Reaction to new campaign in Ghana for 'women's empowerment'

Reaction to the news that the Minister of Women and Children's Affairs in Ghana has launched a campaign to promote girls enrolment into male dominated technical skills:

Pauline Rose, Director of the Global Monitoring Report for Education for All, published by UNESCO said: “Having just released our report specifically on the mismatch between the skills of young people and the labour market, it is wonderful to hear that the Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, has launched a campaign on the matter. She is absolutely right to focus on girls in the country. Our report shows that almost half of girls in rural Ghana have less than a secondary education and lack skills for work.”

“However, before giving technical and vocational skills, governments must be sure to recognize the vast numbers of young people in developing countries who have not yet got basic literacy and numeracy skills; in Ghana, for example, one in six young girls of working age now never completed primary school and will be hard pushed to take up IT, or other higher level training until they have learnt to read and write. If given a second chance to an education, as well as help learning skills for trades, and especially those which are male orientated and often discriminatory against female workers, this campaign and its results could be a real breakthrough not just for the girl child, but also for Ghana's economic future.”

Kate Redman
Communications Specialist, Education for All Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO