UNFPA advocates for more investments in gender equality and social protection

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said there is a need to take stock of works in the area of gender equality and social protection to influence policy and programming for the benefit of the most vulnerable in societies, especially women and children.

The call was made at the MoGCSP 2022 Summit under the theme: “Strengthening Resource Mobilisation for Effective Social Protection Delivery.”

A report by the United Nations (UN) has shown that women and children are the most affected population by global crisis and COVID-19 has been the most recent.

Speaking at the MoGCSP 2022 Summit on behalf of the Country Representative of UNFPA-Ghana, Mr. Barnabas Yisa, Mrs. Doris Agblobitse, Programme Specialist and Gender Team Lead, UNFPA Ghana said subsequent actions are crucial as the world continues to face unprecedented economic challenges and financial crisis.

"Globally, women are more vulnerable to these economic shocks. During times of economic crisis, global gender inequalities mean that women and girls, particularly in our part of the world, are more likely to be taken out of school, are the first to reduce the quantity or quality of the food they eat or to forgo essential medicines and are more likely to sell sex in order to survive," she stated.

According to her, it is therefore important that adequate investment in social protection including gender equality and prevention and management of Gender Based Violence (GBV) is prioritised, whilst development partners work with the MoGCSP to fulfil its mandate.

According to her, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, at the global level, is working with governments and partners to promote gender equality, women and girls’ empowerment and prevention.

She said, in Ghana, UNFPA has targeted critical areas such as the refurbishment of the four GBV shelters with support from Global Fund, completion of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), One Stop Shop, and the One Stop Centre where survivors are provided with integrated support.

Also, it is in collaboration with MoGCSP and DOVVSU is currently reviewing the NGP and Plan of Action of the DV Act.

She added that to address GBV it is imperative that men and boys are included, hence the UNFPA is currently working with MoGCSP to develop a national advocacy toolkit for engaging men/boys/traditional leaders and creating a national “movement” to galvanize men and boys to support gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The UNFPA as part of the summit highlighted three key points for call for action including; the need for more evidence generation and data on the economic challenges and financial crisis on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE) and GBV, research work on the economic benefit of investment in promoting GE and prevention of GBV to GDP and the need for a special unit within the ministry to lead the process for resource mobilisation from DPs and private sector and coordination of projects.

She called on stakeholders including Government, Development Partners, the private sector, traditional and religious leaders in Ghana to invest more time and resources to create and implement robust mechanisms to address the problems of vulnerable populations.