an opportunity with the upcoming population and housing census to improve our database for the MDGs,” and that many of the questions for the census would provide the basis for computing the indicators required.

Dr. Bediako, however, said the country still needed to explore all potential sources, censuses, samples surveys and administrative records to provide the complete picture.

Women are more sensitive to national issues- NCCE director

2010-05-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Women are more sensitive to national issues- NCCE director
The Ghanaian Times; Wednesday, May 5th, 2010; (Regional Diary)
Samuel Opare Lartey

Ghana would have been like heaven if many women had given themselves to decision making and participated fully in the decentralisation programme of the nation.

This is because women are very sensitive and difficult to convince to do things which would go against them in the future.

The Eastern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Eric Bortey, said at the launch of the 10th Annual Eastern Regional Constitutional Week at Koforidua. It had the theme, “Enhancing constitutionalism through effective citizen participation for good governance.”

Giving an example of the few women who are now in high positions in the country, he asked, “Who has heard anything wrong with any of them?” “Which of them has been mentioned as causing financial loss to the state?” he added.

He said that there had been many women who had and are now occupying strategic positions in the country since the inception of the 1992 constitution without any problems.

Mr. Bortey encouraged women to forget about existing prejudices, any fears and believe that they had the support, abilities to actively participate in the governance of the nation.

Tracing the history of the constitution from the first republic, he said, most of the citizenry do not know the constitution and they supported a particular candidate and voted for him or her.

The constitution is about the welfare of the citizenry, therefore, they should always use the power and enthusiasm in supporting their candidates to demand their rights for good roads, shelter, health, education and water among others. Mr. Bortey explained.

He urged Ghanaians to study the constitution as a document which sets the framework within which laws, regulations and rules are made to govern the private and public lives of citizens. Therefore, Mr. Bortey appealed to Ghanaians to make every effort to know the contents of the constitution to enable them to know, exercise their basic rights and perform their civic responsibilities.

The Acting Eastern Regional Director of CHRAJ, Mr. Dominic C. Hammond, who launched the programme, spoke on, “Can our present constitutional framework accelerate the growth and sustenance of democracy and good governance in Ghana?”

He said the 1992 Constitution is the longest existing constitution the country had ever had and has revealed that the spirit of liberty, oneness, rule of law and sovereignty resides with the people.

He said Ghana had had a decade of peaceful and acceptable constitutional rule and had change political leaders through the ballot box in a free and fair manner. “Ghana’s level of democracy and good governance has made her a star among other African countries,” he said.

Mr. Hammond said that the 1992 Constitution had guaranteed the independence of the, Electoral Commission, mandated NCCE to conducted civic education and CHRAJ to promote, protect and enforce fundamental human rights and freedom and administrative justice for all persons in Ghana.

He appealed for resources for institutions to function effectively because their presence had placed Ghana in the lead of other African countries in terms of practicing democracy and good governance.

The programme was chaired by Okotwasuo Kantamto Oworae II, vice president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.

Gender Activists assist women aspirants

2010-05-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

Gender Activists assist women aspirants
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 4th May, 2010: Page 11; (Gender and Children)
Nurudeen Salifu, Tamale.

Gender rights activists have launched a project designed to improve women’s participation in the forthcoming district assembly elections in the Upper West Region.

Dubbed, “The All Political Rights Project,” the project will provide the requisite resources for women aspirants to participate in the 2010 district assembly elections and assist them to campaign effectively and win elections.

It will also build the capacities of female aspirants and put together well-planned campaign strategies that will encourage the electorate to vote for women during the elections.

Speaking at the launch of the project, the Upper West Regional Director of Women and member of the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, Mrs. Kate Bob Millar, underscored the need to give legal backing to the affirmative action policy aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in political representation both at the local and national levels.

She said “if there was a national lack backing these directives and commitments, there would be no way of escaping their implementation.” She added that an affirmative action policy backed by the law, was therefore, the best option, to improve women’s representation in governance since it would make it mandatory for state authorities to give fair representation to women as a matter of law, not out of sympathy.

Some gender advocates at the programme argued that the issuance of directives and commitments regarding the appointment of women to political posts had not yield much result, since there was no legal framework to enforce such directives.

They noted that although various political administrations had committed themselves to allocate a proportion of positions to women these pledges had not been fulfilled. They also noted that these administrations had equally given directives to the effect that 30 or 50 per cent of government appointees to district assemblies should be women, but these had also not been adhered to.

The Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP), together with the Women’s Manifesto Coalition is spearheading the project, with support from the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS).

Six regions have been selected to benefit from the programme. They are Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Greater Accra, Volta and Central regions.

Launching the project, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, noted that the government was committed to creating an enabling environment for women to develop their potential and getting fair representation in governance.

He, however, observed that the bane to women’s participation in politics was lack of education, which he noted had created a situation where many women could not participate in decision making in some areas.

The minister, therefore, called for a more aggressive pursuit of girl-child education so as to produce qualified women to participate in decision making.

The Programme Officer of the FFP, Ms Esenam Tilly Adu-Gyamfi, told the Daily Graphic that the objective of the project was to address some challenges that confront women in the 2006 district assembly elections.

These challenges, she noted, had been identified in a review conducted by the Women’s Manifesto Coalition and these included cultural barriers, gender discrimination and resource constraints.

“The project would, therefore, assist the women aspirants to acquire passport photographs for the production of posters and handbills to sell their messages to their constituents,” Ms Adu-Gymafi said.

She appealed for support from other organisations and institutions to facilitate the implementation of the project and ultimately improve women representation in governance.

‘Let’s support women in local government’

2010-04-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

‘Let’s support women in local government’
Daily Graphic; Thursday, April 22, 2010; Page 11 (Gender & Children)
Salome Donkor

The role of women in politics and public office is one of the current burning governance issues because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance processes.

Gender and policy advocacy organisations recognize that improving the lives of women and other members of society require a balanced gender representation in government structures by promoting greater responsiveness to women in politics and decision-making,

For some women who want to enter national politics, governance at the various levels, namely by the local or district, regional and national, is crucial to them, since it provides them with good training grounds to improve their chances of being elected to political office to promote gender-balance in decision-making at all levels.

The involvement of more women in politics and decision-making is expected to meet their interests and basic needs and enable them continue to influence policies from a gender perspective and addressing inequalities and injustices in social relationships.

The local government system has therefore become good grounds for some women, who want to enter into national politics. But the most difficult challenge that confront most women intending to enter into local government, is lack of funds.

The support women in the 2006 District Assembly elections, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the “Women in Local Government Fund” to assist women aspirants.

According to the Public Relations Officer of MOWAC, Mrs. Adiza Ofori-Adu, each of the 1, 772 women who contested the 2006 District Assembly elections, received GH¢20.00 for their campaign activities.

She said the Department of Women in the various regions have been task to work in collaboration with the district assemblies and identify 20 women from each district to support them to take part in the forthcoming district assembly elections.

Speaking at a day’s review meeting on “Challenges and Prospects of Women in Decision-Making Positions,” in Koforidua recently, the Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Women, Ms Jane Kwapong, re-emphasised the need for the private sector, corporate bodies and related organizations and individuals to financially support the “Women in Local Government Fund.”

She said society should see gender equality as a tool for sustainable development and called for support and encouragement by both men and women to ensure that more women were elected in the forthcoming district assembly elections.

Participants were drawn from civil society organisations , women’s groups, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Gender Desk Officers and assembly women.

She urged political parties to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and men to engage in political activities and take further steps to elect women in their “safe constituencies” to contest parliamentary elections increase the number of women in parliament.

She said since women’s reproductive roles tended to militate against their participation in politics and other decision-making processes, there was need to encourage the sharing of household responsibilities to enable more women to participate in public life.

The Member of Parliament for New Jauben South, Madam Beatrice B. Boateng, who is also an elected assembly member of the New Jauben Municipal Assembly, advised women to rise above reproach in the face of all changes and prove their worth, stressing that some women had been able to make it, despite the challenges.

She mentioned poverty as a major challenge that prevented women from aspiring to greater heights and pointed out that the problems could be overcome with determination, perseverance, hard work and optimism.

Mr. Rex Baah Antiri of Ghana Education Service (GES) appealed to the government to create an enabling environment that would strengthen women to be part of decision-making, especially at higher levels.

He called for sustained efforts to deal with all forms of violence against women and repressive cultural practices against women to enable them contribute their quota to development.

Participants suggested that efforts should be intensified to address the issues of gender stereotyping, as well as speed up the socialization process and gender equality, adding that the empowerment of women should not be limited to those in towns and cities, but extended to rural women as well.

Mainstreaming Climate Change, Water Security and Gender

2010-04-19T19:51:00.001-07:00

Mainstreaming Climate Change, Water Security and Gender
Daily Graphic; Monday, April 19, 2010; Page 26 (Features)
Delali B. Dovie

The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2008 Technical Paper VI on climate change and water, proposes a focus on water security as a basis for sound early adaptation strategy. The report highlights the importance of using water security in delivering immediate adaptation benefits to vulnerable and undeserved populations, towards advancing the Millennium Development Goals, while strengthening adaptative systems and capacity for managing climate risk factors. It is now known that warmer temperatures, and altered patterns of precipitation and runoff, will increasingly compromise the effective management of water resources and water supplies that could technically cripple water security, food systems and natural resources.

This is because water resources remain the major central tendency and hence crosscutting resource of the effects and impacts of climate change, vulnerability and adaptation. Similarly, it is expected that the vulnerability of water resources and challenges of water insecurity will impact society through gender relations, culturally, socio-politically economically and in decision making. Imbalances in gendered responses to impacts in health, hygiene and sanitation sectors as well as gendered conflicts and violence, will be experienced with complementary adaptative strategies.

These attributes have been found to largely charaterise the climate change and variability impacts status of the three northern regions of Ghana.

Water Security

Water security has been defined as, “the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks.” Water security is not simply about the availability of water and accompanying declining supplies, but also about issues of access, use, ad safety. Fundamental human and national sovereignty rights characterize the access to water and imping equity and affordability where gendered dimensions are of critical importance.

Thus, the concept of water security imbibes social and political decision making on use in the context of competing demands. Therefore the issues of availability in the form of surface or ground water are physically and technically imposed as they become the immediate entry point, or exposure to climate change stressors.

The problems of gender often arise on access and use, determined mainly by political, social and economic factors. The impacts of climate change and variability will in no doubt play a major roles in changing physical and political economy facets of water resources and water.

Therefore, water policy needs to be more proactive and adaptable to social concerns of who has access and to what extent, and also who makes the decision. This means that with the changing face of the climate and hence water resources and water (demand and supply). Water policy must be targeted to avoid marginalization of certain vulnerable groups (e.g. women).

Impacts and Gender

It has been established that although the impacts of climate change and variability through water stress and insecurity will impact both gender, women will bear the most brunt. This is because research ash shown that historically, women have evolve their own livelihood strategies and coping mechanisms around water, thus establishing a cultural tie that if disrupted, will lead to devastating outcomes.

Additionally, the differential work of women, limited control and lack of tenure over production and diminished access to common coping mechanisms, as well as restricted mobility, amplify the impact of disasters for them.

Yet those deficiencies under normal conditions would have been expected to complement the role of their male counterparts. Therefore the environmental change science community on human dimensions foresees a scenario whereby once women are supported to develop their resilience in relation to climate change induced water insecurity, men and the rest of society will be better adapted.

However, policy and development interventions to make this happen will depend on information from the scientific community for which Gender Analysis or Gender Profiling have been used in recent times. Through such tools, compilation on some impacts on women have been revealed as:

1. Ensuing food insecurity and especially unavailability influences food consumption patterns that are often gender differentiated, favouring men and allowing more access than women.
2. In farming communities, the loss of assets and entitlements of women are a common phenomenon as they often failed to bounce back due to limited livelihood options.
3. In water-stressed and drought-prone areas, women tend to allocate more effort to domestic water collection as they will usually do and in the process, fail to balance the times and energy available for productive work, leading to the loss of income and thus often resulting in poverty.
4. Flood is one important aspect of climate change that has been established to increase the workload of women due to recovering and rescuing of assets, intense cleaning, resources mobilisation and maintenance in addition to the house chores. When this happens, it often leads to reduced opportunities available for productive work and at times women labourers may lose sources of paid work due to flooded fields.
5. Whilst mass migration as a result of climate change impacts (e.g. droughts) have been downplayed, a male out-migration puts added burden on women to mage assets including land whilst female out-migration exposes women to other forms of risk.
6. Increased incidence of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) related diseases have been reported among women during extended flood periods, especially the elderly as they eat less and drink less to limit visitations to public latrines due to deteriorated sanitation caused by water influx.
7. Extended draught years have also been found to far impact on school enrolment or retention rates of girls than boys as several hours are spent daily in search od water and food.

Mainstreaming

The enhancement of the adaptative capacity of vulnerable people, promotion of early adaptation action and laying the foundation for long-term investment infrastructure that respond to water insecurity within social contexts are important foe water security. These are expected to increase the resilience to climate change thus forming the basis for adaptation, planning and mainstreaming of other sectors’ policies in the water sector. It has been argued that among the shortcomings of development programmes on climate change adaptation are issues of gender and poverty, often captured as an afterthought or as seperate. However, their inclusion at project conception will permit integration in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.

It is important that programmes in adaptation take in consideration the differing needs of men and women and associated socio-cultural realities at all phases for effectiveness and sustainability. In addition, because women’s rights face violation in disaster processes, the assessments of differential and heterogeneous vulnerabilities across diverse demographic categories will be crucial.

In conclusion, the contextualisation of climate change within everyday interfacing geographies of vulnerability, ascertains the role of pre-existing, coupled human-environment systems of physical and social space that serve as basis for mainstreaming in policy formulation for adaptation.

‘Respect rights of househelps’

2010-04-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

‘Respect rights of househelps’
The Ghanaian Times; Friday, April 9, 2010; Page 23; (Regional Diary)
Collins Boateng

The Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA), a non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote human rights of women in Ghana and in Africa, last week held a consultative seminar on the need to monitor domestic workers in homes.

The Coordinator of LAWA, Mrs. Babara Ayesu, said there is the need for parents and guardians to understand the risk involved in doing domestic work, stressing that domestic workers sometimes are maltreated by their employer, which results in them developing psychological trauma.

She said the country has laws that regulate the right of its citizens, domestic workers are not beneficiaries of such laws, adding that there is need for government and other agencies to make domestic work professional to enable practitioners of the work to enjoy benefits like any other worker.

“The attention of domestic workers is receiving global concern and their maltreatment is regarded as an infringement on their human rights that would soon be redressed internationally,” she stressed.

Mrs. Ayesu said Ghana’s labour law does not check pain that the domestic worker goes through, adding that LAWA would make sure the laws checks the rights of domestic workers to enhance the individual rights in the country.

She said Ghana’s participation in promotion human rights globally has helped the country to partner with other countries like Uganda, Tanzania and other international bodies to address the problem of violation of women’s human rights.

She stated that this year, Ghana would collaborate with the world to redress domestic violence, equitable marital property at divorce and the workplace to enhance women’s freedom globally.

Speaking at the seminar, Ms Adwoa Sakyi, Project Coordinator for the International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and allied workers associations said, there is need for all domestic workers to have right to free themselves from sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, stressing that domestic workers should report all persons who intrude on their rights to the district labour officers for appropriate sanctions.

She said, all domestic workers have the right to form or join trade unions and enjoy collective bargaining, adding that any domestic worker whose right is infringed upon should seek the authorities for redress.

Mrs. Sakyi said the domestic worker has the right to leave just as any government worker, and must be paid accordingly.

She said it is times the country treat domestic workers as professionals because without them there would chaos at their homes and that if we respect and treat them as such, it would help curb poverty and economical downtrends that the country is encountering now.

Women Urged to Participate actively in Governance

2010-03-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Women Urged to Participate actively in Governance
The Ghanaian Times; Friday, March 19, 2010; Page 23
Samuel Opare

The Eastern Regional Director of the NCCE, Mar Eric Bortey, has said that the nature of political campaigns in the country have not helped women to participate actively in the governance of the country since independence. “At certain times too”, he explained, “the language used on certain platforms during campaigns prevent or discourage women to get involved in politics.” Mr. Bortey said this at a two day empowerment workshop for women in all the electoral areas in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District (SKCD) at Suhum.

It was organized by the NCCE in collaboration with the World Vision International under the theme “Effective participation of women in decision making at the district assemblies and local level.”
Wrongly too, he said “most people think that any woman who openly joins and participate in political activities is a harlot, witch, man-woman or an iron lady.”

Much has not been achieved in the nation’s decentralization and political agenda since 1988 because of lack of women participation in the local government system, “the NCCE Regional Director stated.

Mr. Bortey therefore challenged women in the country to come out of their shells and take up their place in the nation’s democratic system.

“Do not allow Accra alone to be the seat of government, irrespective of your party affiliation, let us all join hands to move Ghana democracy forward,” he said, pointing out that “women are in the majority but when it comes to decision and participation in the local governance of the nation, they are in the minority.”

Women’s failures in decision making, Mr Bortey said was due to their attitudes toward themselves, societal and family influence, educational background, defeating attitude, traditional/cultural influence and the nature of the political campaign in the country.

Above all he observed that “Women have accepted from time past that politics is for men.” Mr. Bortey appealed to the women to get involved in the local government of the nation because they have a lot to offer to the development of the nation through their participation in decision-making at the local levels. He taught the women how to write manifestos and how to speak in public and advised them to present themselves to be voted for the area, Town, Zonal, Urban and any position in the Local Council elections. “This is where you can learn and build your confidence to attain your vision in Ghana’s political arena” said the NCCE Director.

The Acting District Director of NCCE, Mr. Cephas Kofi Agboada said that the district assembly system is the most competent structure in Ghana because that is the bedrock of the nation and therefore the work of any assembly woman is very important.

He explained that decision-making is a very important process in which women would need to be actively involved if their needs and concerns are to be adequately met.

He said the nation’s district assemblies would be very effective, strong, richer and democratic if the people stop the discrimination but encourage women to get involved in the activities of local government. The programme was chaired by the SKCD Director of CHRAJ, Mrs. Anyeley Ayeng Cole and supported by the queen mother of Suhum, Nana Yaa Sakyibea.

Women in Local Governance Fund coming back

2010-03-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

Women in Local Governance Fund coming back
The Ghanaian Times,Wednesday, March 17, 2010; Page 16
Anita Nyarko

The Women in Local governance Fund, now defunct, will be re-launched to support women contesting in local government elections that would be held in September this year.

Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Minister for Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), said this at the opening of the National Gender Forum 2010 in Accra yesterday.

The two-day forum which ends today seeks to promote gender mainstreaming in pro-poor policy formulation and advocacy.

It also aims at creating a platform to engage policy makers, civil society organisations, development practitioners, gender experts and development partners in the programme.

The programme, organized by the Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme is on the theme, “Civic engagement for gender equality and good governance in Ghana: Sharing experience, contesting spaces, renewing commitments.”

She said government realising the need for reinforcement of intervention to support women’s participation in local governance, embarked on programmes and activities that would promote women’s participation in governance.

“The government has incorporated a gender perspective into the national agenda and development priority of the country to promote effective participation of women in governance at all levels of decision making,” she added.

Mrs. Azumah-Mensah said some of the programmes include the organisation of training programmes aimed at building women’s capacities on speech delivery, effective lobbying, advocacy and other leadership skills.

The Minister said the government in its bid to make governance gender responsive has established a national women’s machinery, MOWAC, which is of cabinet status to properly address gender issues and the larger numbers of problems confronting women and children in the country.

She said Ghana’s experience in making governance gender responsive is creating the necessary environment for the protection of women and children’s rights.

The Minister said government has ratified and adopted various international conventions and protocols that promote gender equality, women and children’s right in conformity with the provision of the chapter five of the 1992 Constitution which includes the African chapter on human and people’s rights.

A Senior Development Officer, Corporation of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Garret Pratt, in his address, said Ghana’s journey towards achieving equitable development has witnessed significant interventions in social policies and services such as the Domestic Violence Ac, Spousal Property Rights bill, free maternal and child health policies.

“As Ghana deals with implications of the emerging oil and gas industries, let us work consciously to crystallize and sustain gender equality gains and apply lessons from experience to new issues,” he added.

Gov’t must show commitment to Women’s participation in Politics

2010-03-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Gov’t must show commitment to Women’s participation in Politics
Daily Graphic, Wednesday, 17 March, 2010; Page 16
GNA

The management of the Hunger Project-Ghana has called on the government to show commitment to women’s participation in politics by enforcing the 40 per cent representation of women in the district metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).

It said the government should allocate special funds for the training, grooming and campaign activities of women parliamentary candidates.

The call was made in a communiqué issued at the end of a national rural forum for selected men and women programme Animators and Epicenter Representatives on the theme: ‘Equal Opportunities : Progress for all’.

A statement issued and signed by Dr. Nana Agyeman-Mensah, Country Director of the Project, said the forum was held at the Odumase –Wawase Epicenter in the Kwahu West Municipality, to mark this year’s International Women‘s Day, which fell on Monday, March 8.

The Communiqué also called on the government to enforce existing laws that had been instituted to protect women and children such as the Domestic Violence Act, the Intestate Succession Law, The Children’s Act other relevant laws through the training of gender sensitive officers at the MMDAs to spearhead the implementation and monitoring of gender based policies.

It called for the establishment of the special scholarship schemes to benefit brilliant needy girls who will otherwise drop out of school after junior high school.

The Communiqué appealed for sponsorship for girls to enroll in nursing and teacher training colleges to increase the number of women professionals who would also serve as role models for girls in the rural areas.

It stressed the need for the use of participatory sensitization approaches that would bring out the negative effects of gender inequality on the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The statement also called for the reconsideration of the of the health policy on ‘non –delivery of babies ‘ by Traditional Birth Attendants, who were still regardless of the policy, offering valuable child delivery services to poor women in remote rural areas, until such time that there were enough rural health facilities and professionals in those areas. The Communiqué called for the improvement in farm gate access roads in food producing areas to address the transportation and distribution challenges of the nation’s food farmers, 80 per cent of whom were women.

It said efforts should be made to provide special subsidized packages for women farmers to encourage them to, and to recognize those who excel in the field of agriculture at special state events, to inspire other women farmers.

The Communiqué called for increased financial and technical support to women’s groups as well as focused steps to introduce into rural areas, simple technologies for processing vegetables and staple food crops to halt post harvest losses, while creating vital job opportunities.

It called for more support to NGOs which utilized sustainable development strategies that created local leadership opportunities for women as well as build local capacity for self reliant development, through the creation of community based animators in critical areas such as sexual and reproductive health, legal literacy, credit management, functional literacy, agricultural extension, HIV and AIDS education, counseling and referral services which benefited women.

DOVVSU Affirms Commitment to Curb Domestic Violence

2010-03-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

DOVVSU Affirms Commitment to Curb Domestic Violence

Daily Graphic; Tuesday, MARCH 16, 2010; Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Salome Donkor

Ghana has achieved gains in various areas, including education and development of national laws, policies and programmes aimed at championing the cause of women.

More and more people now understand that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is not just a goal but the key to sustainable development, economic growth and peace and security.

However, there is the need to pay more attention to the needs of women and children in the country and women advocates, women groups and related agencies unanimously upheld this view as the world commemorated the International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8.

A statement from the Ark Foundation, a gender based non-governmental organization, to celebrate the day, pointed out that although legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act, Person’s with Disability Act, Human Trafficking Act, Labour Act, among others, which have been passed, as well as the Affirmative Action Policy Guideline, policies on health, particularly relating to maternal mortality and AIDS, there is still some work to be done.

Media reports indicate that, while there had been advances over the past years to enhance gender equality and the empowerment of women, with the establishment of Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service to expanded to all regional capitals, violence against women continue to be a problem in Ghana. The national prevalence of one in three women having being physically assaulted by an intimate partner still remains unchanged and statistic from the DOVVSU shows that violence against is still unacceptably high.

In support of the fight against all forms of discrimination against women on the occasion of the celebration of the International Women’s Day, the national secretariat of DOVVSU, on behalf of the Inspector general of Police, has reaffirmed the DOVVSU commitment to protect and promote the welfare of women by preventing, apprehending, and prosecuting abusers of women and children’s rights.

A statement signed by the coordinating Director of the Unit, Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Dassa, said “We celebrate their commitment to improve on the lot of their families, communities an the Ghanaian society at large and also seize this occasion to doff our hats to our dedicated stakeholders who have been consistent in the support of our efforts.’’

The statement said violence against women and gender-based violence were still rife in the society and such cases accounted for three-quarters of the over 95,000 cases so far recorded by the Unit.

It said Ghanaians should remember that violence against women and gender-based violence fragrantly violated the fundamental human rights of women and girls, as they impacted negatively on their survival and development and urged all to resolve to co-operate with the unit or any police station to arrest perpetrators.

Women Farmers Appeal for Support

2010-03-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Women Farmers Appeal for Support
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 16 March, 2010; (Gender and Children), Page 11
Alhandu Abdul Hamid, Tango

Women are the most predominant force in the Agricultural sector with about 87 per cent involved in food production.

Although Agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy and contributes 80 per cent to total national revenue, women in the sector lack access to and control over productive resources such as land livestock, they also lack access to credit opportunities and these factors contribute to their low standards of living.

Women farmers in the Tallensi/Nabdan District of the Upper East Region, who are facing similar problems, have appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to support them with agricultural extension services.

The farmers who are heads of households in the communities in the district, indicated that the providing them with these services will not only help to sustain their farming activities but will also ensure food security for their households.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic at the forum organized by Action Aid in collaboration with BONATADU, a local non-governmental organization based in the Upper East Region, the secretary of Laamtaaba Women’s group, Madam Veronica Gbandaan said Female –headed-house-holds in the region face a lot of challenges.

She noted that apart from the challenge of getting agricultural extension services, they were also faced with the problem of getting bullock plough and tractor services to prepare their fields.

The officer in charge of Food Right and Climate Change of Action Aid Ghana, Mr. Joseph Degbedzui said action aid and BONATADU share a common vision of eradicating poverty in the country.

He said a world without poverty and injustices would enable people live dignified lives hence their commitment to work with people who were excluded in their communities to achieve their development challenges. He mentioned some of the communities as Kulpeliga, Datoko, Sheaga, Winkogo-Dapore, Numgu and all in the Tallensi /Nabdam District.

An officer from the MOFA in the Tallensi/Nabdam District, Mr. Bernard My-Issah said a desk, had been specifically set up by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to cater for the specific needs of women.

He said MOFA had a Bullock Farm project which provides Bullock farm services as well as seeds to and fertilizer to beneficiaries to cultivate soya beans ,rice, tomato and sorghum ,who will after harvesting ,adding that it was a full cost recovery programme and urged the women to take advantage of the programme to improve their livelihood.

The Tallensi /Nabdam District coordinating Director Mr.Fuseini Alhassan said even though the assembly was faced with financial constraints due to the peculiar nature of the group, it was prepared to offer them free tractor services if they were prepared to fuel the tractors.

He thanked Action Aid Ghana for their continuous support, and added that for the past four years, they have been supporting the District in the area of agriculture, education and health which has seen conditions improving for the people in the District.

Celebrating Women-An Example of a Women Entrepreneur

2010-03-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Celebrating Women-An Example of a Women Entrepreneur
Daily Graphic; Wednesday, March 10, 2010; Page 7
Vicky Wireko

Monday, March 8, was a special to women the world over. It is the day specifically set aside by the United Nations to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Whereas elsewhere the day is celebrated with the exchange of gifts and flowers for women in appreciation of their roles and achievements, in Ghana, no official symbolic celebration in the real sense of recognizing achievements prevails.

However, according to a statement issued by the ministry of women and children affairs MOWAC, activities including a football gala among women’s groups, a cleanup exercise, symposium and exhibition have been lined up. Is the meaning of the day lost to us?

In my own small way, to celebrate the economic achievements of women in our society, l have decided to dedicate this column this week to the generality of the hardworking Ghanaians women that in many ways remains the toast of the society.

Very resourceful and resilient, many have held their families and their countries together in times of hardships .the irony however that is these people who are always on the line in times of conflict, discrimination, sexual violence, poverty, diseases and intimidation.

So as the global celebration caught up with us this year have decided to single out and showcase the entrepreneurial spirit of mother and a wife, Mrs. Awurabena Okra, whose success story in business continues to be a source of inspiration to many. Her resourcefulness has today become a case study for polytechnic students and young entrepreneurs who fall under the umbrella of National Board for Small Scale Industry (NSSSI).

A graduate of the University of Ghana and a postgraduate certificate holder from the University of Cape Coast, Awurabena left classroom teaching in the early eighties to pursue a past time which she had nurtured from childhood.

A risk one may have cautioned her at the time but no, risk taking is the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur .and so without any looking back, she forged on and successfully combined her god-given talent in stitching and a family trait in entrepreneurship (which she picked up from her mother) to create a full blown clothes and textile industry known today as Winglow at East Legon, Accra.

With a humble beginning of one sewing machine in her spare bedroom, and a determination to do something to supplement her family’s budget during those hardship days of the early 1980’s,Winglow has expanded so much that it now has 24 industrial sewing machines among several other machinery needed in the textile industry.

Awurabena has given lifetime occupations to many young men and women who have undergone training at her hands at Winglow Ltd and who are training others to manage their own dressmaking businesses. Currently the company employs 30 people on full-time basis. So how Mrs. Okra has nurtured past time made it to such celebrated heights in the textile and fashion industry?

Winglow started as a small outfit sewing for individuals and later for such big organizations as the Police, Military, private companies and some corporate institutions.

With time, she ventured into production on large scale and exporting finished goods to the US, Europe and some other parts of Africa. Today, the company designs its own materials with the Ghanaian symbols which make them unique and attractive to the export market.

Awurabena's venture into entrepreneurship has paid off well. She has won many local and international awards to her credit. In 2001, she won the International Award for her Quality and Commitment from Business Initiative Directives.

This was followed closely in 2002 by another award for Technology and Quality from Trade Leaders Club International. The awards she has picked up locally include the Mensah Sarbah Hall Alumni Celebrity Personality for 2003, the Ministry of Trade and Industry Bronze Award in 2004 for Entrepreneurship in Fashion and Export in 2005 from Accra Girls Secondary School.

As resourceful as she is, Awurabena has since 1997 participated in Trade Fairs and Exhibitions in countries such as USA, India, Angola, Namibia, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Liberia. At home, she participated in Fairs organized by the Ghana Trade Fairs Authority, the Association of Ghana Industries AGI), and the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council in Koforidua.

She has bettered herself by attending many international and local training courses both at home and abroad. Through these training sessions, she has been tutored in management and finance, entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprise, export, and machine embroidery.

She has in turn put some of the knowledge acquired from these training sessions to the benefit of young of young entrepreneurs and students from some tertiary institutions through facility visits to the Winglow factory and the provision of mentorship to some. She currently serves as a mentor to for some student members of AISEC at the University of Ghana, Legon.

The example of Winglow Ltd is a case of celebration for the simple reason that it has changed the face of textile manufacturing in our country and contributed to the training of our young ones to be the masters of their own businesses while giving employment to many others. And what better time to highlight this celebration than a time when the world the world is celebrating the achievements of women.

Years back when one heard or spoke about textiles industries, eyes were fixed on those multinational textile companies who dealt in our local designs.

Then later some large-scale local textiles industries came on board. But not anymore. Today, companies like Winglow Clothes and Textiles Ltd are busy in the design and production of quality clothing and embroided fabrics.

These fabrics that are exclusive, with excellent quality and are elegant by all standards manufactured specifically for both the local and exports markets. That has been the achievement of a resourceful Ghanaian woman, Awurabena Okra.

Like many other women working in the quiet and yet contributing in their own small ways to the economic ,social and political dynamics of our society, Monday was a day set aside to celebrate them as role models and clear examples for other women to aspire to their heights.
So on the occasion like this, we should not just be organizing clean exercise, football galas and talk shows. It is the time of the year that role models are played up.

It is the time we celebrate all women in general but give a special place to showcase in particular those women who have contributed to our economic, social and political successes through their own individual and corporate achievements. That should be the focus of the yearly International Day of the Woman. Happy Anniversary to the women of Ghana.

Domestic Violence Victims Support Fund Planned

2010-03-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Domestic Violence Victims Support Fund Planned
The Ghanaian Times, Tuesday, March 9, 2010; Page 3
Christabel Akoto-Manu & Suzy Ansah

Government is to set-up a fund supporting victims and survivors of domestic violence, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Hawawu Boya Gariba, has said. The government, she said, would provide the seed money for the fund whilst the country’s development partners provide material resources. Hajia Gariba made this known yesterday at a ceremony organized by members of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) to mark the International Women’s Day held under the theme “Equal Right, equal opportunity, progress for all, women with disability inclusive.” She said, “As a step in implementing the Domestic Violence Act, the secretariat that will co-ordinate the implementation of the Domestic Violence Plan of Action has been equipped through the support of the Royal Netherlands Government.”

The Deputy Minister said through collaboration effort of the MOWAC, the Domestic Violence Coalition and Civil Society groups, the Domestic Violence Act was being operationalised. The law, according to her, would protect mothers and their children, and particularly women and girls with disabilities since they were likely to be abused because of their condition.

The Deputy Minister, Hajia Gariba, said the Day was set aside to look at challenges facing women world-wide, celebrate their achievements, and look ahead to the exciting opportunities that awaited women in the future. She described the theme for the day as “appropriate” as it reflected the core mandate and value of the Ministry which included initiating and formulating policies and promoting gender mainstreaming across all sectors that would result in the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of women.

She said it was worth noting that this year’s celebration coincided with the 15th anniversary celebration of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) which was adopted by consensus on September 15, 1995. Its adaptation was statement of political commitment by participating government to advance the goals of equality development and peace for all women and girls, the disabled women inclusive.

Hajia Gariba said the extent to which the well-being and future of the physically challenged women and girls could be guaranteed in the country would depend on the amount of investment made in achieving equal rights for them in the broader content of the universal declaration of the fundamental human rights for all as contained in the BDFA and other international and national instruments. “Physically challenged women and girls are the most vulnerable in the society they face challenges restating to their gender as women and discrimination celebrating to their disability” she mentioned.

Hajia Gariba stated that the contribution of GFD towards the protection and care of physically challenged in general and particularly women in the country was tremendous and had helped to keep the flame of the fight for equal rights and protection for the physically challenged burning all this year. Mr. Enock Teye Mensah, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, said gender activism was something he always advocated. “Women are very powerful and important in our societies and nation at large but they have not been appreciated and recognized” he said, and commended the federation for bringing up such an initiative for women with disability on the International Women’s Day.

Mr. Mensah said the International Women’s Day was a major day of global celebration of love, respect, economic and political freedom for women and should be celebrated as such including those with disabilities. The President of the Ghana Association for the Blind (GAB), Cecilia Bartholomew, said they day was to enable women and girls with disability to draw the world’s attention to their plight and also to demonstrate their capabilities.

Advertisers and Churches are Abusing the Rights of Women

2010-03-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

Advertisers and Churches are Abusing the Rights of Women
The Ghanaian Times; Monday, March 8, 2010; Page
Kinsley Asare

A member of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr. Berfi Appenteng has expressed concern about the excessive use of children in advertisements and called for a regulatory framework to control the trend.

Mr. Appenteng who is also the Managing Director of TV Africa said this on Friday at the investiture of the new executive council members of the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) in Accra last Friday.

He raised misgivings about the increasing practice of churches showing children and women on television during healing processes, saying that it was a violation of their human rights.He further criticized the emerging trends where radio stations advertised medicines and invited the public to the station to buy such drugs.

Mr. Appenteng said these were challenging times for the media and the advertising industry because their audiences were getting fragmented and warned that the situation would get worse in the next couple of decades with the introduction of digital broadcasting. Mr. Appenteng therefore, encouraged the media and the advertisers association to come out with quality products to meet the competition in the industry.

The out-going president of AAG, Reginald Daniel Laryea, in his address, commended the council and members of the association for their support which had ensured his successful tenure of office.

Outlining some of the achievements of the association during his tenure of office, Mr. Laryea said the association developed a five-year strategic plan; Ghana chapter of the International Advertising Association was formed and also the association was appointed as the country representative at the International Advert Festival.

Other achievements were the formalization of the Institute of Advertising to train personnel of agencies and others interested as professional advertising practioners, presentation of the National Standard for Outdoor advertising to the Ghana Standards Board for gazetting and admission of individual members into the association for the first time in the history of the industry.

Mrs. Norkor Duah, the new president of AAG in her acceptance speech said many countries were struggling to come out of the global economic crisis. Ghana, she said was not spared, creating a crippling effect on the advertising industry, adding ‘We are faced with tremendous challenges as shown in drastic cuts in advertising budgets and promotional activities’.

‘Consequently, advertising agencies have suffered set-backs. We are saddled with dwindling business revenue, making it difficult for us to operate’ she said.

Mindful of these limitations, Mrs. Duah said her team was coming out to implement a strategy designed to revive and sustain the growth of the industry. ‘This requires going back to the basics, the core existence of this association. It implies that we work more in unison now than ever, with our clients and partners, especially the media.’

The 16-member new executive council members, who are to serve for two years, were sworn in by Justice Novisi Aryene, a High Court Judge.

Promoting Women’s Cause must be Collective-MOWAC

2010-03-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

Promoting Women’s Cause must be Collective-MOWAC
The Ghanaian Times; Monday, March 8, 2010; Page 6
Times Reporter

On the occasion of International Women’s Day today, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs has asked all to join hands in ensuring an equal and just society where women and girls can develop their potentials.

‘Let us join hands in ensuring an equal and just society where women and girls like their male counterparts are able to develop their full potential without any social, cultural or economic impediments,’ the ministry said, in statement signed by the Deputy Minister Hawawu Boya Gariba.

It congratulated Ghanaian women for their invaluable contribution to the development of their families and the nation and wished all women and girls a happy International Women’s Day.
Meanwhile, to mark the occasion, the Ministry has outlined a number of activities which include, clean-up exercises, symposia and exhibitions.

The events, the statement said, would be u the laudable achievements and progress made so far and the challenges met in advancing gender issues and addressing the 12 critical areas of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).

The critical areas include various legislations, policies, institutions and mechanisms in place to advance the cause of women and the promotion of equal rights and opportunities for women, men, girls and boys.

NETRIGHT reminds gov't of promise to women

2010-03-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

NETRIGHT reminds gov't of promise to women

As we mark International Women's Day (IWD), the Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) would like to congratulate all women in Ghana for their contributions towards their own empowerment and gender equality in the face of the many barriers that confront them.

NETRIGHT also wishes to use the occasion to call on the Government of Ghana to translate its promises to promoting women's rights as contained in its party manifesto into concrete actions to achieve true equality for women.

This year's celebration of International Women's Day which falls on March 8 is particularly relevant as an important milestone. Beijing + 15 is being celebrated, with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) currently holding its 54th Session in New York to review progress towards gender equality since the hosting of the ground- breaking Fourth World Conference on Women.

Even though a number of conferences on women have been organised since 1975, it was after the landmark Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 that the global community came up with an internationally agreed plan, namely, the Beijing Platform for Action, to address the many barriers women face in achieving full equality.

The Platform for Action contains 12 critical areas of concern to women in Ghana. There has been some level of progress in meeting the targets set around issues such as Girl Child Education and Violence Against Women. Yet even as women continue to work hard and advocate for concrete actions to address their concerns, the overall advance towards gender equality and promotion of women's rights has been slow and with little effect in terms of real changes in women's lives.

In Ghana, women's political participation is not rising in any significant way. Indeed the last national elections in Parliament saw a reduction in. women's representation in Parliament from 9.6 percent to 8.6 percent. This is in spite of the keen interest women have demonstrated as public decision-makers.

In the area of employment, many women in Ghana are active in the work force but more than half of them are in vulnerable jobs either as self-employed persons or as unpaid family workers in the informal economy with minimum access to credit. Women also have lower inheritance and ownership rights.

Women's health, especially reproductive health is another area of major concern. Unacceptably high levels of death occur every year III Ghana from complications related to pregnancy and child birth. On violence against women, even as the Domestic Violence Law has been passed, implementation has been slow and opposing violence against women in its entirety and holding perpetrators accountable is still a critical issue.

As we celebrate Women's Day therefore, we need to seize upon the excitement around the Beijing + 15 review processes to continue to demand accountability to women's rights and gender equality. This means we have to strengthen our coalitions and mobilisation efforts and demand the needed resources to translate global and national commitments into actions that point out that "progress for women is progress for all" as this year's theme says. A real difference in the lives of Ghanaian women is what is needed after the Beijing + 15 review meeting.

Issued by NETRIGHT on March 5, 2010

Signed by Convenor, Akua Britwum

Statistics on gender needed

2010-02-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Statistics on gender needed
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, February, 23, 2010; Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

Gender statistics are the body of statistics compiled, analysed and presented by sex, reflecting gender issues in society. This statistics needs to be produced in close co-operation with users to respond to the needs of policy makers, planner, researcher, the media and the public.

According to statisticians, in order for users’ needs to be fully considered, it is necessary to examine gender concerns and goals in society and identify the necessary statistics and indicators to address them with adequate policies and plans to assess and monitor related issues.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) defines gender statistics as a field of statistics that cuts across the traditional fields to identify, produce and disseminate statistics that reflect the realities of the lives of women and men and policy issues relating to gender. Gender statistics, it says, allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues.

Gender issues are determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men and it encompasses all aspects and concerns with how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities and how they react to changes, interventions and policies.

According to gender advocates, gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics, according to advocates, are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.

Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produces taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that data, both on the individual as well as those not directly related to individuals, are collected, compiled, and analysed taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently – this, according to advocates, can be called gender mainstreaming of statistics.

The impact of data collected on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors, according to gender advocates, must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis and presentation.

They say that although the presentation of information on women and men follows the general rules for statistical presentation, one must keep in mind that the presentation aims at facilitating comparisons between women and men, as well as increasing the awareness of gender differentials.

Advocates further contend that the main point is not the mere existence of such differences, but the fact that these differences should not have a negative impact the living conditions of both women and men, should not discriminate against them and should contribute to an equal sharing of power in economy, society and policy-making processes.

Some policy areas where gender statistics have been identifies to influence include population, families and households, work and the economy, education and communication, public life and decision-making, health, crime and violence.

It is inline with ensuring that gender statistics are incorporated in data collection in that country that they Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with support from the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has set up a gender statistic working group made up of experts from government and non-governmental agencies to identify gender gaps in the production of statistics in the country.

The group, which was launched in Accra, held its first meeting and made of researchers, gender advocates, UN agencies, civil organization and academia, will also outline how gender statistics should be produced and used and how it use should be promoted by government, planning bodies, the media, research institutions and other stakeholders.

The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, in an address said the Beijing Platform for Action adopted for nations 15 years ago emphasized the need to disaggregate data by sex across board so as to produce data by sex.

She said there was a need to re-look at the statistical system in the country, since a change in the way of data collection would be met with some resistance as new forms would have to be designed for administrative purposes.

She said the time had come for the country to move the issues of gender statistics forward by striving to ensure that a conscious effort was made to bridge the knowledge gap in gender mainstreaming.

The UNIFEM Country Representative, Ms Afua Ansre, in a remark said Ghana had acceded to all international requirements to make gender equality a reality in the country.

She said a sex disaggregated data was needed in all areas of policy making in the country, saying, that without such data, the country could not meet its international obligations with regards to gender mainstreaming.

She also called on the government to make use of such data when they are generated, saying that although the GSS had some genders disaggregated data it was underutilised.

A director at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Patience Opoku, in a remark said developing a sex disaggregated data would help the ministry to achieve its mandate of ensuring that issues of women were given the needed priority.

She said the ministry was preparing to actively showcase its achievements at the forthcoming women to be held in New York next month.

The Regional Coordinator, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Ms Diana Tempelman, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the group, said the lack of gender statistics was a major constraint in developing gender responsive policies and programmes.

She said statistics and indicators on gender relations were needed for informed policy decision and monitoring of programmes, saying that the group would help improve the capacity of both producers and users of gender statistic to produce and use gender-sensitive indicators and sex disaggregated data to inform policy formulation, monitoring and reporting.

Women Sweep Awards

2010-02-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

Women Sweep Awards
Daily Graphic, Monday, February 22, 2010; Page 57
Adwoa Buahema

Out of 30 entrepreneurs who participated in a rigorous three-week training exercise, 15 qualified to partake in a competitive 13-week TV reality show for a winning prize that will uplift their business game.

In a novel state-of-the-art Bullseye Marketing initiative dubbed Lift Your Game (LYG), women swept five final positions.

This is the first of its kind known in Ghana, LYG’s goal is to unleash business potential and create at least 100 new direct and indirect jobs in Ghana.

The initiative responds to several present and pressing market needs across Africa, explore real yet often elusive basic requirements in business, commands attention and indulgence from seasoned practitioners, questions prohibitively rigid credit policies for MSMEs in our financial institution, and challenges the ordinary folk in the informal sector to dare ‘fall off their cliff’ and glide into astounding returns.

And astounding indeed have been the results. The participants, who came from a diverse mix of ages, locations and industries, interacted with a team f experienced local resource persons chosen for their extensive filed knowledge, experienced, proven integrity and track record.

They expressed profound satisfaction and unqualified gratitude to the organisers, first for a uniquely enriching learning experience, and secondly for the positive exposure the programme has brought to their businesses.

Transformed through the renewal of their business perspectives, self-esteem and confidence, many of these participants have already taken new actions such as cutting down on production costs with compromising value, improving staff and client relations, streamlining legal and financial processes, strategic marketing and targeted selling, offering free services alongside the optimisation of sales, and pursuing strategic alliances which have significantly increased returns, even up to a projected 400 per cent increase.

Of particular interest, however, is the impressive performance of the female contestants which highlights an issue of global development interest: Empowering women.

Out of a total of nine women, five of them took the finalist position by storm. The Guest of Honour at the ceremony, the Minster of Trade, Miss Hannah Tetteh, congratulated the finalists for demonstrating exceptional business acumen.

They were: Vida Sarpong, CEO of Visap Seafood Enterprise, who is in the business of fish processing and distribution; Rosemond Asamoah, CEO of Women’s World Beauty, in the business of personal grooming and care; Christine Osie Doe of Unique Coffee Shop who processes mango jam and distributes to retail stores; Horlase Anku is a moringa farmer who wants to extend the benefits of moringa to her community; Jessie Bartels, who won the competition, is the CEO of Renom Food Farm, a mushroom and grasscutter farming company in Dodowa.

A panel of judges accounted for 70 per cent of votes, while the general public carried 30 per cent.

So given equal opportunities and socio-economic incentives, are women better entrepreneurs?

A study using an Austrian economic model of entrepreneurship analsyed why women in enterprise is still a relatively untapped economic resource. It discussed a list of obstacles women face in entrepreneurship process such as lack of role models, type of education, gendering of entrepreneurship, weak social status, competing demands on time (such as family responsibilities), and access to finance.

In response to research results by the Centre of Asia Pacific Studies on GE Money Bank (GEMB) targeted women, whose anecdotal evidence showed continued to be disadvantaged because of their gender, with many parents, especially in the rural areas, still preferring to send males to school, often at the expense of females; and in 2006, partnered with Let’s Go Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on entrepreneurship education, to develop its corporate citizenship programme that focuses on empowering women through entrepreneurship.

They created a curriculum for entrepreneurship training programme specifically tailored to the needs of would-be women entrepreneurs, and partnered with other women groups to implement the newly devised curriculum.

The goal was to teach women to venture into entrepreneurship even before finishing school so that they could become, after schooling, not job seekers but job providers.

Curiously, in the same year, out of 40 countries studied, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2006 discovered that only in the Philippines were women significantly more active in starting up businesses than men. Could this be a result of the developmental initiatives to uplift their quality of life and that of others, while generating the revenue of the Philippines?

In Ghana, it is recorded that women more often satisfy loan obligation than their male counterparts, yet they continue to face rigid read tape, counterproductively high interest rates, and sometimes rejection by financial institutions.

Often the industries chosen by women, primarily retail, education and other services are perceived to be less important for economic growth and development than the male predominated high technology and manufacturing industries. But the trade-offs of these “less important” trades, both tangible and intangible, are enormous for communities.

By all count, Lift Your Game is innovative, proactive, powerful, relevant and spot-on responsive, and needs to be sustained to enrich our society; and certainly, such laudable initiatives require committed partnerships with financial institutions to thrive.

Would our established financial institutions be willing to seriously bank on MSME’s, specifically women entrepreneurs, as exemplified in the Philippines to encourage them to create jobs?

But be it as may, more and more women are venturing into venture capital. With training they are better poised to embrace and overcome some of the gnawing bottlenecks in today’s market for MSMEs in general, and women in particular, and Bullseye Marketing is committed to helping transform those who dare to start into successful job creators through cutting edge entrepreneurial training.

Lift Your Game was sponsored by MTN and supported by the BDS Fund. Bullseye Marketing is also the brainchild of the popular, award-winning “M’asem” programme on TV 3.

Group to Generate Statistics on Gender

2010-02-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

Group to Generate Statistics on Gender
The Ghanaian Times, Thursday February 18, 2010; Page 16
Edmund Mingle & Benjamin Sekyere Owusu

A Gender Statistics Working Group (GSWG), a group of gender development experts working to enhance statistical data on gender, was launched in Accra with a call for the provision of accurate data on gender.

The GSWG, an initiative of the Ghana Statistical Service in collaboration with the United Nations Developmental Fund for Women is aimed at facilitating the development of statistical data to aid effective planning for the growth of both the male and female gender.

The launch which was also to kick-start the meeting of the group had the theme, “Gender mainstreaming for equitable development,” Dr. Grace Bediako, Government Statistician in her address, called for improvement in the development and use of statistics on the gender in the country was not impressive.

That, she said, was affecting the implementation of national planning programs, especially those relating to poverty alleviation, since the present data on women and children was not adequate.
Even with the existing data, she said not much was being used for the development of women and children saying there was the need to maximize the use of data.

“We must make headway” she stressed, adding that without that, the objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action would not be attained in Ghana.

Ms Diana Tempelman, Regional Coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization in her keynote address, lauded the formation of the group indicating that without accurate data three would not be effective planning for gender development. “This is the ground breaking event in the area of gender data development," she said.

Describing the work of the group as an absolute necessity for gender planning, Ms Templeman was hopeful that the provision of accurate data would enhance Ghana’s attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mrs. Benedicta Kwame, Chief Economic Planning Officer at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, launching the initiative, urge all stakeholders to be committed and effectively contributed to towards achieving the objectives of the GSWG.

The members of the GSWG are drawn from the academia, government ministries, civil society groups security agencies and international development agencies.

Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions- A myth or reality?

2010-02-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions- A myth or reality?
Daily Graphic, February 11, 2010; Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

A report of a recent research by Professor Luoise Morley and Dr Kattie Lussier of the University of Sussex, UK, that established that some male lecturers in Ghana and Tanzania “consider it their right to demand sex for grades”, has stirred discussions in various circles. The two conducted 200 interviews with academics and policy makers and 200 life-history interviews with students. They wrote their study after encountering widespread reports of sexual harassment suffered by female students during separate research on widening participation in the two countries’ higher education systems.

In a paper, Sex, Grades and Power: Gender Violence in Africa Higher Education, they said the “hierarchical power relations within universities appear to have neutralized a sexual contract in which some male academics consider it their right to demand sex for grades. This has led to the “constructive of negative female learner identities”, they added, and explained that “if women fail, this is seen as evidence of their lack of academic abilities and preparedness of higher education. If they achieve academically, this is attributed to prostitution”.

A survey conducted by the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) in 2003 defined sexual harassment as any unwelcome conduct, comment, gesture or contact of sexual nature, whether on a one time basis or a series of incidents, that might cause offence, humiliation, awkwardness or embarrassment, or that might reasonably be conceived as placing a condition of a sexual nature on employment, opportunity for promotion, grades, etc.

Sexual harassment negatively affects a woman’s psychological and or physical well being and or leads to negative job or academic environment-related consequences for her. In the educational environment, the phenomenon which normally affects girls and women more than boys and men, has a potential to erode the future of many female pupils and students who are mostly the victims but do not have access to any counseling or channels for redress.

Professor Morley, Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research at Sussex and lead research, said sexual harassment in universities was not limited to Africa. “It’s a global issue,” she told Times Higher Education. “It’s about power and the abuse of power.” Professor Morley, who hopes to research the issue further, said the interview showed that sexual harassment had become “normalized” within some universities. Male students’ assumption about “prostitution” among their female peers “diminished women’s achievements,” she said recent findings by the United Nations suggest that sexual exploitation and abuse within schools is widespread but largely an unrecognized problem in many countries. The closed nature of the school environment according to the UN meant that students could be at great risk of sexual exploitation.

However the Vice Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Prof. Kwesi Kwarfo Adarkwa, according to media reports, had denied that such a thing existed in that particular university. Prof. Adarkwa said female students were outperforming their male counterparts, adding that the university’s quality assurance office ensured students got quality education.

Some lecturers and students, however, think otherwise and a family life counselor and lecturer at the Engineering Faculty, Vincent Akwaa, said his encounter with female students indicate widespread harassment from male lecturer, and points out that some female students who were faced with academic challenges approached lecturers for such favours. Some students who were interviewed on a Kumasi-based radio station also confirmed that sexual harassment of female students by male lecturers was real. “It’s not a perception, it’s a reality. It goes on in every campus and the lecturers cannot deny it,” one student said.

The 2003 AWLA survey involved a total of 789 women respondents made up of 440 (56 per cent) workers and 349 (44 per cent) students. It called for awareness creation on this phenomenon and to combat the incident at the workplace and academic environment. It also recommended the need to formulate ‘based practices’ in the workplace and academia to minimize the incident of sexual harassment.

It also advocated co-operation between key players and stakeholders in a formal workplace environment and academia, and to sensitize the government to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. Among some of the most common effects experienced by respondents in the AWLA survey were anger (48 percent), followed by surprise, disgust, indifference shame and fear. A total of 29 per cent of respondents said their experience of sexual harassment had a detrimental effect on the productivity and described loss of concentration, loss of interest, and low academic performance among other as some of the effects on productivity. Seventy-six respondents (15 per cent) expressed fear of losing their jobs or academic standing. When asked whether or not the experience had been reported to a superior person, 360 respondents (73 per cent) responded in the negative and 129 (26 per cent) responded in the affirmative. Only 19 per cent of the 129 respondents who reported the conduct to their superiors received a positive response. While 24 per cent of these respondents indicated that their harassers were queried.

The Women’s Commissioner on the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ms Evelyn Ampomah Nkansah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said most tertiary institutions in the country did not have a sexual harassment policy to address such sexual advances in schools. According to her although some lecturers may be at fault, it could not be ruled out that some female students also indulge in the practice of ‘sex for grades’ because they did not want to learn.
According to her, such issues, when reported to the authorities, were normally dealt with as and when they happened without the schools having any proper or laid down guidelines to tackle them. The Women’s Commissioner said so far many of such reports were informal as students who became victims were not bold enough to report to the school authorities for fear of being victimized in their examination and therefore most of them suffer in silence.

As a way of helping to curb the issue, Ms Nkansah said her outfit undertook seminars and programmes on the various campuses to educate female students on their gender and reproductive rights, unsafe abortions among other, to ensure that the young ladies were empowered to know their rights sexually.

Most of the tertiary institutions in the country do not have comprehensive policies on sexual harassment and this therefore makes it difficult for such situations to be handled professionally. Also with the springing up of many diploma awarding institutions and private universities, the issues of sexual harassment has become more complex as it is difficult to track what goes on in all the institutions. Speaking to some heads of faculties in some tertiary institutions, the general consensus was that they did not have separate laws to tackle sexual harassment but that laws on sexual harassment were captured in the schools general policies that dealt with other issues such as drug abuse, misconduct, among other deviant behaviours.

A Human Rights Activist and Lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur, in a reaction to the UK survey findings said there was the need for tertiary institutions in the country to have separate policy guidelines on sexual harassment as the issue has become rampant.

According to her, the National Council on Tertiary Education which had oversight responsibility for the tertiary education in the country should come up with a law that would mandate all tertiary institutions to have separate policies on sexual harassment, since the issue has become a pervasive one affecting most tertiary institutions in the country.

She said international practices has clear policies on sexual harassment, which according to her were gender neutral and could be accessed by all. She explained that the issue of sexual harassment in schools has become one of power relations where the vulnerable ones had no alternative but to accept such proposals from their superiors. “We need such policies to give victims the provision on what constitute sexual harassment and how victims could report so that students who fell victims would be able to report to the school authority for the appropriate action to be taken.

Nana Oye said making a sexual harassment policy part of the general policy of an institution was not good enough and termed it as a “weak policy”, which according to her would not encourage students to report the conduct of their lecturers for fear of being failed or referred. She reinforced the AWLA survey which said “the fact that very few women will report sexual harassment to the police or to an investigative or advocacy institution suggests that the profile of these institutions must be raised so that more people are aware that they may bring complains to them. However, the ability of these institutions to deliver satisfactory responses to complainants must also be improved.”

CHRAJ intervention in a case of forced marriage

2010-02-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

But for the intervention of CHRAJ, a 15 year old girl would have been forced to marry a 70 year old man, as his fourth wife. Read the rest of the story here.

Rescue women from religious charlatans

2010-02-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

Rescue women from religious charlatans
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, February, 2, 2010; Page 9
Kofi Bentum Quantson

This is not about women physically locked up in prisons or police cells through a default of the criminal justice system.

Neither is it about women virtually physically confined to homes of abusive and violent men courtesy of an outmoded cultural environment that bars them from breaking free into freedom.

And it is not about women burdened with totally collapsed or clearly unworkable marriages from which they cannot escape because of ancient religious taboos imposed by male chauvinist centuries ago. Nor is t it about women, who out of fatal love, or actual compassion, have rescued themselves to the domination of men who treats them like beasts of burden or men or articles of decoration to satisfy social commitments, or equipment for their crude sexual appetites.

This is about women in the captivity of organized and commercialised religious crooks and charlatans. These are vulnerable women whose truck loads of spiritual, psychological and emotional problems drive them into deceitful but welcome arms of spurious pastors, prophets, miracle-working evangelists and so on.

These women are easily identifiable. The form the bulk of the membership of the so-called spiritual or charismatic churches and a host of prayer camps and temples all over the country.

You will find many them on Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays, in white headgear or white tops, hugging bottles and containers of “holy water” for drinking and for washing away evil.

Or canes or leather whips for lashing the devil during All Night sessions. Also in the luggage will be olive oil and perfume, usually florida water for protecting against satanic spirits and attracting God’s angels like St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. George.

Some of these women are full-time members of the spiritual groups. Others belong to the “Traditional Churches,” but patronize these groups on part-time basis. So typically on Sundays they would dress gorgeously “to go and worship God,” then on other days they would go for prayers.

But who have captured these women? They are the charlatans, crooks and fraudsters who have turned true religion into the unholy mechanism for deceiving and duping gullible people, especially our women folk.

You will hear some of them on the airwaves polluting the atmosphere with screams and threats of hell; advertising the awful powers of the devil and how helpless people are unless they, the religious crooks, intervene. That is the type of men of slavery which subjects the vulnerable and gullible into a state of chronic fear and despair that is fascism in perverted religion.

You can see some of them on television displaying swanky fashionable shirts or elaborated pontified costumes, some weird and ridiculous. And of course you cannot miss their very practiced sermonisation and their drama-style physical posturing.

You will find some of them too, the itinerant ones, in buses, tro-tros, at the market, lorry stations and so on. Some typify every aspect of negative aspect of religious practices that should not be encouraged.

Especially where because of the mounting craze for miracles, some resort to underhand satanic magical procedures to deceive people that is that power of God and the Holy Spirit in action. That is damnable miracles have become the trick for criminal exploitation.

All that aside, they way they scream out their skewed understanding of misinterpretation of scripture contains seeds for political trouble. In this age of ICT, how do go about preaching that some people are God’s chosen people and that all others are destined for the roaring fires of Lucifer’s hell.

How do you insist that we should all cross River Jordan to reach Jerusalem, the headquarters of Heaven, where on Judgment Day, we will all line-up to be judged? That is subtle religious subversion. Christians, Moslems, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Agnostics, Athesists, Pagans, Nihilists and so on. As many people have traveled far and wide can confirm the kind of Christianity we are practicing and developing, can, if not checked, lead to serious religious consequences. The reason is clear. We seem to be drifting further from the very simple directive given by the Master Christian Himself, Jesus the Christ.

When asked by His disciples which is the greatest commandment, His answers was clear, simple and direct, Love the Lord, with everything you have. Then love your neighbour as yourself. I repeat. This directive is clear, very clear. So why are Christians creating and multiplying problems with all sort of theories and weird practices that are distracting us from the master’s path and actually leading us astray? No wonder the expensive joke that the devil in on vacation because organized religion is busy accomplishing the devil’s task.

Did the Master not teach His disciples that “if you ask my Father anything in my name, He will grant it”? So are not surprised to hear, in many churches, screaming appeals and supplications to the Master Jesus Himself, and not to the Father in
Jesus’ name?

The really distressing aspect is those who shout instructions to God, ordering Him on how He should run His would. As if it is mortal man who created the world. The most terrible part of this impudent blasphemy are those who actually order God to destroy or kill the perceived enemies.

Where is mortal man heading?

Indeed, it is baffling that we choose to ignore the central principle that God is one. That He is the Source of All Life and the Author of all Creation. His sun shines on everybody and everything. The Lord’s prayer taught by the Master should be better appreciated. “Our father,” not your father or my father, Our father… Amen.

But all that is not my immediate worry. My work is about the way some of our vulnerable women are being exploited by religious crooks, imposters and charlatans in the name of God. It is an enslavement more destructive than the physical bondage of chains and handcuffs. Because this works like an invisible poisonous tranquilising substance, eating away slowly but surely and subverting the very being of our women folk. It is a deadly cancerous danger.

I do not think all women’s rights advocates have fully comprehended this aspect of destruction of our mothers, our wives and our sisters. If they have, I wonder whether they are responding productively. We should not wait for some foreign-based NGOs to come and organise seminars and pay us per diem before we suddenly bristle with alacrity!

So let’s take a leaf from that wise man. Destroy man and you destroy an individual. Destroy a woman and you destroy a nation.

ABANTU selected for UNIFEM grant

2010-01-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

ABANTU selected for UNIFEM grant
Daily Graphic, Thursday, 21st January, 2010; Page 11, (Gender & Children)

ABANTU for Development, a gender and policy advocacy organization based in Ghana, is one of the six organizations in sub-Saharan Africa selected as recipients of United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM’s) Catalytic Grant for Gender Equality for the 2009 grant cycle.

The other beneficiary organizations are from Cameroun, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda. The Fund’s Catalytic Grant category is one of two types of high-impact grants designed to advance innovative programmes which focus on women’s economic and political empowerment at local and national levels worldwide.

UNIFEM announced in a press release in New York this week that the new UNIFEM-managed mutli-lateral Fund for Gender Equality received 543 applications for the Catalytic Category from across the world and 27 were selected in 26 countries- 89 per cent led by civil society organizations and 11 per cent by government agencies.

The recently established Fund is designed to advance innovative programmes aimed at accelerating efforts to advance commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Conventional on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and other global and regional agreements.

The recipients represent broad regional and thematic diversity. Their initiatives range from supporting women in the informal sector to increasing greater political participation by women. Initiatives also focus on women facing hazards of food security and climate change to indigenous women and those in high-risk groups, such as women affected by HIV and AIDS.

Let’s protect victims of gender-based violence

2010-01-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

Let’s protect victims of gender-based violence
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 19th January, 2010; Page 6, (Gender and Children)
Adolf Awuku Bekoe

I was glued to my television set savouring the thoughtful and well-articulated responses to questions posed to President J.E.A. Mills by the media during his recent encounter with the press at the Castle.

Then came the turn of Eyram Acolaste of Metro TV. I was excited about her intervention because I had waited all morning during the encounter to hear something said for women and children.

Her concern to Mr. President was about the need for shelter for abused women and children and this was that I thought I heard Mr. President say, “We don’t have enough resources,” ‘what are our priorities?’ if what I heard was what he really said, then it is clear that victims/survivors of gender based violence are not a priority worthy of spending hard-earned national resources, on.

So it does not matter how often the Ministry for Women and Children’s Affairs inundates the Cabinet with the concerns of victims/survivors of violence, the Cabinet’s response would be “lack of resources.” The Cabinet must be a lonely place for Ms Dansua indeed! Many questions arose from the President’s comments.

Is the Cabinet-status position of MOWAC enough to secure women their fair share of the national cake? How influential is the voice of the minister? Is government really concerned about the safety of Ghanaians, particularly women and children? And finally, is there hope for the resuscitation of the Department of Social Welfare which has been in ‘coma’ for a long time and is now slipping off its life support?

If I were to rely on only the President’s interaction with the media for answers to the above questions, I would sink into a long period of major depression.

This is because, there was nothing to clutch on to optimistically respond to the above questions. The President’s responses did not offer hope for many women and children, who are wreathing in pain because of gender-based violence and homeless because they have no peace in their homes.

Worst still, others have become lifeless and bound for the cemetery because no one stood for them; Oh yes, with no money to build them safe houses, they could not defend themselves against the rage of their assailants, most of whom, unfortunately, are their intimate partners.

It is not my aim to proffer detailed answers to the above questions today, at a later date, I will attempt to do so, at least with the help of those who are in a position to tell me I did not hear the President right.

In the meantime, I would say that the President’s responses mean more than there is no money to build shelters. His declaration is a reflection of a deep-seated pedestrian attitude of policy makers to social welfare issues in the country.

Any wonder the Department of Social Welfare is in such a sordid state. The anguish, lamentations and sheer resilience of victims/survivors are enough to arouse any dead cell in me to stand with them. I am not alone in this regard; there are many advocates across the length and breadth of this country who are doing so much work with meager resources to affirm the humanity of victims/survivors.

I know some of you are busily finalising your work plans for the year and are devastating and humiliated by the President’s remarks as you dialogue with your donors.

To be fair to the President, every government must have priorities; so it is good to hear him talk about priorities. In the same vein, citizens have priorities based on which they are supposed to enter into a social pact with a political party that best articulates these priorities in an election year and vote them into government. Without doubt, I believe that the women of Ghana, convinced by their own plight and that of her children, voted for the Mills administrations so that they could be guaranteed safety. Safety, therefore, is a priority for women and children.

In the 2005 budget, the Australian government announced a Women’s Safety agenda programme at a cost of 75.7 million over four years. Five years down the line, a government under the leadership of a President, who not too long ago in New York extolled his government’s commitment to women’s empowerment, says there are no resources to protect women and children and protecting them is not a priority for his government.

Well, Mr. President, safety is a priority for Ghanaian women and children. Fortunately, your administration is not at the end of its term; in fact you are just a year into your term and you can quickly make protection for women and children a priority without losing focus.

Lest I forget, whilst the President says there is no money, the Dutch government has committed millions of euros over the next three years for the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. Is domestic violence in Ghana the priority of the Dutch government? Why should the Dutch government sweat for the pepper Ghanaians have chewed? When at all shall we learn to put our money where our mouth is?

The President and his government must find money and build us shelters; this is what governments who care for their people do; they respect the laws of the land. Building shelters for abused women and children is a provision in the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732)!

Woman accused of witchcraft calls for justice

2010-01-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

Woman accused of witchcraft calls for justice
Daily Graphic, Thursday, 13th January, 2010; Page 11, (Gender and Children)
Chris Nunoo, Wa

A 52-year old woman from Sokpeyiri, a village in the Wa West District in the Upper West Region, who was allegedly subjected to inhumane treatment by a soothsayer and two other persons is calling for justice.

The woman, Madam Sunkari Ghanyi, said she felt humiliated, depressed and demoralized when she was wrongly accused of being a witch and having a hand in the death of her husband’s relative for which she was forced to drink a concoction, which since had some psychological effects of her.

She explained that the concoction was made of the blood of a slaughtered fowl mixed with water and sand, as well as the chopped legs of a live taod.

Madam Ghanyi, who was in the company of some members of her family, called at the Wa office of the Daily Graphic to narrate her story, is, therefore appealing to the Chief Justice and human rights organizations to intervene in the matter so that justice would be done.

Amid sobbing, she said, “I feel I have been handed a raw deal by the Wa District Magistrate’s Court, which acquitted and discharged the three suspects involved in the matter.”

She said sometimes in the year 2008, the wife of her husband’s nephew had some compliations during pregnancy and dies while in labour together with her unborn baby at the Wa Hospital.

She said a few months after the death of the woman, her brother-in-law, one Bagabu Naa, who travelled to the southern part of the country at the time of the death of the woman, returned to Sokpeyiri and did not take kindly to the news of the death of the daughter-in-law.

She said Bagabu Naa, in the company of one Kojo Zineta, who was the guardian of the deceased, went in for a soothsayer known as Naasoyili Anderanaa to find out the cause of the death of the woman.

She said she (Ghanyi) were assembled by the soothsayer, who performed some rituals. She said the soothsayer first pointed at one woman as the one who caused the death of the pregnant woman but her children, who were around, protested vehemently as a result of which the soothsayer rescinded the decision.

She said after a few incantations, her pointed to another to another person, whose children resisted all attempts to blame their mother for the death of the pregnant woman.

She said the soothsayer then pointed to her as the main culprit who caused the death of the pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

She said because she did not have anyone to talk for her, she was not given a hearing after she and her son challenged the soothsayer, who, she said, by then had the total support of those present.

In ensuing hot exchanges, Madam Ghanyi said the soothsayer then claimed he was going to prepare some concoction for her to drink and that if she did not confess within three days she would die.

“He already had some liquid in a calabash and so he slaughtered a fowl, poured the blood into the calabash, mixed it with sand, and added the chopped legs of a live toad after which he (the soothsayer) asked me to drink,” she said amid tears, adding that for fear of her life, she had no choice but to gulp down the concoction.

Madam Ghanyi said when after three days nothing happened to her Bagabu Naa, her brother-in-law threatened to kill her and so shee run to Wa to inform a relative, who suggested that they report the matter to the police.

She said, the three, Bagabu Naa, Kojo Zineta and the soothsayer, Naasoyili Anderanaa, were charged after police investigations and processed before court but after almost two years of court sittings, the accused persons were acquitted and discharged.

She said the whole incident has affected her psychological and that she sometimes did not feel like a human being who deserved to live, adding that as a result of the threats on her life, among other accusations, she had been compelled to run away from Sokpeyiri for her safety.

*********

Blog Administrator's Question: If Madam Ghanyi's husband was alive, where was he throughout all this? Did he choose not to protect his wife but kept silent while Bagabu Naa and the others met out inhumane treatment to her? Has he abandoned her now? Has the justice system failed?

Adhere to Gender Equality- WiLDAF

2010-01-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

Adhere to Gender Equality- WiLDAF
Daily Graphic, Wednesday, 13th January, 2010; Page 15, (Politics)

A Gender NGO, Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF, Ghana), last Monday reminded political parties to abide by their promises to ensure gender equality and affirmative action at their forthcoming congress to elect national executives.

In a statement signed by their Ms Bernice Sam, National Programme Coordinator, WiLDAF Ghana, it noted that in a few days the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would hold national delegates congress to elect national executives.

“Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) and partners of the We Know Politics Project wish them well believing that multi-party democracy and respect for individual rights have now become part of Ghana’s bedrock for sustainable development.”

“We are also taking this opportunity to remind the parties of their commitment to ensure at least 30 per cent representation of women in their executive structures.”

It said this commitment was made in a communiqué agreed between the Institute of Economic Affairs and four political parties with representation in Parliament on 30 June, 2009 at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

“Interestingly, the NDC has an arduous task to prove its commitment to gender equality above the 30 per cent representation in the Akosombo Declaration.”

It said the party committed itself to 40 per cent representation of women contained in its Better Ghana Manifesto, promises of President John Atta Mills to Ghanaians in statements during the 2008 electioneering and also his State of the Nation address to Parliament on February 19, 2009.

WiLDAF said the NPP, on the other hand, whilst in government, had ratified the Protocol to the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in 2007 and endorsed the Africa Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in 2004.

“As these political parties go to congress, the onus is on them to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality through the election of gender-balanced national executive.”

“The number of women that emerges as executive at the political parties congresses could further be a ‘hint’ of how many women these political parties feature as parliamentary candidates, vice-presidential running mates or presidential candidates in the 2012 general election.”

WiLDAF said if the NDC and NPP failed to meet the target set in the Communiqué of the June 30, 2009, “then it will be an embarrassment to citizens of Ghana before the international community whom our governments have made commitments demonstrated through ratification, signatures and reporting on gender equality.”

It said alternatively, when gender-balance was achieved at congresses, it would be a feather in the cap of the country and a demonstration of its commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

“The fact is the performance of government towards advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in many areas, including discriminatory cultural practices and political representation has not been very encouraging.”

WiLDAF said 2010 marked an important milestone for the United Nations as it reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by states 15 after its adoption.
It noted that Ghana Beijing State Report revealed the appalling statistics of women in political and public life below the 30 per cent threshold agreed States in Beijing.

This year, it added, also marked the mid-point review of Ghana’s commitment to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality which called for 30 per cent representation of women in political life.

“A thousand of a thousand miles starts with the first. As we journey towards the 2012 elections, these initial steps- congresses- taken by political parties will determines how the end result of our general elections will be.” ---- GNA

Women make money out of trash

2010-01-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

Women make money out of trash
Daily Graphic, Friday, 1st January, 2010; Page 19, (News)
Abdul Aziz

One hundred and eighty women have undergone a training programme to enable them to recycle plastic waste into handbags for sale in supermarkets.

The project, known as Trashes for Treasure, is being provided for women, especially young girls, under the auspices of Students in Free Enterprises (SIFE).

The project, which is aimed at women empowerment, recycles trash such as plastic and metal waste to manufacture bags, door mats and the metal waste to mould sculptures.

Sixty of the trainees were drawn from Abokobi and its surrounding areas in the Ga East Municipal Assembly to empower the young girls and discourage them from emigrating to the urban centres in search of no-existent jobs.

The remaining 120 women were drawn from the campus of the Institute of Professional Studies who are required to use innovating ways of creating employment for themselves when they graduate from the institute instead of waiting for employment from the government.

Mr. Frnacis Antwi, the Coordinator of the IPS branch of SIFE, in an interview said the branch undertook the training programme in collaboration with Rural Women Support Network based in Abokobi and Village Network, also a local NGO.

He said Students in Free Enterprises was an initiative of an American who loved and worked in Ghana and experienced the harrowing experiences of women had to undergo to secure training and macro-credit to start their own income-generating ventures.

He said SIFE, therefore, attached great importance to the granting of macro-credit facilities to rural and urban poor to start their businesses.

He said currently a Fulani herdswoman had been selected from Abokobi to be used as a model in the establishment of a diary plant for the manufacture of ice cream and yoghurt.

Mr Antwi said the project to turn fresh cow milk into yoghurt, if patronized, could be replicated across the country to help eradicate poverty and break its cycle in the rural areas.

The Coordinator expressed the hope that when the rural areas provided the enabling environment for the youth to earn a livelihood, it would discourage them from migrating to urban centres in search of jobs.

Mr. Antwi appealed to the youth, especially those in the rural areas, to learn a trade or acquire a profession instead of migrating to urban centres to look for non-existent jobs, which often landed them in bad company with its attendant antisocial activities such as indulging in pornography and prostitution.

Launch of Winning Songs: Changing Representations of Women in Popular Music

2009-12-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Launch of Winning Songs: Changing Representations of Women in Popular Music

Alison Roadburg*

On Saturday, 21st November 2009 the Launch of Winning Songs: Changing Representations of Women in Popular Music event was held at Alisa Hotel, Accra. This event was sponsored by the Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Project Consortium (RPC), West Africa Hub of the Center for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), and the University of Ghana. The purpose of the event was to share the three winning songs from a contest launched in April with the public. The competition looked for song entries that counter the stereotypical roles in which women are seen in the popular music industry. (Left to right: Dr Awo Asiedu, Kwabena Quaku and Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo. Photo Credits: Akofa A. Anyidoho)

Today, there are many songs that objectify women sexually, and that reinforce the need to be submissive, or that place them solely in the domestic sphere. The reality is that women have many characteristics, talents and responsibilities that are often ignored. Since the media and popular culture play such a large and influential role in our lives, we need to use these vehicles to transform the negative images and depictions of women. The Women in Popular Music project of the West Africa RPC launched the contest to catalyze such transformation.

After assessing the 26 submissions including 2 by women, a judging committee of 9 people from varying backgrounds and expertise chose the winning three songs based on a set of criteria that captured the lyrical strength, musical quality and innovation. Kwabena Quaku’s ‘As Long As You Are a Woman’, won the first place prize, Osei Korankye’s song, ‘Emmaa Mmo’ came in second and Born Africans, ‘Equal Rights’ was adjudged third. All artists were awarded a recording of their song, and the winner, Kwabena Quaku was also granted a music video.

The launch was informative, moving and inspiring. Ms. Jessica Opare-Saforo, from Citi FM was the MC for the event and she eloquently introduced the performers and various speakers.

(Jessica Opare-Saforo introduces Bibi Brew; Photo Credits- Geoffrey Buta)

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwesi Yankah made some comments about the way in which women are represented in popular culture and noted the importance of the University coming into town and linking up with those on the ground in their research.

Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, the Convener of the West Africa Hub of Pathways of Women’s Empowerment RPC, introduced project to the gathering. She explained that it is a under a five year contract sponsored by the UK Department for International Development and the Norwegian Foreign Affairs ministry which seeks to explore the complex pathways that women around the world have traveled to empower themselves. (Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, speaking about Pathways WE RPC at the event the Photo Creidts: Kwabena Danso)

Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, the head of CEGENSA introduced the Centre, explaining its mandate, areas of specialty and functions at the University of Ghana. She explained the purpose of the Popular Music Project highlighting the importance of the song competition. She drew on some artists, such as Miriam Makeba and Bono from U2 as socially conscious messages, as well as successful musicians.

Two students from the University of Ghana recited poetry on women’s empowerment and another student from SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College sang a song titled, “Amazing.” Ms. Bibie Brew, a veteran musician, excited the audience with strong rendition of some popular old tunes.

The evening continued with the performance of all three songs as well as Kwabena Quaku’s song video. ‘As Long As You Are a Woman’ highlights influential and prominent female figures who are appreciated members of society because of their work and expertise--not their bodies. The audience surely felt the energy from all of the performances, and many left their seats to dance!

(Kwabena Quaku singing "As Long as You are a Woman" at the Event)
(Photo Credits: Geoffrey Buta)

Pathways and CEGENSA is bringing about change. The time has come to look at the messages that are being spread in today’s popular music and to look closely at how these differ from reality!! ‘The Launch of Winning Songs: Changing Representations of Women in popular Music’, was a gateway to this change, but it should not stop there. We need to facilitate the composition of songs that positively reflect women and their diverse roles in society.

(Dancing to old tune renditions by Bibi Brew; Photo Credits; Geoffrey Buta)

(The Ghana Dance Ensemble dancing 'Adowa,' a local dance of the Akans.)

*Alison Roadburg is a recent graduate of McGill University, Canada and is research intern at The Center for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the University of Ghana, Legon.

PRESS STATEMENT ON ALLEGED GANG RAPE OF FOUR GIRLS

2009-12-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

Following the horrid news report on the alleged rape of girls in Nalerigu, in the northern parts of Ghana by some soldiers, NETRIGHT issued a statement to the press about these atrocities. Permission has been sought to share the press statement on this blog. Please read below:

NETWORK FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN GHANA (NETRIGHT)

C/O Third World Network-Africa
P. O. Box 19452, Accra-North
Tel: 233 21 511189/500419/503669
Fax: 233 21 511188
Email: netright@twnafrica.org
Mobilising for Women’s Rights in Ghana

STATEMENT TO THE PRESS ON ALLEGED GANG RAPE OF FOUR GIRLS

The Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) is deeply disturbed by the alleged gang rape of four girls, aged between 15 and 17 at Nalerigu in the Northern Region by a number of solders and policemen who are said to have been deployed there to quell a public disorder. The story as reported on Joy FM on November 25, 2009 and also in the Daily Guide of November 26, 2009 comes in the wake of several other stories in the media about women and girls who have been subjected to a wide range of sexual violence including gang rape, beatings, torture with the possible threat of HIV infection. Such victims have sustained severe physical and emotional trauma and humiliation. Clearly we are living through a plague of brutal violence directed at women and girls with rape being used as a weapon of intimidation to instill fear in women and girls, in our families and our communities.

NETRIGHT is therefore using this platform to condemn this pattern of horrendous rape because violence is a wrong choice and as the evidence shows, sexual violence can transmit the AIDS virus. Thus for the girls who have suffered this brutal and unacceptable treatment, there is a double jeopardy: first they have been raped, and then there is the possibility of their contracting HIV/AIDS. What this pattern of behaviour shows is that violence against women and girls continue unabated in our country as we hear a story of rape or defilement almost every day. In this latest wave of violence, what is even more worrying is the link of rape with torture. In this particular story, one of the girls has alleged that she was tortured while being raped. Thus, the reality of this situation is that the girls – the victims – are definitely terrified, in tears, with broken relationships, liable to be stigmatized in their communities, and the attendant ill- health and psychological damage to them is extensive and irreparable.
The men who have committed this crime belong in prison. But NETRIGHT is concerned that vested interests will once again ensure the denial of justice to these young girls in the attempt to protect the perpetrators who are alleged to belong to powerful institutions such as the military and the police. We therefore urge civil society and women’s groups to condemn this rape and to demand justice.

We therefore demand:
* The safety and security of the girls and their families to be ensured;
* The victims and their families be allowed to exercise their fundamental rights of legal counsel of their own choosing in all proceedings related to the case;
* To be provided all medical care required for their well-being
* To interact freely with women’s rights and human rights organisations
* An inquiry to be held to establish why the military and the police went to that particular house where the girls live
* All proceedings to be made transparent, allowing observers from women’s rights and human rights organisations and doctors’ associations;
* The names of the perpetrators be made public and those of the victims protected;
* Those who obstruct justice to be apprehended and prosecuted under the law.

NETRIGHT insists that the military and the police are supposed to protect women and men in the society. However in many situations such as this, gender-based violence is overlooked, often due to the lack of implementation of existing legislation or by its being seen as a private matter. Implementation and enforcement of legislation is vital but it is also necessary to put a stop to laws that emphasise family reunification over the rights of women and girls. The government has a responsibility to intervene when there is systematic and widespread gender-based violence. By identifying violence against women as a national security threat, it increases the chances of preventing wider conflicts at an early stage.

NETRIGHT also has the conviction that gender-equal participation at all levels of society is key in order to assure women and girls’ security. We would therefore like to reaffirm our support for the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on Women, Peace and Security, and Ghana’s Domestic Violence Law (Act 732) and call for their full and immediate implementation to benefit women and girls.

Issued this day, November 27, 2009 at Accra.

Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin
Convenor

Poor Economy gives grounds for domestic violence

2009-11-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

Poor Economy gives grounds for domestic violence

Daily Graphic, Saturday, 28th November, 2009; Page 19, (News)
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Emile Francis Short, has noted tat the resent economic situation in the country is fertile ground for perpetrating domestic violence.

“the current economic situation exerts pressure that can culminate in an explosive situation in the average home and lead to gender-based violence, with the least provocation serving as the last straw,” he said.

Mr Short said this at a ceremony orgainsed by the Ghana Human Rights NGOs Forum in Accra to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which forms part of activities marking 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV).

The 16 days of Activism is celebrated internationally from November 25 to December 10 every year as part of efforts to end GBV across the world.

According to the CHRAJ Commissioner, there was need to educate the general public right down to the grass roots in order to inculcate attitudes acknowledging the dignity and worth of women.

He also called for the strengthening of institutional mechanisms so that women and girls could reports acts of violence against them in a safe and confidential environment, free from fear of penalties or retaliation, and file charges.

Mr Short also said that there was need to disseminate information on the assistance available to women and families who were victims of violence as well as develop programmes and procedures to educate and raise awareness of acts of violence against women that constituted a crimes and a violation of the human rights of women.

According to him, as a way of helping curb domestic violence, CHRAJ had established a specialized Women and Children’s Unit at its headquarters where it received and processed a myriad of cases that impinged directly on the rights of women and children.

He said in 2007, the commission received 1, 923 cases, as against 1,684 in 2008, with complaints in respect of wife battery standing at 66 in 2007 and 145 in 2008, adding that the situation was a clear indication that issues of violence against women were on the increase in the country.

The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Densua, in her keynote address, said the campaign to end GBV was a collective responsibility that required concerted efforts from all.

She said the ministry was ready to collaborate with all NGOs, parliamentarians and institutions to help curb GBV in the country.

A representative form the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Irene Oppong, in an address, said the unit handled 4,616 cases of domestic violence across the country.

Speaking on the criminal implications of domestic violence she called on the victims to ensure that they reported such cases early so that the evidence can be collected for prosecution.

In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said her outfit would come up with its industrial policy and sector support programme in which the economic empowerment of women would be addressed.

The President of the Ghana Human Rights NGOs Forum, Mr Peter Osei Badu, in an address said it recognized the global economic crisis and it adverse effects on developing countries but added that it would be a human rights abuse when budgetry allocation for human rights institutions such as CHRAJ were cut down, saying that would affect their activities in the fight against domestic violence.

The Winners of the Popular Song Competition are:

2009-11-23T02:24:00.000-08:00

1. Collins Amponsah a.k.a. Kwabena Quaku: As Long As You are a Woman

Kwabena Quaku with his guitar, during a video shoot. (Photo Credits: Akofa Anyidoho)

Kwabena Quaku receives his award from Prof. Kwesi Yankah, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
TVO Lamptey, Dennis Abeiku, Diana Hopeson, Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Takyiwaa Manuh, Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah and JH Nketia- Left to Right
(Photo Credits: Kwabena Danso)

2. Osei Korankye: Mmaa Moo
Diana Hopeson, President of MUSIGA, supported by Dennis Abeiku hand over Osei Koranye's award
(Photo Credits: Kwabena Danso)

Osei Korankye sings with his Seprewa and the band in the Background
(Photo Credits: Kwabena Danso)

3. Nana Kweku Antwi Asamoah a.k.a Born Africans: Equal Rights
Leslie Hammond supports Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah as she gives Born Africans his award.
(Photo Credits: Kwabena Danso)

Collins and the ladies at a video shoot
(Photo Credits: Akofa Anyidoho)

Left to Right: Takyiwaa Manuh (the Covenor of the West Africa Hub), Diana Hopeson (President of MUSIGA), Kwabena Quaku, Prof Akosua Adomako Ampofo (co-lead reseracher for Chnaging Representations of Women in Popular Music Project).
(Photo Credits: Akofa Anyidoho)

*** CLICK ON EACH OF THE IMAGES TO VIEW A LARGER SIZE. Read more about there event here!

Coming Soon!

2009-10-27T01:36:00.000-07:00

POPULAR SONGS ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT: LAUNCH OF WINNING SONGS

COMING SOON!

WATCH THIS BLOG FOR FURTHER DETAILS!

Money allocated for gender equity hardly used

2009-10-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Money allocated for Gender Equity Hardly Used

Accra, Oct. 15, 2009 - GNA - A Research conducted by the Ghana Partnership Resource Review, a research group, has indicated that out of US$3.21 million allocated to the social protection sector, only US$390,000 was used for the intended purpose.

This meant that although key donors adopted a gender mainstreaming approach, it was difficult for them to concretely determine what impact their aid was having on Gender Equity (GE) in the country. Addressing participants attending a workshop organized on Thursday by the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, Ms Afua Ansre, National Programme Coordinator of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), attributed the lack of commitment to GE as one of the main reasons for the slow rate of development in the country.

She said Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), if properly implemented, would bring tremendous improvement to the lives of women who constituted the bulk of the marginalized and the poor. Gender Responsive Budgeting represents a special type of policy-making that enables budgets or money allocation to become effective tools for advancing gender equity or to ensure that women participated fully or advanced in all sectors of society.

Ms Ansre called on the government to have to a detailed plan for women in the country and to ensure that requirements for the plan reflected in the nation's budget especially at the district level. "According to the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER), the least area of government investment in 2008 was in the area of agriculture, and that is where you find the poorest people of Ghana - women crop farmers," she added. The Coordinator bemoaned the high level of maternal and infant mortality in the country, the significant number of girls dropping out of school especially in the rural areas, and the abysmal number of women parliamentarians the nation has.

She intimated that UNIFEM was in the process of building teams of experts to help support the growing desire for GRB at the district and national levels.

Highlighting the importance of GRB, Mr Roland Mordey, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), said this included the provision of feedback to the government on whether it was meeting the needs of the marginalized and the realization of women's rights. Mr Mordey said it had also been established that the good implementation of GRB led to real growth in the Gross Domestic product of any nation.

He said Ghana's experience on GRB started recently, adding that in 2008, MOWAC received cabinet approval to pilot the implementation of the GRB in the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. To this effect, MOWAC put in place all the needed requirements to ensure that next year, GRB would be implemented in the three ministries as well as all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies whereby they would allocate a percentage of their financial allocations to support gender programmes.

"To this effect, MOWAC in August 2009 organised a GRB training workshop for 16 selected MDAs including 45 participants from the budgeting and planning sections of the MDAs who were trained in Gender Concepts, Gender Analysis, and Budgeting Systems in the country," he said.

The workshop, which was under the theme "Making Local Level Budgeting More Gender Responsive", was attended by representatives from the Ministries and other civil society organizations.

Source: Ghana News Agency

How Nkrumah Empowered Women

2009-09-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

How Nkrumah Empowered Women
Daily Graphic, Saturday, September 26, 2009, Page 32
Salome Donkor

The role of women in politics and other public offices is one of the burning governance issues, largely because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance.

A recent study by Dr Beatrix Allah-Mensah of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Women in Politics and Public Life indicated that there was ample evidence to substantiate the indispensable role women played in the prelude to independence an immediately after it.

The study revealed that role of women was evident in they support they gave to the main political party of the time, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and it is also on recode that women traders were keen supporters of the CPP government and also offered financial assistance and supportive services.

Soon after the formation of the CPP in 1949, for instance some of them, notably Akua Asabea, stood shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts like Kofi Baako and Sacki Scheek as they toured the country and addressed large rallies to spread the message of ‘Independence Now’ for Ghana.

Hanna Cudjoe, for instance, did not only heroically rally the people behind the independence struggle, but also went a step ahead in establishing day care centres and day nurseries.

She worked extensively in the northern Ghana under the direction of Dr Nkrumah, who gave her the task of convincing women in certain parts of northern Ghana to discard some outmoded cultural [practices] in the area.

During the early period of the struggle in May 1951, the CPP appointed Hanna Cudjoe, Ama Nkrumah, Letitia Quaye and Sophia Doku as propaganda secretaries with the responsibilities of organizing the CPP Women’s League.

Under the League, the women were divided into subsections at branch and ward levels. They organized rallies, dances, picnics as strategies to mobilise more people for early independence delayed by the colonialists for about a century.

Hanna Cudjoe was the Head of the Ghana Women’s League, and in 1960, the Women’s League and the Ghana Federation of Women, led by Evelyn Amartefio were merged to form the Nation Council of Ghana Women (NCGW) to replace the women’s section of the CPP.

The women’s movement was inaugurated by Dr Nkrumah on September 10, 1960 as the only organization under which all Ghanaian women were to be organized to help achieve government post-independent political, social, economic and educational development of Ghana. The party leadership, therefore, institutionalised the initiative by making constitutional provisions for women’s league at the branch and ward levels as the main organising framework for women in the party. It was, therefore, not surprising that the party gave credit to women for the internal solidarity, cohesion and success of the CPP.

Mention could also be made of the role of Dr Mrs Letitia Obeng an educationist, and other women who were nurses, broadcasters, judgers and lawyers who became part and parcel of the independence struggle.

Though not visible like their male counterparts in the frontline, the female politicians, nonetheless, provided a vanguard force, rallying their families, communities, trade and various interest group s to join the struggle for national independence.

Allah-Mensah’s writing on ‘Women and Politics in Ghana 1993-2003,’ cited in a book titled “One Decade of Liberal State” and edited by Kwame Boafo-Arthur (2007), states that the action was largely responsible for the development of the women’s wing of the party and also for youth organisation. She records that women were efficient organisers who could bring thousands of people together for a rally at very short notice.

A paper written by Ms Joyce Rosalind Aryee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, on the “Contribution of Women to Ghana’s Independence and Democratic Governance,” dated March 2007 and quoted in the study by Dr Allah-Mensah, pointed out that Dr Nkrumah’s political success was based on the foundation set for women by the CPP.

It said in 1949, many benevolent and mutual associations, credit unions and market voluntary groups sprang up and became staunch supporters of Dr Nkrumah and the CPP in general. It said those, though were not the forefront of the independence struggle, were involved in activities which were politically significant.

The contribution of women to the political struggle caught the eyes of the leadership of CPP and by May 1951, the party had appointed four women, namely Letitia Quaye, Sophia Doku, Hanna Cudjoe and Ama Nkrumah as press secretaries charged with the duty of organizing women.

In spite of the roles of women in the political struggle, there was no woman in Cabinet when Ghana attained republican status, but the contribution of women to Ghanaian politics after independence, resulting in the introduction of the Representation of the People (Women Members) Bill in 1960. The bill was passed and it received the Governor-general’s assent of June 16, 1960.

Through the act, 10 women were elected unopposed as Members of Parliament (MPs) in June 1960. They were Susana Al-Hassan, Ayanori Bukaru and Victoria Nyarko, all representing the Northern Region, Sophia Doku and Mary Korateng, Eastern Region and Regina Asamany, Volta Region.
The rest were Grace Ayensu and Christiana Wilmot, Western Region, Comfort ASamoah, Ashanti Region and Lucy Anim, Brong Ahafo. That made Ghana one of the first African countries to introduce a quota system for women.

In 1965, Dr Nkrumah appointed Madam Susana Al-Hassan as the Minister of Social Welfare and Community Development, while others were appointed as district commissioners.

Over the past five decades after Ghana’s independence, the representation of women in local and national level politics as well as in others areas of decision making indicated that there is still much to done to ensure an effective representation of women in politics and other equally important sectors.

Do pastors really have the cure for HIV/AIDS?

2009-09-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Commentary: Do pastors really have the cure for HIV/AIDS? Cultural beliefs and often times lack of funds prevent ordinary Ghanaians from seeking medical help when they get sick and for a long time. For some, it's much cheaper and easier to consult a pastor or a herbalists with often results in no recovery. The article below is an interesting read, especially with the current trend where pastors claim to have 'cures' for all kinds of diseases and their followers believe them. In most of such churches the majority of the followers and therefore, victims, are women.

‘My pastor said he’d healed me of HIV’
The Ghanaian Times, Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Page 7
Titania Kumeh

Akrong Seth’s pastor at church told him that he had cured him of HIV and then assured him it was not necessary to visit a clinic.

When Seth visted a doctor and was informed that he was still HIV positive, he called the physician a liar. “The pastor has cured me,” he said. “And I kept pumping into women.” He did not use condoms.

He attended the church for two years, and spent more than GH¢4,000 paying the pastor for various treatments. Seth finally confronted the pastor after his wife became infected with the virus. “When I told [the pastor] that I was HIV positive and my wife as positive, he (pastor) told me that foreign blood had come to me.”

It wasn’t until Seth witness the death of hundreds of people that he finally returned to his doctor to be placed on anti-retroviral drugs, which he has been using for five years. The 57-year-old has been infected with HIV for 17 years, and continues to live with his wife at Korle-Bu. His experience motivated him to campaign for HIV awareness. “In 1982, I was going around churches and villages telling them that HIV is real. If you follow the pastor, you will lose your life. Anyone who tells you that ‘I have a cure’ is a liar.”

Despite the high knowledge of how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS infections, many Ghanaians continue to relay on traditional cultural beliefs to avoid the disease, according to UN officials. This misinformation and denial is killing people.

Esi Awotwi, National HIV/AIDS Programme Officer at the United Nation’s Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), says reducing the stigma associated with the illness, encouraging people to get tested and improving access to anti-retroviral medications and other HIV services are the primary ways of fighting the spread of HIV?AIDS in Ghana. She acknowledges that some cultural ideas and behaviours are impeding these remedies. “We will still have some people visiting herbalists, people still visiting prayers camps for a cure,” she says.

Gifty Torkunu, went to a church to get anointed for a cure when she was diagnosed with HIV six years ago. “I was given two bottles of anointed oil and I drank and I vomited and the pastor told me that I had vomited the virus,” Torkunu, 45, says. She repeated the practices five times, returning to the church for the treatments, before she learned of her HIV-positive status from a doctor, joined a support group and began to take conventional medicine.

“Because of my denial,” she says, “my son died four months ago after becoming infected through my breast milk.”

“The problem we have in this country is that we are God-fearing people,” Torkunu says. “Any problem we have to take it to God, so whatever pastors says, we do. Some people are convinced that if I pray or if I do this without the anti-retroviral drugs, you will be cured. But if God will cure me, it will surely come from above not from the pastor.”

She explained that traditionally in Ghana, people with HIV are thought to be bewitched. “they wouldn’t take you to the hospital. But if you don’t know your status, and think, ‘I don’t know, so I must be oaky,’ you are defeating yourself.”

Five years after ‘Women’s Manifesto’

2009-09-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Five years after ‘Women’s Manifesto’
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 1st September, 2009, Page 11, Gender and Children
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

Five years ago, a group of gender activists came together to compile a document which spelt out their concerns on the “insufficient attention given to critical issues affecting women” in relation to women in decision-making as well as socio-economic issues.

Known as the ‘Women’s Manifesto’ the document spells out issues that confront women in Ghana and makes demands on governments for addressing them, serves as a working document to the government.

The inauguration of the document on September 2, 2004, also gave birth to the formation on the ‘Women’s Manifesto Coalition,’ a group which seeks to monitor how the government addresses the needs fo women and also advocates the need for greater attention for women in all spheres of life.

As Ghana is a signatory to many international conventions and treaties, such as the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), it behoves the government to ensure that it fulfills the mandates that it has assented in order to improve the lives of women in the country.

The Women’s Manifesto provides a platform of a common set of demands which are on ‘women’s economic empowerment,’ ‘women and land,’ ‘women, social policy and social development,’ ‘women in politics, decision-making and public life,’ ‘women, human rights and the law,’ ‘discriminatory cultural practices,’ ‘women, conflict and peace,’ ‘women with special needs,’ and ‘institutions with a mandate to promote women’s rights,’ all towards the achievement of gender equality and sustainable national development.

Initiate by ABANTU for Development, a non-governmental organisation, and supported by other gender-based non-governmental organizations and civil society groups, the manifesto aims at helping women to articulate their concerns during periods of election, provide information for people concerned about the need to achieve gender equity, and also to encourage political parties to be more accountable for respective needs of men and women as contained in their manifestoes.

Significant achievements made after the launch of the manifestos include the passage of the Domestic Violence Act, the Human Trafficking Act and the Disability Act. Furthermore the ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) has set up a fund to support women who intend participating in local government elections.

A law has been passed to abolish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), trokosi and other obnoxious cultural practices which are detrimental to the health and well-being of women.

However, according to the Convenor of the Women’s Manifesto, Mrs. Hamida Harrison, the biggest challenge currently facing the coalition in ensuring that gender equality and equity was achieved as spelt out in the manifesto, was in the area of women’s economic empowerment. She said although the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) factored in a bit of gender concerns, GPRS I did not, stressing that a number of women still encountered numerous challenges in their bid to access land and financial resources for viable projects.

She also said other socio-cultural factors made it impossible for the large number of women in the informal sector to compete with their male counterparts.

Through advocacy, some women have been able to break trough in the political arena but according to Mrs. Harrison, much still needed to be done through Affirmative Action (AA) to help ush more women into decision-making positions. She said as part of the celebration of the five years of the inauguration of the Women’s Manifesto, the coalition would intensify advocacy on AA to motivate political parties to initiate campaigns at the grassroots to field more women in areas considered safe seats.

She said the coalition was also in the process of reviewing the manifesto to ensure that it re-echoes some of the concerns which had not yet been addressed, as well as ensure that new demands were incorporated into the reviewed version, saying that the coalition, was “critical of the pace taken by authorities in promoting women’s rights and gender equality in the country.”

She expressed hope that as the government has indicated that there would be the need to review the 1992 Constitution, the process would be open, participatory, consultative and transparent so that ordinary people can also make inputs.

‘Don’t force children into marriage’

2009-09-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

‘Don’t force children into marriage’
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 1st September, 2009, Page 11, Gender and Children
Maxwell Adomilla Akalaare

A Senior Investigator of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Mohammed Tiamiyu, has reminded parents that it is a criminal offence for them to force their daughters aged below 18 year into marriage. He made the statement at a day’s sensitation forum on domestic violence organised by the Department of Women at Palengu in the Talensi/Nabdam District in the Upper East Region.

Mr. Tiamiyu re-emphasised that the 1992 Constitution, as well as provisions of the Criminal Code, the Domestic Violence Law and the Children’s Act, protected all children, particularly the girl-child, against such practices that constituted abuse of their rights, and warned that the Commission and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service would not hesitate to prosecute perpetrators of such acts.

He said the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy made it mandatory for every child to be in school, adding that by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children’s Act, a child is a person below age 18.

The acting Upper East Regional Director of the Department of Women, Madam Mercy Atule, said the country ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) was being hampered by various forms of domestic violence perpetrated against the vulnerable group, especially women and children.

She said since women formed more than 50 per cent of the nation’s population, the nation’s development would be hampered if women were not empowered with the needed resources and given the needed opportunities to participate in the development process. She [expressed remorse at] the cultural set up in some parts of the country gave undue advantage to men to discriminate against women and violate their rights.

Madam Atule explained that domestic violence referred to in homes and communities that had physical, traumatic and psychological effects on the victims. She said the regional office of OVVSU recorded a high incidence of domestic violence and forced marriages within the Pelungu community, and had therefore, decided to educate and sensitise them to their negative effects through the forum.

In speech read on her behalf, the Talensi/Nabadam District Chief Executive, Mrs Vivian Anafo, advised parent to desist from hiding under the pretence of poverty to forcibly send the daughter to the southern part of the country to work as female porters (Kayayee).

As part of the programme, a drama was performed by the Palengu Young Drama Group on the effects of gild-child elopement on education and the community as a whole.

Stop violence against girls

2009-09-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Stop violence against girls
Kofi Asare
Public Agenda, 31st August, 2009

Located at the heart of Central Regional capital, Cape coast is the Adisadel Primary and Junior High School, one of the most popular basic schools in Cape coast, a city regarded as the cradle of education in Ghana. Cape coast boasts of the finest education institutions.80 kilometres afar towards the northern part of the region is a community called Tintimhwe, a cocoa growing community with a basic school-Tintimhwe D/A primary school. Unlike the usual characteristic differences between rural and urban schools-quality school buildings, qualified teachers school library etc, there is characteristic similarity between the two schools in question-The lack of school toilets.

Perhaps another similarity, neither structural nor physical but attitudinal is that girls in both schools visit the bushes to attend to natures call whenever they are in school, and exposes them to the dangers of sexual and other forms of physical and psychological violence. This writer is convinced that among the regular patronizers of the bush (popularly called free range) are narcotics and alcoholics who care very little about sexual rights and the dignity of girls. The fear of the above also affects retention in school.

The Big lottery (U.K) Funded Stop Violence Against Girls in School project is concerned about making the school environment safer for girls through the institution and enactment of the requisite policies and legislations that focus specifically on alleviating violence tendencies against girls in school. On the occasion of Children's Day in Ghana, it is time to pause and reflect on the state of child protection, survival and development policies and practices in Ghana, with a central focus, Violence Against Girls in school.

Article 4 of the International Convention on the rights of the child, which has been ratified by Government of Ghana states that "The State shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present convention....With regard to economic, social and cultural rights which includes the right to education. The right of access to free quality basic education for all children, especially girls is fundamental to promoting the survival and development of children in Ghana. Of tremendous concern however are issues of quality and gender. Ghana missed out of the gender parity target of 1:1 in 2005 and has since not been able to equate the number of boys to the number of girls enrolled in school. The issue is similar when it comes to retention. Boys have a higher retention and completion rate in basic schools than girls and this affect the performance of girls in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).

A careful observation and analysis of the situation indicates the lack of separate toilets for girls as a major cause of absenteeism for girls in schools. Adequate toilet facilities require the provision of separate and decent toilets and urinals for boys and girls in school. In 2008, the Ministry of Education reported that only 48% out of the total number of 13,247 primary schools have access to toilet facilities in Ghana with the highest proportion of primary schools with toilets (90%) in Tema and the lowest (10%) in Kintampo South District. At the Junior High School Level, only 52% of public schools had toilets with the highest (93%) in Dangbe West in the Greater Accra Region and the lowest (9%) in the Juabeso district in the Western Region.

The absence of toilets for girls does not only affect school attendance but also contributes to the denial of their right to dignity and quality education. The national completion rate for boys at the primary level is 91% whereas that of girls is 79% which suggests that boys have 10% additional chances of completing primary school than girls. This is the reason why the gender parity ration is 1:0.96 as against the target of 1:1 that was missed as far back as 2005. The situation is attributed mainly to the absence of a comprehensive and operational infrastructural policy of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, enventhough the ministry claims there exist one on the face but has seen little or no implementation and coordination.

The result of the apparent laxity in implementing and coordinating the said policy (if it exists at all) is to blame for the over 16,000 basic schools without toilets. Before i proceed to make any recommendations to the Government, i would like to humbly request of the Ghana Education Service to inform Ghanaians on what it has been up to all these years, until the realization that up to 48% of our basic schools have no toilets. Did this happen overnight? ...What about the past Parliamentary Select Committees on education and gender? .... And the Ministry of Women and Children. Were they aware our children, especially girls had no toilets in schools, and still expected them to pass and pass well? If they were aware, what did they do? What about the District Chief Executives who have led this county in the past....How did they feel in awarding school contracts that had no toilets at all? Children are a vulnerable group...with no voice and whose rights need to be protected and provided for. In that respect any person who attempts consciously or ignorantly acts in a manner as to deprive them of their right to dignity, development and survival cannot escape without blame.

This year's Children's Day should signal the time for action. First, no recommendation will work until our institutions are strengthened and do act professionally .Ghana needs strong institutions who can prevent even an N.G.O from building a school in a locality just because it has no toilet facility in its design ; a Ghana Education Service that can prevent District Assemblies from building schools without separate toilets for girls..or a Ghana Education Service that can lobby and advocate for the inclusion of girl friendly facilities at the District Level. This is what we need.....An Education Service that can leverage the political interest of politically motivated DCE's and the real development needs of the child ,especially girls...and a Civil Society that can monitor District Assemblies to make sure they implement infrastructure policies of the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Education should collaborate with the GETFund, Social Investment Fund, International Donors and other funding agency in basic school infrastructure to adopt a common school design which includes separate toilets and changing rooms for girls. The support of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education could be sought n this respect, to facilitate the harmonization of institutional interests between the Ministry of Local Government , Education, Women and children. This should not be left for the Infrastructure Coordinating Unit of the Ministry. It should be at the Ministerial level with the participation of the Infrastructure Unit. After interagency consensus has been achieved on the policy, the Infrastructure Unit may now commence the actual work for which it was set up-monitor and coordinate compliance of District Assemblies to the infrastructure policy. The unit may seek a court order to prevent any District Assembly from putting up any school building without strict recourse to the infrastructural policy for basic schools.

What about the over 16,000 schools already built without toilets? District Assemblies should be encouraged to come out with collaborative strategies to construct separate toilets for girls in such schools. This could be done by community-District Assembly partnerships where the DA's will provide cement and roofing sheets for such projects, with the communities donating labour, wood, and other local resources available. On children's day, the 31st of August, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition as part of the Stop Violence Against Girls in School project wishes to entreat all and sundry to renew our commitment as a nation to making the school environment and the world a safer place for children. Long Live the Children of Ghana. Long Live Education For All. Long Live Ghana.

Women form housing cooperatives

2009-08-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Women form housing cooperatives
Daily Graphic, Saturday, 8th August, 2009, Page 11, (Gender and Children)
Kofi Yeboah

The Accra Metropolitan Department of Cooperatives has organised a workshop for low-income earning women in Accra on how to access land and undertake building projects.

About 100 participants drawn from Old Fadama and Ayidiki attended the workshop, which was aimed at organising the women into housing cooperatives to mobilise funds internally to acquire land and undertake building projects using the cooperative principles.

It was supported by the Ghana Women Land Access Trust (GAWLAT), an intermediary organisation of UN Habitat.

In an address, the Accra Metropolitan Director of Cooperatives, Mr John Nyarko, urged the women to come together as one group and use the credit union savings concept to improve their businesses and own houses.

The Tema Metropolitan Director of Cooperatives, Mr Godwin Gogovi, told the participants to be mindful of the fact that in every group, conflict was likely to emerge, but the most important thing was for the leaders to address such conflicts in manner that would break up the group.

A retired Chief Technical Officer at the Lands Valuation Board, Mr Arnold Gadogbe, took the participants through the process of acquiring and registering land.

Member of GAWLAT who also shared thoughts with the participants were Mrs Harriet Gyebi-Taylor, Ms Sarah Savage, Ms Joana Ofori, Coordinator and Mrs Kakra Hagan, Consultant.

The Tema Metropolitan Director of Cooperatives will later organise similar workshops at Ashiaman for participants from Ningo and Kpone Katamanso.

Four other workshops, two in Kasoa and two in Ada, have been lined up, after which a leadership training programme will be organized for the leaders of the groups.

MOWAC to assist women in elections

2009-08-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ministry to assist women in elections
Daily Graphic, Saturday, 8th August, 2009, Page 11, Gender and Children
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs is working on a programme to identify at least 20 potential women in each district to prepare them for the 2010 district and 2012 elections.

The women will be given the needed training and support which will enable them to compete effectively with their male counterparts during the elections to help increase the participation of women in decision-making positions in the country.

The sector Minister, Ms Akua Sena Densua, who made this known in a speech read on her behalf at the opening of the fourth biennial conference of District Assembly Women in Accra, said there was the need ‘to surmount the challenges that have restrained women from active participation in decision-making for so long.’

The conference, which was organized by ABANTU for Development and ActionAid-Ghana, on the theme, “Expanding space for women’s empowerment,” brought together women from across the country to brainstorm on topics such as ‘Critical gender issues in climate change debate,’ ‘Critical gender issues in income security,’ and ‘Critical gender issues in the oil and gas sector.’

The minister’s speech, read on her behalf by the Gender Officer at the Ministry, Ms Evelyn Agyemfra Asiedu, indicated that the government was also reviewing the affirmative action policy which is aimed at increasing women’s participation in decision-making to 40 per cent to positively increase the number of women in governance.

She said the attainment of most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including goal three, which talks about the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, goal four, which talks about reducing under-five [years old] mortality and goal fiver, which talks about the improvement of maternal health, all required the active collaboration of women for their successful implementation.

The Head of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said organizing such conferences was necessary, as gender and local governance issues were directly linked to broader national contextual issues.

She said the conference would help create a forum where women could expand the space for self and collective empowerment to enhance participation and effectiveness in their in their own localities, as well as in the overall national governance process.

She said the conference would enable participants to draw strength from one another, as well as forge appropriate strategies to increase women participation in governance.

The Country Direction of ActionAid-Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, in an address, said there was an urgent need to address the imbalances in the political power and leadership in the country, saying that political will should be translated into an appropriate legal framework with deliberate special measures to ensure increase of women in all levels of decision-making.

The Member of Parliament for New Juaben, Ms Beatrice B. Boateng, who chaired the opening ceremony, called on the assembly women not to give in their quest for higher political power but to forge ahead even when they are being discouraged by others.

She said the time had come for women to put aside their political affiliations and help one another as women, saying that, “you should see yourselves first as women and should not let politics divide your ranks.”

Appropriate Action needed for Gender Equality

2009-07-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

Appropriate Action needed for Gender Equality
Daily Graphic, Thursday, July 16, 2009 (Gender and Children) Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Programme Coordinator of Fredrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Ghana, Mr Danaa Nantogmah, has said that affirmative action which translates into real increase in female participation in politics and decision-making does not happen by chance. He said, “Appropriate policies and laws have must be in place; strategies and action plans developed but, more importantly commitment and the political will to implement these plans to achieve gender equity in out political social and economic life is paramount.”

Mr. Nantogmah said this at the opening of a two-day workshop in Accra on validating an affirmative action strategy document which was aimed at helping to increase women’s participation in politics and decision-making as well as in all aspects of life.
Organized by the ABANTU for Development, a women’s right group, and Women in Broadcasting (WIB), in partnership with FES, the workshop was aimed at improving on the gains of the Women’s Manifesto by deepening implementation on some of the concrete demands on women’s participation in politics and decision-making, particularly on affirmative action.

He said most women who participated in the 2008 parliamentary elections faced a lot of challenges such as limited finances, intimidation, religious and cultural beliefs and a lack of support from other women.

He pointed out that political parties were critical to the successful implementation of affirmative action, and commended the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and the Electoral Commission (EC) for proposing that five percent of the Political Parties Support Fund (PPSF), when established, should be earmarked for political parties that would promote and support the increase of women’s participation in politics and decision-making by filing more parliamentary candidates.

The affirmative action document, which was prepared by Dr Dzodzi Tsikata on the topic “Affirmative Action and Gender Equity in Representation in Politics in Ghana: Justification, Prospects, Challenges and an Agenda for Action,” argues that while affirmative action has been used in Ghana since independence to address imbalances in access to education, health, work and political representation, its success have been variable.

It pointed out that affirmative action as a measure to improve political representation has never been commensurate with the serious nature of the inequalities being addressed. It further states that commitment to affirmative action has been at best ‘half-hearted,’ a situation which, according to Dr. Tsikata, was worsened by the fact that the baisis for affirmative action was not shared or properly understood and its beneficiaries were often seen as “recipients of charity rather than citizens whose wrongs have to be righted.” This situation, according to Dr. Tsikata, has created fatigue and resistance among the political and bureaucratic classes and the general population towards affirmative action programmes.

The paper mentioned some affirmative action policies taken in the country to include the reservation of 10 seats in Parliament for women, measures to promote participation of women in certain professions, scholarship schemes for the three northern regions, fee-free education among other in the 1970s and recently, girls’ education policies as well as lower cut-off point for girls in tertiary education, reserved places for deprived districts, science clinics for girls and school feeding programmes.

According to the paper, although affirmative action has chalked up some successes in the country, it also faces challenges such as limitation of such policies to local government and executive appointments and also how to establish in the public mind that while affirmative action is necessary, it is not sufficient to achieve gender equity in political representation.

She proposed that women, through coalitions such as the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, can present an agenda for constitutional and electoral reforms when the need arises, and this she said, would involve changing the political system to one of proportional representation. Dr. Tsikata further affirmed earlier demands on political parties to use quota systems to increase women’s participation in elections, saying that this will be more effective than a voluntary quota system as is presently being used.

She also recommended that with regard to political party financing, parties which expected to enjoy public financing should be made to adhere to a mandatory quota system.

It further called on women groups to consider setting up a fund as well as establishing a League of Women Voters to promote gender consciousness among women voters as a strategy for making women voters count.

According to Dr. Tsikata, a programme of action, which will help put affirmative action on the public agenda, should include analysing the opposition to the affirmative action in order to identify different forces and their concerns, engaging with the media to generate public dialogue, engaging with political parties, the Electoral Commission, the Commission, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to organise public consultations and hearing, drawing up a programme with clear realizable demands and a strategy for implementation and finally strengthening the capacities of civil society groups to wage successful campaign for affirmative action and monitor the implementation of affirmative action provisions.

Anglican Church endorses ordination of Women

2009-06-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Anglican Church endorses ordination of Women
The Ghanaian Times, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 (Regional News) Page 22
No Byline indicated

The Anglican Church, Ghana on Sunday made history when the 20th synod, the highest decision making body of the mission, resolved to consecrate women as priests. Until this decision, which was laid before the synod about 10 years ago, women could only serve as “chalices” (that is, administer wine during communion).

The Anglican Church now allows the ordination of women as priests.

Moreover, a tribunal in Australia ruled that there was nothing in the church’s constitution that prevents the consecration of a woman priest. The rule made reference to the law of the Church of England Clarification Canon 1992 that paved the way in 2007 for the ordination of women as priests in the Anglican mission.

Most Reverend Dr Justice Ofei Akrofi, Provincial Archbishop of West Africa, said, “Women will now be ordained as members of the priesthood.”

He urged members to contribute towards the construction of a laboratory and equipment for the Anglican University College of Technology.

He said the church’s retreat centre at Ashaley-Botwe needed a hostel and again appealed to members to contribute towards that project.

Most Rev. Dr Akrofi said the church would do whatever possible top assist government in its dreams for the good of all Ghanaians.

He said the Anglican Church would educate its members especially those that sell on the street to find alternative ways of selling their items other than on the streets. “We’ll do whatever possible to encourage members of my church to vacate the streets,” he said.

He told the youth to invest their time productively and urged parents to have time for their children. “Parents share productive times and life with your children at home regularly,” he entreated.

The synod inducted into office Mrs Sabina Ofori Boateng, a legal practitioner as Chancellor for the Accra Diocese, Mr Bliss Nii Amartey as the Registrar of the Diocese and Mr Ebo Selby as the Assistant Registrar.

The role of the Chancellor is to advise the Bishop, synod, committees and boards of the Diocese, while the registrar is responsible for all documentations relating to the ordinations of the clergy and licensing of readers.

Gov’t Plans to develop Women politicians- Minister

2009-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Gov’t Plans to develop Women politicians- Minister
The Ghanaian Times, Monday, June 23, 2009 (Politics) Page 12
No Byline indicated

Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, says /said the government plans to raise 20 women in every district to sharpen their interest for parliamentary contest and other political appointments.

“No one is born a politician. All politicians go through training, sometimes insults and many hard times to be where they are, so women must be ready to strive for that,” she said.

The Minister said this at a rally organized in Accra by the Evangelical Presbyterian (E.P.) Church, Ghana, a women’s rally in aid of food processing and a resource centre.
“Women cannot stand aloof, look on and expect breakthroughs in their political, economic and social emancipation,” she said.

She said one of the reasons why President Atta Mills could not appoint many women to ministerial positions, as expected, was the fact that the number of women in parliament were very few.

She said women must be resourceful and earn incomes to the home to assist their husbands. “We cannot stand and stare and expect spiritual and physical development,” she said adding, “We must work hard and develop along with the men.”

She said that some women invested their resources on funeral cloth and neglected their children while others followed wealth inordinately. “Spend your resources to educate your children,” she said, pointing out that investing in the educations of children was a long-term investment, which would yield dividends later.

Ms Dansua called for the revival of the old order where biological parents were not the only one responsible for the general upkeep of their children but also all adults in the community, especially when the parents were not around. “Take interest in other people’s children because the children are the property of the state and the community,” she said.

Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, Deputy Minister for Transport, said though the recent increase in prices of petroleum products affects all Ghanaians it would generate revenue to develop the country.
Rev. Mrs. Nyuieme Adiepena, Women’s Coordinator of the E.P. Church, said everyone must make the effort to take a child from (off) the street.

She said it was very pathetic that it was not only children that found haven in the street and also mothers and children. “Show love to all manner of people especially those that are not relatives, tribesmen or friends for in this unity we empower ourselves,” she said.

Women, Peace and Security: Actualising UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Sierra Leone

2009-05-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

Pathways West Africa Hub is launching a research project to monitor and evaluate the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 in post-conflict Sierra Leone, this week. The research will critically analyse the activities and programmes of all stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the resolution and make necessary recommendations to push the process forward. See the full news report in the Awareness Times, published on 6 May 2009.

‘Don’t settle rape, defilement cases at home’

2009-05-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

‘Don’t settle rape, defilement cases at home’
Daily Graphic, Thursday, May 7, 2009 (Gender and Children) Page 11
Naa Lamiley Bentil

An Executive Board Member of the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ghana, Mrs Chris Daadzie, has advised traditional authorizes to discourage the practice of settling rape and defilement cases at home. Rather, she said, they should assist paralegals who are being trained by the federation to channel such cases through the formal system for proper redress to be sought for the victims.

Mrs Dadize, who was speaking at a durbar of chiefs and queens at Nungua to outdoor 30 paralegals for the Ledzkokuku Krowor Municipality, also appealed to the traditional rulers to review all forms of negative customs and traditional practices that violated the rights of women and children. “In spite of increasing reports by law enforcement agencies of sexual abuses, serious criminal offences, including rape and defilement are still no channeled through the appropriate legal system,” she said.

The 30 paralegals, made up of people with various educational backgrounds, were selected from the community and taken through a one-week intensive training on the Domestic Violence Act, the Children Act, Interstate Succession Law and other legal mediation training to equip them to resolve some of these cases and also serve as a point of referral on issues that might be beyond them.

According to Mrs Dadzie, Ledzkokuku Krowor was selected because of the high incidence of teenage pregnancy, school dropout rate, streetism and the high prevalence of domestic violence again women and children.

The federation, she further explained, selected the municipality because of a seemingly lack of knowledge by residents of where and how to seek justice for these abuses. She explained that the work of the paralegal was voluntary, so the Ledzkokuku Krowor Municipality Assembly would have to provide them with a meeting place where members could meet and share ideas in order to sustain the programme.

Another issue that came up was the menace of child maintenance. Mrs Dadsie said it was regrettable that although child maintenance was one of the major issues covered by the Children’s Act, many women continued to bear the burden of maintaining their children.

The Presiding Member for the Ledzkokuku Krowor Municipality Assembly, Mr Raphael Borketey Bortey, commended FIDA and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for selecting the areas as the first beneficiary of the programme in the Greater Accra Region.
He observed that the work of the paralegals would improve women’s access to resolving issues legally, and stressed that, “The paralegals will bring the laws to the doorsteps of the community.”

Statistics for the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), he said, indicated that domestic violence was still a major problem in the country and that an estimated number of 708 female children and five boys were defiled between January and December last year.

Women’s Coalition urges action on Domestic Violence, Disability Laws

2009-05-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

Women’s Coalition urges action on Domestic Violence, Disability Laws
The Ghanaian Times, Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Page 11
By Times Reporter

A coalition of non-governmental organisations advancing women’s right issues in the country, has urged the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) and Employment and Social Welfare to expedite action on the implementation of the Disability Action Act and the Domestic Violence Act, to help address specific concerns of women.

The NGOs are Network for Women’s Rights (NETRIGHT), the Coalition for Women’s Manifesto in Ghana (WMC) and the Coalition on Domestic Violence in Ghana (DV Coalition).

The coalition made the appeal when a delegation of NGOs called on the Minister for MWAC, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, in Accra.

Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, who led the delegation, also stressed the need for effective management of the oil find to promote gender equitable development in the country. Dr Mensah-Kutin said the NGOs were committed to advancing the cause of women in the country, and therefore there was need to collaborate with the ministry in that regard.

Ms Dansua thanked the group for the visit and assured them that the government was committed to implementing its plans for gender development, saying, “The government had already shown commitment by implementing the Disability Act and by also setting the Disability Council.”

Ms Dansua said the ministry would work assiduously to ensure that gender issues were mainstreamed in all aspects of governance.

Analsying changes in women’s work in Ghana

2009-05-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Gender Centre Launches Project
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, May 5, 2009 (Gender and Children) Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

A three-year research project on the changing character of women’s work and its implication for women’s livelihood security has been launched in Accra. The project, known as, “Formalising the informal and informalising the formal: Analsying changes in women’s work in Ghana,” will examine women’s work in two sectors, namely baking and paid domestic work.

Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the project, which is being undertaken by the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) of the University of Ghana in three urban centres, namely, Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, seeks to examine the changing nature of work, especially in the banking and domestic sector, with a view to making policy recommendations for improving work condition in the two sectors.

According to the Project Lead Researcher, Dr. Dzodzi Tsikata, the two sectors, one in the formal and the other in the informal economies were illustrations of some important developments in the character of women’s work .

She said both sectors had seen significant changes since the 1990s when economic liberalisation policies began to gain roots, and that domestic work was increasingly being procured through agents and agencies, while on the other hand, the banking sector, traditionally seen as the bastion of formality and long-term employment is changing with the introduction of labour agencies into the sector.

These changes, she said, were taking place in a general context of labour market liberation and the informalisation of work in both developed and developing countries, with these two sectors being illustration of the changing character of women’s livelihood.

She said informal work was becoming more prominent among women across the country, with most women going into hawking, trading, sewing, domestic and other unpaid work, a situation which she said had generated lesser incomes therefore jeopardized their security.

According to her, the country’s labour law favours formal work, but the focus should be looked at since most people were now becoming self-employed and called for equal opportunities for both formal and informal work in the labour laws.

Dr Tsikata, who mentioned some the objectives of the research, said it was to create a gender profile for domestic and banking sectors, as well as for agencies involved in the sectors and to examine the changes in the labour conditions and its implications for employment security and the social security of women workers in the banking and domestic sectors.

She said the study was to explore ways in which reproductive work differentiated women and men’s experiences of change in domestic and banking sectors. The project, she said, would also analyse any relationship between labour legislation and policies and informalisation, and explore the extent to which laws and policies were tackling the challenges of informalisation.
The research, which was undertaken by four female researchers, Dr Nana Akua Anyidoho, Dr Akosua Darkwa, Prof Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Dr. Tsikata, established that most banks sampled, preferred to use agency staff as a way of saving cost.

According to the research, a total o f13 banks in the three research areas which were sampled, also revealed that sourcing for agency staff enabled the banks to focus on their core business.

The research also revealed, among other things, that domestic workers employed through an agent or agencies, normally received better conditions of service than bank staff employed through an agency, although in monitory terms the bankers received better pay conditions.
It further revealed that agencies outsourced more women to the banks and as domestic staff than men.

Congratulations Prof Takyiwaa Manuh!

2009-05-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

On 30th April, 2009, Prof Takyiwaa Manuh gave her inaugural lecture on the topic, “A lawyer in African studies,” outlining her academic path and choices that have mainly been in the African Studies. Her academic interests include African Development, Gender and Women’s Empowerment, Migration and Higher Education. Congratulations!

Liberia Women fighting for Peace

2009-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to a 20 minute video, "Liberia Women fighting for Peace," produced by Amnesty International. Several women narrate their different experiences during the civil war and their trajectories to rehabilitation, restoration and peace after the war.

Please click here.

For peace,
Akofa.

Calling all Composers/Songwriters in Ghana: Music Competition!

2009-04-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

CENTRE FOR GENDER STUDIES AND ADVOCACY (CEGENSA)
and
PATHWAYS OF WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
POPULAR SONG COMPETITION

The Competition: Music is a significant part of the everyday lives of people across age, class, religion, and ethnicity. Musicians are powerful conveyors of ideas and ideologies through their lyrical and verbal pronouncements. The lyrics of songs are repeated in everyday conversations and find their way into explanations on women's intrinsic “nature” and pronouncements on how gender relations do, or should occur. Often songs even justify negative stereotypes or the unjust treatment of women. Musicians, music producers, DJs, and researchers agree that musicians can transform popular culture in positive ways. Thus, CEGENSA is looking for an empowering song that portrays women, aspects of women's lives, or gender relations in positive and empowering ways.

Who can enter? Professional or amateur musicians and song writers who are Ghanaians or resident in Ghana. A team made up of singer(s), songwriter(s) and musicians can enter but the team can only enter ONE song.

What should you enter? An empowering song that portrays women, aspects of women's lives, or gender relations in positive or empowering ways, AND which can capture the popular imagination. Each individual/team can enter only one song. Songs which have already been recorded are not eligible for entry; however, adaptations of existing songs may be entered if all copyright issues have been addressed. Entries must include the song in audio format together with the lyrics in text format. Songs should be a MAXIMUM of five (5) minutes and may be in any Ghanaian language or in English.

How to enter? Submit a song as a music file with accompanying lyrics (a) via email as an audio file plus accompanying lyrics as a text attachment; OR (b) to our offices on DVD/CD (audio) with accompanying text in hard copy. All entries must include name(s) and contact details (phone, e-mail address) of the participant(s), and the title of the song. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please note that THERE IS NO APPLICATION FEE!

Where to submit? (a) Email: minapeggy@yahoo.com
(b) Hard copy: Offices of CEGENSA, University of Ghana
(Old African Studies Old Building).
Closing Date? Entries must be received by Thursday July 16, 2009

All songs will be assessed by a team of judges whose decision shall be final. The winning song will receive advertising coverage in the print and electronic media and be launched at a public event in August. CEGENSA will also seek support for the creation of a music video for the winning song. All songs or other creative productions (e.g video) will remain the intellectual property of the artiste(s) although CEGENSA reserves the right to refer to and share these works for academic and intellectual pursuits.

For further enquiries contact Nana Dansowaa: minapeggy@yahoo.com/ 020 589 9981

Click here to read more about CEGENSA. You can also click here to read more about Pathways of Women's Empowerment.

Emma Sintim-Only female driver in Parliament

2009-03-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Emma Sintim-Only female driver in Parliament
The Mirror, Saturday, March 14, 2009 (Mirror News) Page 34
Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

“What a man can do, a woman can do better.” This saying has been the cardinal principle of genders activists, who have for some time snot, been pushing issues about women to the fore and putting in programmes to ensure females rub shoulders with their male counterparts. Now, women are seen doing work which was hitherto considered as the domain of men due to the increasing awareness and encouragement by the government and the civil society about how far women can go in life, only if they could shelve the ancient mentality that the woman’s place is only in the kitchen.

When I first saw 48-year old Emma Sintim hanging around the Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben South, Ms Beatrice Bernice Boateng, I though she may be one of those people who trooped to Parliament daily to seek assistance from their MPs.

Little did I know that Madam Sintim was the driver of that female MP. I became curious since all the drivers I had seen MPs over the years were men. How can a female MP be driven by a female driver? That is the question that was asked by a friend I was chatting with. Without waiting for an answer, he exclaimed, “This is real empowerment of women. Soon women will overtake us by the storm.”

Madam Sintim told The Mirror that she learnt driving in 1990 from her late husband and now she is reaping the benefits of her efforts.

The driver, who said she was the Market Queen of the Koforidua Dwaben Serwaa Market, said she had known the MP for the past two years. “I started driving her during the campaign period and I was happy upon winning the election, she decided that I should continue to be her driver.”
Being the only female driver among over 200 drivers chauffeuring the country’s legislators Ms Sintim feels proud to be part of the few Ghanaian women who have taken jobs considered to be men’s preserve.

She is a proud mother of two girls, one of whom has completed the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and is currently working at the Presbyterian Press in Accra. The other one is currently pursuing higher academic laurels in engineering in China.

She expressed her gratitude to Ms Boateng for giving her the opportunity to have a feel of how Parliament is operated and called on supporters of the various political parties not to consider their political opponents as enemies because she realized that Members of Parliament (MPs) were friends rather than enemies. “What I have seen in Parliament surprises me since the relationship among the various parties is cordial and are always seen eating and chatting together after they have finished performing the day’s parliamentary duties,” she noted.

On why she chose a female to be her driver, Madam Boateng said since the Beijing Declaration of affirmative action, women had been employing a number of tactics to practicalise women and gender issues. She explained that in terms of job opportunities, women were less privileged to secure jobs, saying that it was, therefore, an opportunity to reduce unemployment among women in the country. Madam Boateng noted that women were very careful in every field of endeavour they found themselves in, adding that, that explained why women were not normally involved in accidents.

“My gesture is also a ways of saying thank you to women in New Juaben South Constituency, who overwhelmingly endorsed my candidature in addition to encouraging women to strive to achieve higher laurels in all fields of endeavour, “ she said.

A Parliament Misses Women

2009-03-17T03:52:00.000-07:00

A Parliament Misses Women
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, March 17, 2009. Page 9 (Features)

Leigh S. Ranck

The elections in December have brought about change, some good and some bad. The bad news is that the number of women in the Parliament has been reduced from 25 to 20 out of the 230 seats in Parliament. The good news is, of course that for the first time in the history of Ghana, a woman is Speaker. Retired Supreme Court Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo holds such a powerful position in Parliament.

“Any elevation of women into position of power and leadership must be celebrated,” Senior Porgamme Officer for ABANTU for Development, Hamida Harrison said. “We all look at them and say we can all get there, but we recognize that one woman cannot make a difference.”
Like most countries, women make up 50 per cent of the population of Ghana, but women represent only nine per cent of members of Parliament, down from 11 per cent in the 2004 Parliament.

Many women groups are calling for this to change. Like ABANTU for Development, the Regional Inter-sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET) called for Parliament and President John Evans Atta Mills, to ensure that women have equal opporunit to serve in their government in a press briefing in early February.

Only 102 women ran for seats in Parliament according to ABANTU. That is almost have the 230 seats available. However, only 20 women won seats. “We (ABANTU) advocate for policies that are gender sensitive,” Ms Harrison said. “We focus mainly on district assemblies. They offer more space [for women] because they have about 5000 seats within the local government compared to 230 [in Parliament].”

District Assembly seats are more interesting to women, because it allows them to stay close to their families and still run the household, according to Harrison. When women win seats in Parliament, they are forced to move away from their families to Accra. This is especially important to women from farther away regions up in the North and West.

The Upper West Region suffers from a serious lack of representation of women. Women make up 52 per cent of the Upper East Region’s population but it has had very few women in commanding roles in Parliament. They have had two deputy ministers, only one district chief executive and one presiding member.

“There has never been a woman regional minister for the Upper East Region and only few women have been in assemblies,” Dr. Daud James Abang-Gos, Chairman of RISEGNET said at the press briefing. “This does not ensure equitable development.”

To combat unequal representation of women in government, in 1960, the Representation of the People’s bill or Women’s Members Bill was passed. It required 10 seats be set aside for women representatives. Almost 50 years later, only 10 more seats have been won by women. “Looking at the cases of other countries, studies have shown that where quota systems have been used, women’s participation in government has increased dramatically,” Ms Harrison said.

Thirty of the world’s 190 countries apply some form of quota for women in government. The African National Congress in 1994 as well as others institutions such as the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 and Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), agreed to have women’s representation at 30 per cent in all forms of government.

Some issues can only be raised and solved by women according to Ms Harrison. That’s why they are called women’s issues. Issues like child care, school fees and birth rights are issues that are important to women. “Policies have different impact on women and men,” Harrison said. “If women are not there, they cannot say whether the policy is gender sensitive.”

ABANTU has a mentoring programme for young girls so that they realize that they too can be involved in government. “Politics is our lives, we can’t leave it to other people. We must make conscious effort to direct the minds of the young people back to politics,” Ms Harrison said. “We have grown up believing that policy making is a man’s job.”

Commitment to Women's Empowerment needed

2009-03-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Daily Graphic, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 (Gender & Children) Page 11
Women’s Empowerment needs Commitment
Salome Donkor

The first world conference on the status of women was held in Mexico City to coincide with the 1975 International Women’s Year, to remind the international community that discrimination against women continued to be a persistent in most pasts of the world.

The conference led to the declaration of United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985), proclaimed by the General Assembly which launch a new era in global efforts to promote the advancement of women by opening a world-wide dialogue on gender equality.

A process was set in motion to involve deliberation, negotiation, setting objectives, identifying obstacles and reviewing the progress made.

Despite these efforts, many women around the world continue to suffer discrimination and challenges posed by social attitudes and policies that continue to condone and perpetuate violence against women and girls.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis on gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.

However, the Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for gender equality which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008, has established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevailed in Africa while increasing efforts are being made to address them

Making a statement in Parliament to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, on the theme, “Women and Men United to end violence against women and girls,” the Member of Parliament (MP) for Twifo Ati Mokwa, Mrs. Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, observed that women empowerment continued to be a central feature of the United Nations efforts to address socio-economic and political challenges confronting women across the world.

To add her voice to the calls on the need to get more women involved in politics and decision-making, an American philanthropist, writer and gender activist, Dr Swanee Hunt has urged Ghanaian women to be firm and resolute in the use of the imaginative and visionary qualities to promote the interest of women and other vulnerable groups in the society.

She describe Ghanaian women as energetic people with strong, imaginative and visionary qualities which could take them far if they received that necessary support to develop their capabilities.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after a meeting with 30 Ghanaian women, made up of parliamentarians, lawyers and representatives from non-governmental organizations, during a three-day visit to the country recently, she said Ghanaian women have made giant strides in national development, despite the challenges.

Dr. Hunt, who is a Lecturer of Public Policy, is committed to the attainment of gender parity, especially as a means to end war and rebuild societies, as well as to alleviate poverty and other forms of human suffering.

She served as President Clinton’s ambassador to Austria from 1993-1997, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia, which focused on stabilizing the neighbouring Balkan states. She had also worked extensively Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and a little in South Africa and Liberia, and notably with the most strong women all over the world.

Ambassador Hunt was the Founding Director of the Women and Public Policy Programme at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she also teaches, “Inclusive Security,” exploring why women are systematically excluded from peace processes and the policy steps needed to rectify the problem. She has conducted research, training and consultations with women leaders in some 60 countries.

She pointed out that as a gender advocate and women’s rights advocate, she decided to visit the country, to learn more about the roles of women in the country.

She described Rwandan women as strong women who played a crucial roles during the ethnic genocide and pointed out that with the Hutsi, Tutsi conflict some key women in Rwanda, namely Inyumba Aloisia and Rose Kabuya, played crucial roles.

Dr Hunt said 14 years after the genocide, Rwanda’s constitution adopted after a referendum held in 2003 guaranteed 30 per cent quota of the 80 seats in the Chambers of Deputies, for women.

The also created women councils in villages where they run offices and they got themselves in the constitutional committee with 30 per cent set aside for women who only contested those seats. Their strategy, she said, worked fantastically and after the country’s 2008 elections, the country became the first nation in the world whose legislative assembly had the majority of women when the ruling party of the ruling government headed by President Kagame endorsed, 35 female candidates in an inter-party coalition, adding that “if you want to look for a mother for Africa, look from Rwanda.”

She said Ghana lagged behind in representation of women in governance, explaining that in the US as of 2008 elections, there are 74 women serving in the current House of Representatives while the Senate had 17 women.

On the perception that ‘politics is a dirty game,’ she said it would continue to be so until women got actively involved and indicated that like other countries, women in the US women would be prodded many times before they will decide about politics.

She said such women should believe in women’s rights and concerns. She advised women not to think that they do not have the capabilities and were not qualified to contest elections and advised women to look at the EMILY’s List that helped to elect progressive female candidates who were pro-choice into office.

EMILY’s List, which is an acronym for “Early Money is Like Yeast,” is a political action committee (PAC) in the United States, founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984. From the common political saying that, “Early money is like yeast because it helps to raise the dough,” the concept encourages women who want to enter into politics to start mobilising funds early.

Dr. Hunt advised Ghanaian women, who want to contest in elections at both the district assembly and national level to take the decision now by starting to organise immediately, so that they can contest the elections and win.

In another interview, Mrs. Gifty Kleman, the Member of Parliament for Lower West Akyem, who was meeting with Dr. Hunt, described it as fruitful and said it provided a congenial atmosphere for deliberations on women in politics, trafficking and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, (UNSC Resolution 1325) relating to women, peace and security.

The Resolution, which tasks the UN Systems and Member States to ensure gender considerations are thoroughly integrated into all aspects of its security platform from conflict prevention to post-conflict reconstruction, was unanimously adopted by the Security Council in October 2000. She said they deliberated on the negative effects of child trafficking in the country and the need to assess the cause of child trafficking in order to come out with workable solutions to the problem

She also said the meeting deliberated on the need for gender advocates to also contest in elections after doing their advocacy work to as serves as an inspiration to women.

Happy Women's Day

2009-03-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers,

Today's International Women's Day. The global United Nations theme this year is, "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls."

In celebration of women and their achievements all over the world, I would like to refer you to a resourceful website dedicated to International Women's Day, highlighting events taking place all over the world during this period. Please click on the logo on the upper right hand side to link the the website.

Happy Women's Day,
Akofa Anyidoho.

Mid-Term Review, Cairo, Egypt 2

2009-02-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

More Pictures from the recently held Mid-Term Review:

Andrea Cornwall, Director of Pathways RPC welcoming the conference attendants.
With her, are Takyiwaa Manuh, West Africa Hub Convenor, and Cecilia Sardenberg, Latin America Hub Convenor during the opening session of the MTR

Naila Kabeer speaks on the diverse feminist perspectives in South Asia; Cecilia Sardenberg is quite engrossed by the discussion

Takyiwaa Manuh shares Ghana's experience in response to Anna Alice's presentation in quota systems and women's participation in politics in Brazil

Group discussions on researchers' experiences in being part of Pathways RPC below:

Photo by Akofa Anyidoho

Mid-Term Review, Cairo, Egypt

2009-01-31T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Project Consortium held its Mid-Term Review from January 20-24th, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt on the theme, “Women’s Empowerment: What are we learning?” This brought together researchers, research assistants and the communications officers from the five regional hubs to discuss research work and progress. The Department for International Development, UK reviewers were also there to offer insightful reviews and comments that would be needed for the 2nd phrase of the RPC. RPC work during the 2nd phase will be mostly focused on publications, paper presentations, policy influencing and communications initiatives as research findings are revealed.

Below are some pictures from the Mid-Term Review Conference:

Mona Ibrahim Ali, Women and Memory Forum, Egypt (front left)

Srilatha Batliwala, AWID and an external reviewer and Naila Kabeer, IDS, and Pathways Theme Covenor for Empowring Work

Naomi Hossain and her co-researchers discuss their work on
Discourses of Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh

Islad Jad responding to one of the presentations

Rosalind Eyben from the Global Hub speaks on her research on different meanings and implications of women's empowerment in global policy spaces.

Dzodzi Tsikata and Akosua Darkwah from the West Africa Hub presenting a paper on their work on Everyday Women's Lives in Ghana

Hania Sholkamy, Egypt speaks on 'just power' in the Middle East

Sohela Nazneen and Charmaine Pereira during a group discussion at the MTR

Photos by Akofa Anyidoho

Women's Coalition Threatens Action

2008-12-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Women's Coalition Threatens Action

By Lawrence Akpalu
Thursday, 18 December 2008

The Women’s Manifesto Coalition of Ghana has expressed disappointment at the reduced number of women going to the next parliament following the December 7 general elections. The elections saw the number of women parliamentarians reduce from 25 to 18, leaving women activists and gender advocates totally demoralized.

The Executive Director of Advocates for Gender Equity Age, Mrs Elizabeth Akpalu, stated at a press briefing yesterday in Accra that the Women Manifesto Coalition was demanding from the next government, mandatory appointment of women as regional ministers and district chief executives, and on boards of corporations and institutions.

Mrs Akpalu said the two main political parties – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New patriotic Party (NPP) had not convinced women who constituted the majority of voters about their commitment to women’s representation and participation in governance and the strategies they intended to introduce to achieve gender equity.

“We firmly believe that without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s –perspectives all levels of decision making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved,” she added.

She said “the coalition’s demands were clearly stated in the Beijing Platform for Action which called for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and for equal participation of both men and women in decision making positions to reflect societal interest.

“Since the constitution requires that two-thirds of ministers must be appointed from Parliament, the 18 elected women parliamentarians even if appointed would not make any impact,” she said, adding, “women would still be worse off in the new administration”.

She said that to press home their demands, bus loads of women would be conveyed to the offices of the two main political parties to demand pledges for a peaceful election run-off and the implementation of strategic outline of existing national policies.

“We shall firmly demand a timely response from the two main political parties before December 28 to enable women to make an informed decision on which presidential candidate to vote for,” she said.

Mrs Akpalu assured the two parties of the coalition’s continued engagement with them in the next government to further address the demands, as the time for affirmative action towards adopting a quota system to ensure full women participation in politics is now.”

Source: News Times Online.

Obaasima

2008-12-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Akofa Anyidoho participated in the Digital Story-telling Track at the FTX programme in Cape Town from 10-12 November, 2008. Below is a 1:44 minute movie clip, a poetic creation on her thoughts of being a woman, Obaasima, which means 'ideal woman' in Akan. Enjoy.

Photo Competition Winning Images

2008-11-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

Announcing the Winners of the "Changing Images of Women in Ghana" Photo Competition!

Long time no see by Kwabena Danso
Winning Image

"Intriguing and Ambigious. Woman's presence is intense, can hardly see the man." ~A Judge's Comment

The woman "obviously got it together!"~Another Judge's Comment.

Malaika & Saviour, nursing students off to school by Senyo Ganyo
2nd Winning Image

"The essence of femininity in a stolen private moment," comment by a reviewer.

Beautiful dawn by Kwabena Danso
3rd Winning Image

Abstract but aesthetically good," A judge's comment.

Gloomy Calm by Kwabena Danso
3rd Wining Image, it was a tie. :)

The judging panel:
Tessa Lewin, Communications & Learning Officer-RPC
Anna Kari, Documentography
Guilhem Alandry, Documentography
Akosua Adomako Ampofo, RPC-West Africa Researcher
Nana Akua Anyidoho, RPC-West Africa Researcher

Congratulations-Dr. Asiedu!

2008-10-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

Awo Mana Asiedu (Dr. ), a lecturer at the Drama Department of the School of Performing Arts and an RPC research partner with the Sexuality them has been promoted to the position of Senior Lecturer.

The RPC West Africa, the entire RPC and partners bid you Congratulations!!!

~~~~~

The Steep Price of Getting Elected

2008-10-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

ACCRA, Oct 16 (IPS) - Mawusi Awity and her husband were willing to jeopardize his military career for her dream of running for parliament in Ghana but there was another price to pay that she could not afford.

”The excessive use of money to win the minds and hearts of the voters is making it difficult for women to get into the forefront of politics,” Awity told IPS.
A development worker and district assemblywoman for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awity, 46, is one of a handful of women trying to move into Ghana’s political arena. Her story shows the need to re-draw political rules in this democratic West African country (pop.23 million).

In August, Awity lost the primary election to choose the parliamentary candidate for the South Tongu constituency, in the southeast.

Never mind the possible consequences for her husband, an officer in the Armed Forces, of her choice. "My husband has resigned himself to the fate that if my party looses the elections, that is the end of his career," she added. "But he is a wonderful man and supports me."
The insurmountable problem was vote-buying among party delegates, a common practice in Ghana, according to political analysts. "The use of money in politics has seriously affected all the attempts we have made to involve more women in politics," said Hamida Harrison, programme officer of the women advocacy group, ABANTU for Development.

Awity’s decision not to buy votes possibly cost her the election. "The people know I am the best candidate but they also decided to take money to vote for whoever provides the money," she said.

The numbers speak for themselves. For this year’s general elections scheduled for December, only 70 women are running for Parliament’s 230 seats. Perhaps the lesson of the last elections in 2004 was not lost on women. Between the two main parties and a few small ones, a total of 101 women ran. Twenty-four were elected — just under 11 per cent of Members of Parliament (MPs).

The NPP fielded 227 candidates, of whom 27 were women. Twenty women and 107 men were elected.The National Democratic Congress (NDC) fielded 212 male candidates, of whom 90 were elected, and 16 women, of whom four were elected.
The Convention People’s Party (CPP) candidates numbered 150 men and 18 women. Only two men were elected.

"To think that after we launched the Women’s Manifesto, this is all we achieved, shows that there are fundamental problems that need to be addressed," said Harrison.

The Manifesto, launched in 2004, is a non-partisan call to promote gender equality in politics.
"We have been able to use the Manifesto to change the perception of our women about politics not being a job for them," Harrison told IPS.

Some progress can be seen. The Chief Justice, the Deputy Inspector General of Police and the Vice-Chancellor of a large public university are women.

"What is holding women back is the way politics is run in the country," said Harrison.
Money talks, money votes.

Thelma Lamptey, who won the CPP primary to represent Pokuase constituency near Accra, the capital, couldn’t agree more. Lamptey, a teacher, has twice lost the nomination to men.
"The main problem has been how to raise money to run my campaigns," she said." Whereas men find it easy to raise funds, women cannot easily go to the men who could help them. In addition, the men who may want to help do not feel comfortable to approach the women," she added.

Harrison attributes the attitude of the men to the social structure of the country: "Let us be honest, Ghana is a patriarchal country and a highly traditional society and this does not give space to women. We have reports of spousal pressure on some women to back out from their political careers and some marriages have broken down."

Perhaps not surprisingly, a couple of top women touted as possible vice presidents by the various parties were not interested. Anna Bossman, acting head of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, turned down an offer from the CPP, arguing she was happy in her job. Rose Mensah-Kutin, executive director of Abantu, recused herself early on when her name was being bandied by the PNC.

What to do?

Awity supports affirmative action with a number of Parliamentary seats reserved for women.
Lamptey suggests exempting women candidates from paying filing fees to the party before the primaries and another fee later to the Electoral Commission. Awity, who in spite of her bitter defeat works with the NPP presidential advisory team, said that "the party has become aware of the money factor as one thing that is impeding the participation of women and that has to be fought seriously."

She agreed that fees should be scrapped for women or the government should set up a fund to support women candidates. However, she warned, strict monitoring is needed to prevent misuse.Then Awity can worry about winning votes, instead of buying them.

We Know Politics

2008-10-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

WiLDAF bemoans the marginalization of women

The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) have condemned the spate of marginalization of Ghanaian women in leadership positions and called for effective affirmative actions to address the problem.

The two bodies admitted that there had been some levels of improvements in the number of women in leadership positions but noted that the gap was still huge considering the more than 50 per cent of women making up the country’s population.

This was made known at a day’s Regional Consultative Forum in Bolgatanga organised by FIDA Ghana, WiLDAF Ghana and the Hunger Project, Gender Centre and Coalition of Women in Governance.

It was under the theme; “We know Politics; Hearing the Voices of Women in the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary election”.

Mr David Atinga, Coordinator of FIDA-Ghana in charge of the Upper East Region said the forum was to collate views and concerns of women that needed to be addressed by politicians in the 2008 elections and afterwards so that could be held accountable after their stewardship.

He noted that unless the gender gap was bridged to allow women to articulate their needs to be addressed, Ghana’s aim of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 could be a mirage.

Mr Atinga said that out of the 10 Regional Ministers there was no woman with the Deputy Regional Ministers having seven men and three women.

He said the 35 chief directors had 29 men and six women with four women making to the total of 48 Ambassadors.

The Members of Council of State was made up of 22 men and three women and out of 230 Parliamentarians, 25 were women in 2005 with the 138 District Chiefs Executives having 126 males and 12 females.

He said none of the political parties had so far chosen a woman as the running mate and said women had the right under national and international laws to actively participate in politics like their male counterparts.

Madam Paulina Abayage, Upper East Regional Director of the Department of Women who presented a paper on the “Importance of Women in Decision Making,” advocated that a legislation that allows for 40 per cent quota for women in the decision making process must be passed.

She noted that the affirmative action should be adopted in line with article 35 (5) of the constitution and asked for electoral laws to be reviewed to ensure that all political parties presented at least 40 per cent of their candidates as females.

Madam Abayage blamed the low level of the participation of women in the decision making process to religious, cultural practices and asked for the modification of negative cultural practices hampering the development of women.

Women, she noted, needed to be empowered by civil organizations to enable them to undertake political carriers and appealed to traditional authorities and opinion leaders to ensure that the girl child was sent to school.

The function was attended by Women Rights activists, political parties, assembly members, traditional leaders and media practitioners.

Source: GNA and www.myjoyonline.com

Popular Artistes Workshop

2008-09-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

At the Reflection Workshop with Popular Artistes
July 30, 2008

Group Picture taken after the Workshop

WunLove, The Kubolor and Takyiwaa Manuh during discussions

Gyedu Blay Ambolley, a well known popular musician in Ghana

Diana Hopeson, current President of MUSIGA, represents her small group
as she discusses a song text and possible alternatives

Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah and Mawell Addo

Nii Armah Dagadu and Dennis Abeiku discussing song texts

Post Workshop dinner

Awo Asiedu in a chat with Soha Rafaat Ibrahim

Mona Ibrahim Ali and Gyedu Blay Ambolley

Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Mona Ibrahim Ali

Pictures by Akofa A. Anyidoho

Changing Portrayal of Women in Popular Music

2008-08-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

‘Let’s have more positive lyrics about women’

Akofa Anyidoho and Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah

Daily Graphic, Saturday, August 30, 2008

Page 20, Entertainment

A forum dubbed The Reflection Workshop with Popular Artistes, which brought together researchers, popular artistes, disk jockeys and radio presenters to reflect on the messages encoded in popular song texts about women, was held at the Ellking Hotel in Accra on July 30^th. The forum also sought to brainstorm alternative ways that women could be presented in popular music.

In attendance at the workshop which was facilitated by Prof. Akosua Anyidoho, the Director of NYU in Ghana, were RPC colleagues from Nigeria, Drs Bibi Bakare Yusuf and Charmaine Pereira, colleagues from Egypt, Drs Mona Ali Ibrahim and Sofa Rafaat, and from Ghana Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Drs Nana Akua Anyidoho and Sika Ahadzie. The project has also been working with the veteran musicologist Prof. John Collins. The musicians and radio presenters who attended the workshop included Mr. Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Mrs. Diana Hopeson, WunLov, DJ Abio, Nana Adjei Denkyebuor, Mr. Nii A. Dagadu, and Mr. Dennis Abieku.

The workshop was part of the research project, Changing Representations of Women in Popular Music, led by Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Head, Centre for Gender and Advocacy (CEGENSA) and Dr. Awo Mana Asiedu, Theatre Arts, both of the University of Ghana. This project is, in turn, part of larger research endeavour called, Pathways of Women’s Empowerment, involving an international consortium of researchers from academic institutions networking with women’s organisations, women’s rights groups and policy makers to examine and influence policy changes that affect women’s conceptions of empowerment, creating the framework for women in the public sphere and work and changing narratives of women’s sexualities. The Convenor of the West Africa Hub of the project is Prof. Takyiwa Manuh, the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.

Through an examination of the lyrics of some songs composed mainly by Ghanaian artistes, the participants found that the messages conveyed about women are often negative and tended to reinforce stereotypical societal perceptions of women. For example, they found that some of the songs focused on women’s bodies and portrayed them as sex objects, while others tended to portray women as fickle minded, unfaithful, money lovers, exploitative, competitive, gossips, submissive, jealous, etc.

The participants also found texts that portrayed positive images about women. For example, some of the texts reflected women as keepers of tradition and history, educators, counsellors, hardworking, virtuous, physically beautiful, virtuous, or as selfless and caring mothers/partners. Some of the lyrics on sexuality also portrayed positive notions of desire and female-male physical love. However, these positive representations in the collection of songs were by far fewer.

Discussing the negative representation of women in popular music, the resource person for the workshop, Prof. Akosua Anyidoho, stressed that such images might cause some girls and women to believe that those portrayals are what society expects of them, and they may fail to develop their potentials. She noted that popular music is a very powerful medium for (re)enforcing and dictating what is in vogue/fashionable or acceptable to society. Both the youth and adults look to popular music for relaxation and entertainment. The songs are played on radio and television, and in the latter case typically accompanied by musical videos which often depict women’s bodies through dance (often quite provocative).

Daily we hear music, booming from shops, restaurants, taxis, buses, lorries, etc. Social gatherings such as marriage ceremonies, naming ceremonies, funerals, commissioning of projects, etc. are deemed dull without music. Thus, the whole society, both young and old, is exposed to the songs and the messages musicians convey. The lyrics are repeated in daily conversations, and even children are heard repeating them during their play time in the streets, at school, or at home.

Based on the foregoing, the participants considered alternative representations of women. The artistes and the radio presenters agreed they needed to expose the public to songs that do not stereotype women. According to Diana Hopeson, President of Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), most songs about women are composed by men. She suggested therefore that women needed to be encouraged and supported to sing about themselves. There were calls to involve female musicians in setting new standards: to write alternative songs texts about themselves.

*** Editorial changes have been made to the original publication that was made in the Daily Graphic, as boldened in the article.

Making aid relevant to gender-equality

2008-08-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

Making aid relevant to gender-equality
-The EC/UN Partnership
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, August 19, 2008. Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Salome Donkor

Between September 2 and 4 this year, ministers from over 100 countries and heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organisations, and civil society organisations from around the world will assemble in Accra for the third High-Level Forum on aid effectiveness.

The conference is being held in recognition of the need to reform the process of development assistance to make it more responsive to the needs of developing countries and marginalised people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.

The move towards a more equitable and gender responsiveness in the aid agenda over the years resulted in a conscious effort by the international community to reform the ways through which aid is delivered and managed.

They recognised that while the volumes of aid and other development resources must increase to achieve these goals, aid effectiveness must increase significantly, as well as support partner country efforts to strengthen governance and improve development performance. This is aimed at increasing the impact of aid in reducing poverty and inequality, increasing growth, building capacity and accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The commitment to achieve improved aid effectiveness and results was concretised in the late 1990s, when donors/aid agencies, in particular, began working with each other, and with partner countries, to harmonise these approaches and requirements.

The movement picked up steam in 2002 at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, and the last five years have been marked by a number of initiatives towards establishing a new aid architecture.

This culminated in a High-Level Forum on Harmonisation in Paris in March 2005, attended by heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions, who resolved to take positive steps to reform ways to aid delivery and management.

The High-Level Forum followed up on the adoption of a Declaration that has come to be known as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The declaration is grounded on five mutually reinforcing principles: Ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability.

As part of a programme to enhance the knowledge of the media in understanding the issues concerned with aid effectiveness, the European Commission (EC), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITC-ILO) have launched the EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace. The partnership is to support stronger action on gender equality and women’s human rights in national development process and in co-operation programmes supported by the EC.

Consequently, a one-day training workshop was organised for journalists in Accra, to provide the opportunity for participants to interact and share ideas on international aid and development issues and to break down the technical terms of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The participants, made up of representatives from both the print and electronic media, maintained that no country could attain accelerated development if a segment of the population was not involved in the planning and implementation of the development process. They said it was necessary to ensure that women, who constitute more than half of the population of a number of countries, were involved in development plans, while aid was implemented to meet the different needs of men, women, children and people with special needs.

Ms Afua B. Ansere, the National Programme Co-ordinator UNIFEM said aid effectiveness would be attained if monies flowing into a country as aid were more co-ordinated and used for the intended purpose, while recipients were more accountable for the aid received.

She said for Ghana to attain a middle-income status by 2015, and to make aid effectiveness more relevance to the country, it was important to link the international aid received by the country to gender equality and women empowerment, while looking at the proportion of money that was channeled into health, education and youth training, as well as reproductive health and maternal health care, water and sanitation and the provision of other social services.

Mrs Charity Binka, a member of the EC/UN Partnership, who made a presentation on the concepts of gender equality and women empowerment, said basically women were seen to perform reproductive roles, while men performed productive roles. She, however, indicated that gender was not a consequence of sex and did not mean that one group was better than the other, adding that “it involves the roles that we play in our homes, the society, the church and in our communities”. She said gender equality meant that men and women had the same rights, status and fair treatment regardless of their sex.

The Accra forum will among others review progress in improving aid effectiveness, broaden the dialogue to newer actors and chart a course for continuing international action on aid effectiveness.

The conference will conclude high-level discussions and negotiations around key issues, culminating in the endorsement of a ministerial statement — The Accra Agenda for Action — that aims to deepen implementation of the Paris Declaration.

Enhancing the status of Women

2008-08-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Enhancing the status of Women
-Ghana’s efforts over the years
Daily Graphic, Thursday, August 7, 2008. Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Salome Donkor

THE launch of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Combined Reports on Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in Accra, recently provided a forum for the enumeration of measures taken over the years to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the country.

The reports cover the period 1993 to 2003 and highlight progress made over the decade in achieving gender equality, as well as challenges and efforts being made by the government towards the realisation of women’s empowerment, equality, equity and sustainable development. It is being disseminated to all stakeholders who have a role in the implementation of the Convention.

The first section of the reports provides an update on Ghana’s socio-economic and political environment. It also discusses the position and status of women in Ghana since the submission of the first and second reports in 1991 and 1992, respectively.

The reports further evaluates what was achieved with regards to the implementation of the “ Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for Promoting the Advancement of Women”, and “ The Platform For Action” adopted after the Beijing Conference.

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) submitted the combined report, which was considered by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in August 2006.

State parties are enjoined under provisions of CEDAW to submit periodic reports to the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women and the three reports provided additional information on questions and issues raised in the report and offers a lot of issues for discussion.

The compilation of the report and other related documents of Ghana’s implementation of CEDAW has been made possible through the support and inputs from ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organisations in conjunction with development partners namely, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which provided financial and administrative support.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.

Chapter 5 of the constitution deals with fundamental human rights and freedoms which conform to the international human rights framework. In addition, to the rights accorded to all persons, articles 22 and 27 deal specifically with women’s rights.

The Minister for Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Hajia Alima Mahama rightly pointed out during the launch of the reports that Ghana has made giant strides in the fulfilment of its national, regional and international commitment adding that Ghana demonstrated its commitment and political will by not only signing the convention, but also through the implementation of various strategies with the view of empowering women.

She was reported to have observed that the government and the people of Ghana had demonstrated their commitment to the tenets of the convention by ensuring that the Constitution and other policies and legislation were consistent with CEDAW.

She said sections of the 1992 Constitution, which guaranteed the fundamental human rights of every Ghanaian irrespective of race, place of origin, gender and freedom from discrimination, which she said were conformity with provisions of CEDAW.

In addition to these, the setting up of the National Council on Women and Development, now the Department of Women, after the 1975 Conference on Women, as a national machinery for women, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs in 2001 with a cabinet status, the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill and the setting up of the Women and Juvenile Unit, now the Domestic Violence and victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, are all positive steps adopted over the past decade to enhance the status of women.

The report points to progress made in women’s health, education and economic empowerment, covering the period under review during which Ghana has seen three consecutive terms of constitutional rule. Despite these achievements the reports assert that some challenges remain in the area of politics, administration and medium and large-scale industrial development, while the percentage of illiterate women remains high, as compared to men.

Although some harmful traditional practices, such as widowhood rites and female genital mutilation have been criminalised under the Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), women are still a long way from achieving equality and these practices persist in some communities due to existing stereotyped conceptions of women caused by socio-cultural factors which perpetuate discrimination based on sex.

For instance the reports mention that one of the thorny issues that needs to be dealt with is polygamy, which it said was an entrenched socio-cultural and religious practice that remained a big challenge to legislators and policy makers.

Nana Oye Lithur, the African Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHI) said polygamy was still an issue and explained that sometimes it was difficult to determine who was the wife in a polygamous marriage after the husband with multiple wives, died intestate. She said that also raised a lot of issues in relation to property rights. Nana Oye also said although there had been a lot of interventions since 2006 when the reports were submitted, to address issues of maternal health, mentioning, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the recent introduction of free medical care for pregnant women, the issue of unsafe abortion was still outstanding.

She said people needed to be informed and provided with a comprehensive care to ensure that those who qualified under the law, had safe abortion.

She also mentioned the issue of witch camps in some parts of the country and explained that although it had traditional ramifications, efforts must be made to ensure that women perceived as witches, enjoyed their fundamental human rights, stipulated under the constitution.

Ms Gloria Ofori Boadu, President of the Women Assistance and Business Association (WABA) pointed out that women must be sensitised to encourage and support fellow women who aspire for positions in decision-making.

Ms Ofori Boadu, who contested and lost the Abuakwa South Constituency primaries on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, indicated that although there were no laws in Ghana that bar women from participating in politics or in other areas of economic and social life;the cultural perception of women as inferior to men has been a major hinderance to women in politics and public life.

She said after all these years of advocacy, it was unfortunate for some people to think that women who got to decision-making positions would relegate their traditional roles to the background.She said there was still the need for increased women’s participation in decision-making at the district level, ministries, department and agencies since they formed about 52 per cent of the country’s population.

The reports also mentioned financial constraints to ensure wide publicity of the convention, for example, translation of articles of the convention into local dialects and incorporation of articles on the convention into the laws of Ghana.

They therefore stressed on the need for all stakeholders, as well as the international community to do more to support the implementation of all articles of the convention to enable the nation achieve the aspirations of gender equality, development and peace.

Promote Women’s role in Politics

2008-08-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Promote Women’s role in Politics
Daily Graphic, Thursday, August 7, 2008. Page 23
Daniel Nkrumah

The Director of the West Africa Regional Office of ABANTUA for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, has urged political parties to play an active role to promote affirmative action policies to increase women’s involvement in politics.

She said by virtue of the fact that political parties had control over nomination processes, it was critical that such a request was put on their doorstep.

In a presentation at the Third Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue, Dr. Mensah-Kutin noted the low level of women representation in Parliament had been identifies as having implications for their well being and their ability to change the culture, practices and outcomes of politics of the country.

“The evidence seems to suggest that even tough civil society organisations are pushing the political parties to focus on the real issues confronting this nation, it does not seem that a gender responsive politics of inclusion, with all the complexities is emerging,” she stated.

She added that in as much as there had been enhanced awareness and discussions of issues of women participation in politics, the political landscape still does not seem to be moving in the direction where concrete actions were being put in place to guarantee that “critical mass” in the political space.

“It is a fact that active presence in terms of numbers may not necessarily transform national politics. But evidence from other countries shows that it can enhance the visibility of women as a minimum condition for addressing gender-power relations within the public decision-making processes over a period of time,” she noted.

She added that the move towards a more equitable and gender responsive governance system had to consciously involved women at all levels.

Dr. Mensah-Kutin stated that the continuous engagement with social, political and economic decision making was critical in deepening the direct link between gender and democratic governance.

She noted that although there had been significant changes in family relations, education, work and status, the lot of women had not changed.

She said women in the country continued to face discriminatory practices, in sufficient access to land, and control of resource such as land, capital and technology.

She added that other issues of concern were the treatment of women by the media in terms of ideology, representation and participation; the negative impacts of conflicts on their well being; the incidence of gender violence and the lack of sufficient financial support and commitment for the promotion of gender equality.

“We therefore need to commit to looking at our governance system and how it can be transformed to benefit both women and men on an equitable basis,” she stated.

She said there was also the need to support women who were active in politics and work with political parties “to promote a transformatory agenda that questions patriarchal authority, promotes women’s rights and moves toward the vision that builds solidarity and also mobilises and advances a gender responsive and inclusive democratic system.”