Women in Ghana and around the world have been encouraged to stand against violence and force marriages of the girl child as today marks International Women’s Day.
International Women’s Day which comes every 8th of March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
In a statement issued by the Women’s Wing of the governing New Patriotic Party and signed by the Upper East Regional Women’s Organizer,Georgina Ayamba and copied A1 News, Women have been encouraged to take advantage of government’s pro poor polices in other to make them economically empowered.
They have also been been charged to challenge the status-quo in their fight against bias, stereotypes, gender-based violence, child marriages and economic injustice.
Below is the full statement issued.
PRESS RELEASE BY THE UPPER EAST REGIONAL WOMEN’S WING ON THE COMMEMORATION OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
The Upper East Regional Women’s wing of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) commemorates with Ghanaian women on today’s International Women’s Day on the theme “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”.
As we use this day to celebrate the cultural, social, economic and political successes of women, we also call for a swift action for accelerating gender equality.
In spite of the herculean task and challenges women go through on daily basis, the survival of happy homes and successful countries is dependent on the critical roles women play in their societies.
It is however important that, governments and state agencies expedite action on policies and programmes to remove all gender-based barriers for the full realization of the potentials of women globally.
As we celebrate the achievements of women today, let us work in synergy to challenge gender norms, break stereotypes, reject the binary and empower each other through active mobilization and decision making to celebrate diversity.
To this end, the NPP government remains committed through its pro-poor programmes and policies tailored at women to addressing gender inequality.
The successful introduction and implementation of the Free Senior high education by government has drastically reduced the financial burden particularly on women in financing their children education and has also afforded thousands of female children access to compulsory secondary education.
Fellow women, under the planting for food and jobs, over 20,000 rural women in the Upper East Region benefited from subsidized fertilizer and inputs that increased their yields and enhanced their livelihoods. We hope to expand this to cover more rural women in the coming farming season.
The purchase and distribution of ambulances by government to all constituencies will significantly help reduce maternal mortality particularly in the region and thus, never again should our pregnant women died due to lack of ambulances to take them to hospitals for safe delivery.
Government continues to disburse loans under MASLOC to women entrepreneurs’ to undertake economic ventures to improve their livelihoods.
Colleague women, the government over the period has engaged more women caterers under the Ghana school feeding programmes which have had great impact on their families .
The construction of One-Village-One-Dam across the five regions of the north has afforded women the opportunity of engaging in all year round farming that has drastically reduced the rural-urban migration of women and its attendant dangers.
The NPP government remains resolute in the economic and political emancipation of women by prioritizing more women in permanent and temporary job opportunities as well as committed to the affirmative action.
The reservation of 30% political appointments for women at the central and decentralize government structures for inclusive good governance is evident of women empowerment at all spheres of life.
Dear colleagues, it is my conviction that, the above policies and programmes have contributed greatly to addressing gender inequality among women, however let’s admonished our governments to improve our situations and create a gender equal world.
Let me use this opportunity to admonished women particularly in rural communities to rebel against child marriage and violence against women by discouraging the act and reporting perpetrators of such crime to the police for swift action.
As we celebrate this crucial day, I call for gender equal workplaces, gender equal government, gender equal media coverage and more gender equality in health and wealth for a healthier, wealthier and more harmonious world.
On this note, I urge my fellow women in various facet of life to challenge the status-quo in our fight against bias, stereotypes, gender-based violence, child marriages and economic injustice.
We shall not relent on our quest for gender equality as we work in synergy to tackle the persistent barriers to gender equality.
Georgina Ayamba
NPP UER Women’s Organizer
(0246451322)
Source:A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Ghana
