Government intensifies gender equality efforts

Accra, Aug. 27, GNA - Government has rolled out national mechanism for ensuring gender equality and women empowerment as well as strategies for reducing poverty levels, social injustices among women and men.

Also, improving health standards and enhancing efficiency of public and private sector investments and domestic finance.

The mechanism seeks to ensure that Ghana achieves gender equality for attainment of human rights and which serves as a pre-requisite for sustainable national development.

'Ghana's goals towards achieving gender equality targets are guided by its commitment to International Instruments, its Constitution and national development frameworks,' Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra, on Thursday.

She said Article 17(1) and (2) particularly of the 1992 Constitution, guarantees gender equality and freedom of women and men, girls and boys from discrimination on the basis of social or economic status among others.

Nana Oye Lithur said Ghana's efforts for gender equity are evident in the nation's recent achievements as shown by international indices.

The overarching goal of the National Gender Policy is to mainstream gender equality concerns into the national development processes by improving the social, legal, civic, political, economic and socio-cultural conditions of the people of Ghana.

The Gender Minister said stakeholders in the sector are expected to take strategic policy actions to address bottlenecks and barriers and critical issues existing alongside the successes.

These issues of concern include: Inequality in access to social protection by the marginalized, vulnerable and the poor.

Inequalities in the burden of extreme poverty, education, skilled training gaps and excess maternal mortality; and Unequal access to social, economic power and justice including lack of respect for and inadequate protection and promotion of human rights of women.

'Inequalities between women and men in sharing of power and decision making at all levels, and in dealing with all kinds of conflicts and insecurities and threats on women,' she said.

Nana Oye Lithur noted that inequality in macro-economic issues including trade, industry structures and productive resources; stereotyping and persistent discrimination against women manifest in negative gender relations, and value for gender roles and responsibilities with severe implication for maternal health and mortality.

"Irrespective of the gains made so far, these inequalities listed, are still deeply rooted in the social systems and manifest particularly in matters of access to justice, health, finance, education, security, politics, energy, agricultural practices, environmental management processes among others," she said.

The Gender Minister explained that these causes could be attributed to the historical legacy of patriarchal influences and the form of socialization received from homes to public settings.

In an attempt to address the challenges posed by these inequities, successive governments have made conscious efforts by promoting girl-child education, social development and protection initiative.

The initiatives include the distribution of free school uniforms, free exercise books, skilled training for young women, free ante-natal services for pregnant women, access to credit in the form of programmes such as the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty among others.

The Government has also improved the legislative environment through the enactment of statutes including the Domestic Violence Act 2007, Act (Act 732) to aggressively tackle gender inequality and the promotion of the welfare of women and girls.

Nana Oye Lithur stressed that it is evident that men's and boy's involvement in removing systemic socio-cultural practices that slow down women's empowerment, especially stopping violence against women and girls and improving gender relationships in homes and public places is affirmed as an important policy issue.

She said social protection issues for marginalized and vulnerable groupings such as people with disability, the homeless and the displaced, and other sub groups such as Kayayei, persons with disability are firmly placed on the agenda in the national policy.

She explained that the National Gender Policy focuses on mainstreaming gender equality, women empowerment and social protection concerns by strongly concentrating on the implementation of five policy commitments.

The policy commitments include women empowerment and livelihood; women's rights and access to justice; women's leadership and accountable governance; macroeconomics, trade and industries; and gender roles and relations.

GNA