Gender
COVID-19 and matters arising
The corona virus pandemic has really wreaked havoc in the world, causing many deaths and making others sick and putting a huge burden on healthcare systems.
Luckily, a number of vaccines have been developed and are being administered to people in various countries to help control this deadly disease which has now become an albatross around our necks in the world.
Keeping safe
Everybody is doing their best to keep safe. People are managing with the “new normal” regarding the safety protocols such as social distancing, not hugging or shaking hands, wearing of masks, regularly washing of hands or using hand sanitisers, etc.
The need to adhere strictly to the safety protocols has become even more necessary because of the different variants of the virus and how they are spreading quickly. According to health experts, a number of different variants of the corona virus are now circulating around the world.
There are many reports where people have accidentally become infected after all their diligence with the safety protocols. You never know, actually.
Boosting one’s immunity
Health and nutrition experts have been advising on the need to boost one’s immune system with healthy foods rich in vitamins, exercises or physical activities to keep the body strong and help to fight sickness.
A good immune system, it is said, helps to fight the virus and prevents it from doing damage to our health. We are advised to eat leafy greens such as spinach, and other foodstuffs such as fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins, zinc, and other immune boosting nutrients.
Our own kontomire and other greens used for soups and stews are very healthy. These days because I cannot get kontomire here (Finland). I use spinach to prepare green kontomire-like soup. I enjoy the more of this and other foodstuffs, such as plantains (I usually mash the plantain into an oto with smoked dried fish to give it an aromatic touch, accompanied with slices of avocado pear, which I eat straight from the apotoyewa).
A friend here recently told me that in their home they had made it a point to eat salad (with other vegetables) every Saturday morning. No room for complacency oo.
Why I will get vaccinated
Luckily, a number of vaccines are being administered to people in many countries to help control this deadly epidemic which has now become an albatross around our necks in the world.
I cannot wait to receive my vaccination. Some friends elsewhere have taken the first and second shots and are doing okay. They are so elated to have had that opportunity.
Ghana has taken delivery of its initial vaccines recently and has started administering. That’s good.
According to key health institutions and experts, vaccines are an important part of stopping the spread of COVID-19 as they reduce the severity of the symptoms in case one becomes infected.
This is one important reason I will not delay at all to take the vaccine. I will take it sharp, sharp. Again, who knows what happens should hoarding set in or if demand for the vaccines exceeds supply at a point in time? That means it will then become difficult to get vaccinated. A word to the wise…
The conspiracy theories
It is sad that there seems to be vaccine hesitancy in Ghana because of conspiracy theories, cynicism, ignorance, and worse of all, sheer mischief by some people. All this has resulted in casting doubts about the efficacy of the vaccines brought to Ghana and other African countries.
Some people think the vaccines for African countries are different from the ones for the Western nations; therefore, the ones brought to Africa could be dangerous and meant to depopulate the Black race. Some have even claimed without any proof that the vaccines would leave people with sexual dysfunction.
Such conspiracy theories remind me about HIV/AIDS. Conspiracy theories were rife about the disease in Africa with some people claiming that HIV/AIDS had been created in laboratories in the West to kill Blacks, that it affects only urban dwellers, etc.
In the end, HIV/AIDS saw many infections and deaths in Ghana and other African countries. Sub-Saharan Africa actually remains the most affected region in the global HIV epidemic and bears more than two-thirds of the global HIV burden, according to the UNAIDS.
Increasing the education
There is the need to intensify education about the vaccines to help control COVID-19. The key stakeholders—government/state institutions, health authorities, religious leaders, traditional authorities, non-governmental organisations in Ghana should all come in even more strongly than before to educate people in our localities. The media should be one of the leading groups in this endeavour.
Finally, let’s all follow the safety measures, especially the wearing of masks. Let the authorities constantly drum it home to us to help control the virus. Thank you!
The writer is a Ghanaian lecturer at University of Helsinki, Finland
Gender
WiSA launched to accelerate growth, close gender inequality gap
Women in Sustainability Africa (WiSA) has been launched in Accra with an aim to accelerate growth and the closure of gender inequality gap.
Speaking at the launch, the Convenor for WiSA, Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, said that, “Gender inequality gap cannot be closed by women alone, calling for catalytic efforts to cause a revolution in order to achieve such goal.”
Madam Sarpong also stated that, “this is the new beginning of gender empowerment and the new wave which must be propagated across Africa without any antagonism.”
She said the key to bridging gender inequality gap is two sided, saying that, “First is men standing side by side with women and secondly, the recognition of women as a source of labour with positive return on every investment that is made to build capacity in women.”
Additionally, Madam Sarpong underlined that the organisation will work with men, ‘he or she’ champions, CSOs, Corporate Institutions, local and International Development Organisations to bring all women and women groups together (especially those at the grassroots level) to foster the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across Africa.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, said recognising the proportionate impact of climate change on women, the Ministry has developed a roadmap to strengthen gender responsiveness of social protection programmes.
According to her, this initiative aims to ensure that their interventions were inclusive, equitable and effective in building resilience among vulnerable populations.
The campaign will be celebrated as part of the activities of May 1, and throughout the month of May every year.
She disclosed that in partnership with WiSA and other stakeholders.
Dr Lartey again indicated that he Ministry will use the campaign to recognise women nationally and continentally as sources of labour and agents of sustainability.
Furthermore, the Minister stated that the campaign would be rolled out in schools, media platforms and community spaces.
The Minister of State in charge of Climate Change and Sustainability, Issifu Seidu, on his part said, “African women have always been the backbone of our communities, playing key roles in agriculture, healthcare, education, and the informal economy.
However, he noted that their contributions remain undervalued and underappreciated in many spheres of society.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
Gender
Plan International Ghana’s intervention enhances girls’ education
Plan International Ghana’s adolescent girls’ intervention in some communities in northern Ghana has helped retain adolescent girls in school and enhance their education to enable them to achieve their life aspirations.
These interventions included the adolescent Drop-in Centres, school Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, improved access to and use of sanitary pads and changing rooms for girls.
The Drop-in Centres had been equipped with indoor and outdoor games, including ludu, oware, and footballs and a television set, to keep the girls lively while going through mentorship and sensitisation at the Centre.
That became known during a field visit to the Mimima, Sagadugu and Guabuliga communities in the North East Region, where those interventions were being implemented to ascertain the impact of the projects on the people.
The visit was to climax a three-day capacity-building workshop for some journalists and media practitioners in northern Ghana organised by Plan International Ghana, a development and humanitarian Non-governmental Organisation (NGO).
At the Mimima community, where a Drop-in Centre had been constructed, some adolescent girls told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the Centre was empowering them to take responsibility for their bodies.
Agnes, 14 (not her real name), said they were receiving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR) education, including menstrual hygiene management, which had enhanced their dignity.
She noted that had enabled them stay in school during their menstrual periods, ensuring their effective participation in academic activities and improving their educational performances.
Ms Hamdya Baaba, the facilitator at the Drop-in Centre at Mimima, said she had been teaching the girls good menstrual hygiene management and SRHR to prevent them from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Some parents in the community also praised the interventions as they saved their girl children from using rags to manage their menstruation.
“Some of us used to fold rags for our girl children during their menstrual periods, and because of that, they sometimes stained themselves with blood. But when Plan International Ghana came to this community, it taught the girls how to use sanitary pads.”
The NGO also gave the girls some reusable sanitary pads that they can always wash and use, and because of that, the girls are always in school even during their menstrual periods,” Madam Abena Miyanga, a parent, stated.
The Mimima community is also benefiting from the Educational Outcome Fund (EOF) project, where out-of-school children from the age of eight to 16 receive a nine-month cycle of literacy and numeracy training through Complementary Basic Education (CBE) and were integrated into the mainstream education.
Madam Miyanga told the GNA that her child, who dropped out of school, had returned and was currently in basic five through the EOF’s CBE programme.
Eleven-year-old Magdalene, a participant of the project and currently in basic six, expressed gratitude to Plan International Ghana for the intervention, as it had given her the opportunity to acquire formal education.
The Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (IPADEV) project constructed a WASH facility and girls’ changing rooms at the Sagadugu R/C Basic School to ensure safe access to WASH services and a place for menstrual hygiene management while in school. —GNA
