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Ghana reaffirms commitment to Women’s empowerment at UN meeting
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Ghana’s Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has pledged Ghana’s continued commitment to advancing women’s rights and empowerment.
She made the statement at the UN High-Level Meeting marking 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Dr. Lartey said the Beijing Declaration, adopted in 1995, was a bold vision that recognized the advancement of women and girls as key to peace, justice, and sustainable development.
She added that while much progress had been made, the journey to full equality was still not complete.
She explained that the commemoration was of special importance to Ghana as it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the country’s national machinery for women.
She also highlighted that Ghana made history in January this year when its first female vice president was sworn into office, describing it as a breakthrough that showed the country’s determination to give women’s voices space in governance.
According to the minister, Ghana has strengthened its legal and policy framework by passing the Affirmative Action Act in 2024 and adopting a new gender policy to guide actions from 2025 to 2035.
She added that protection systems had been reinforced through the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
She pointed to Ghana’s focus on economic empowerment through programs such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the School Feeding Program, and the Microfinance and Small Loan Centers (MASLOC).
Plans, she said, were underway to establish a Women’s Development Bank to expand financial inclusion and provide affordable credit, especially for women in underserved areas.
Dr. Lartey stressed that the Beijing Declaration was not just a promise written on paper but a call to action.
She urged the international community to recommit to removing barriers and giving women and girls equal opportunities.
She affirmed Ghana’s commitment to a future where no woman or girl is left behind.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to release GH¢5.6 million to the Petroleum Commission to enable it to establish and operate a world-class data centre.
According to the Committee, access to the funds will strengthen the Commission’s capacity to manage critical upstream petroleum data and improve its operations.
Speaking during the appeal, Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, said the move was crucial to efforts to revitalise Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry and increase oil production.
He noted that although investment and hydrocarbon production had declined in recent years, Parliament’s approval of an extension of the petroleum agreement to 2030 had attracted additional funding and contributed to an increase in production from about 80,000 to 120,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, concerns have been raised over repeated budget allocations for oil exploration in the Voltaian Basin.
Mr. Bedzrah stressed that funds approved for exploration must produce tangible results, adding that the Committee would require clear evidence of progress before supporting future budget allocations for the programme.
The appeal was made during a working visit to the Petroleum Commission as part of the Committee’s oversight activities to assess its operations and management procedures.
During the engagement, the Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, took the Committee through the Commission’s working procedures and mandate, which includes regulating, managing and coordinating upstream petroleum activities.
She disclosed that since assuming office in 2025, government had pursued measures to reverse the decline in crude oil production, sustain output and reposition Ghana as an attractive destination for investment in Africa’s increasingly competitive petroleum sector.
In addition, she said government had secured fresh commitments of about US$35 billion to help revitalise the sector.
As part of the oversight exercise, the Committee is expected to conclude its monitoring visit with engagements at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL).
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
“No civilisation deserves to be annihilated” – Mahama calls for dialogue on global conflicts at UNGA 81
President John Dramani Mahama has called for solidarity and dialogue in resolving global conflicts, insisting that no civilisation deserves to be wiped out.
“No human civilisation deserves to be annihilated, certainly not a member state of the United Nations,” President Mahama stated in his address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He called for solidarity with nations facing terrorism, especially the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and for a uniform approach to conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
On the Middle East, the President called for a return to negotiations, saying “The current Middle East crisis is having a deleterious effect on the world economy.”
“I believe that dialogue can resolve even the most intractable of problems,” he added.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
