ActionAid Rallies Support Against Gender-based Violence

The Brong-Ahafo regional office of ActionAid Ghana has appealed to stakeholders for their support to fight against gender-based violence to end it in the Region.

The appeal was made in a press release signed by Ms. Melody Azinim, the Regional Programme Manager, and copied the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, at the end the Region's celebration of this year's 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which is celebrated annually.

The event, scheduled between November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to December 10, Human Rights Day, was part of a global celebration by the United Nations and its partners on the theme 'Leave No One Behind: End Violence against Women and Girls'.

The regional office held various radio discussions as part of the campaign to advocate and galvanize support in the fight against gender based violence cases and to raise the awareness on the current trend of the menace, to solicit stakeholders support in reducing its occurrence, if not total prevention in the Region.

The release noted that currently violence against women and girls continued to be a global concern affecting human rights, the dignity and self-worth of women, while denying women and girls their right to live in safe cities and enjoy fundamental freedoms in the world.

The international campaign originated from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute coordinated by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership in 1991, declaring the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

The release explained the theme which was also for this year's Global Campaign to reflect 'the core principle of the transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'.

'This reinforces the Global Campaign's commitment by all to a world free from violence for all women and girls, while reaching the most underserved and marginalized people living with disability, indigenous and deprived peoples in the world,' it added.

The release indicated that ActionAid Ghana observed the 16-day period, reflecting on key interventions implemented over the years and geared towards mobilising over 3,000 mass movements of women to fight against all forms of violence against women and girls in Ghana and solicited stakeholders support for its community interventions and regional campaigns.

It said those interventions included community education, a campaign to end child marriage and other dehumanizing traditions and cultures, and the piloting of Community-Based Anti-Violence Team (COMBAT) to fight violence in the communities.

Others comprised campaigns for the opening of more Domestic Violence and Victim Support Units (DoVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service to contribute to addressing the structural causes of violence and secure women's economic justice, the release added.

Later in an interview with the GNA on Wednesday, Ms. Azinim emphasised 'ActionAid believes that no one should suffer from any form of violence'.

She stressed 'as an organisation one of our focus areas is to address the structural causes of violence against women and girls and as we focus on women and girls who are mostly the victims of violence we call on everyone to take action by speaking against violence, reporting cases of violence and supporting victims to achieve justice'.

'We must not take for granted the impact of violence in our development agenda and in achieving the SDG's. We must therefore ensure that every woman and every girl is protected and safe in their homes, schools and communities,' Ms. Azinim added.

GNA
By Nana Osei Kyeretwie, GNA