Gender
Merck Foundation committed to empowering girls, women
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Merck Foundation, Dr Rasha Kelej, has emphasised the foundation’s commitment to empowering girls and women.
This, she said was at the core of all initiatives and programmes at the foundation.
She said this in a statement to commemorate the International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, each year and copied to The Spectator in Accra on Monday.
Dr Kelej recognised the immense potential of women to thrive, succeed and excel in any domain they choose, yet they often lack the conducive environment to fully realise their capabilities, especially in underserved communities.
“Therefore, together with our Ambassadors, The First Ladies of Africa, we mark International Women’s Day every day since the last 13 years through our development programmes and initiatives such as ‘More Than a Mother’, ‘Merck Foundation Capacity Advancement’, ‘Educating Linda’, and ‘STEM Programme,” Dr Kelej said.
She explained that the “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” is a strong movement that aims to empower infertile and childless women through access to information, education and change of mindset.
The CEO of Merck Foundation mentioned that out of the 2,230 scholarships awarded across 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties, 1046 scholarships that is nearly 50 per cent have been granted to female medical graduates, empowering them to become future healthcare experts and leaders.
Also, she said the foundation believes that education was one of the most critical areas of women empowerment and that through its educational programme known as ‘Educating Linda,’ over 700 girls have been provided scholarships to continue their education.
Dr Kelej also noted that the programme had also provided essential school items for thousands of schoolgirls in many African countries such as Botswana, Burundi, Malawi, The Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cape Verde and more.
Merck Foundation, Dr Kelej said also actively empowers women in science and technology through its Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme.
“Our goal is to empower women and young African researchers, enhance their research capacity, and promote their contributions to STEM,” emphasized Dr Kelej.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
Gender equality should not be left to women alone, but requires the active participation of men and other stakeholders, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has said.
She said gender equality was a national development issue and not a matter concerning only women, stressing that both men and women had important roles to play in creating an inclusive society.
Dr Lartey said this last Thursday in Accra at a capacity workshop on the implementation of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024.
The workshop was aimed at helping journalists understand the provisions of the Act, strengthen their capacity to communicate gender equity issues and promote accurate, balance reporting on the implementation of the Act.
Ghana could not achieve meaningful development if one section of society was excluded from participating fully in leadership, decision-making and other areas of national development.
“It is not about a group of people. It is not about one of the sexes. It is about the nation. It is about the country,” she said.
She called for stronger commitment to translating the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), into practical action to improve women’s participation in leadership and decision-making.
She said the passage of the law should not be considered the end of the process, but rather the beginning of deliberate efforts to ensure that its objectives were achieved.
Dr Lartey said increasing the number of women in leadership was important, but their participation must also have a meaningful impact on national development.
“We want it to count,” she stressed, calling for practical initiatives that would move the affirmative action agenda from policy to implementation.
The Executive Director of Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), Dr Charity Binka, also urged the media to play a critical role in ensuring the effective implementation of the Act.
She said Ghana had taken an important step by passing the law after 13 years of efforts, but the real test was its implementation.
According to Dr Binka, the Act requires 30 per cent representation of women in leadership and decision-making by 2026, rising to 50 per cent by 2030.
She urged the media to inform the public about the law, monitor institutions’ compliance and challenge stereotypes that undermine women’s leadership.
Dr Binka urged journalists to ensure institutions were complying with requirements, including Gender Equity Policies, Compliance Certificates and annual reports.
She said affirmative action was not about replacing merit with gender, but addressing structural barriers that had historically limited qualified women’s opportunities to participate and lead.
She called for stronger collaboration among government, civil society, traditional and religious leaders, the private sector, the media and other stakeholders to turn the law into measurable results for women and girls.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
The United Nations has warned, that Gender equality is “woefully off track.”
At the current rate of progress, gender equality would take 171 years to achieve, the UN’s Gender Snapshot report said.
The number of countries with a woman as head of state or government has increased from 2020 to 2026. “Yet six in seven countries are still led by men.
Women’s representation in national cabinets declined to 22.4 per cent in 2026, after peaking at 23.3 per cent in 2024,” the report said. “The decline is a warning sign that gains cannot be taken for granted, and that progress towards equal political power remains fragile.”
Funding for gender equality has fallen to its lowest level since 2021, the report found. At the same time, 42 per cent of UN agencies reported that their efforts to promote gender equality had been weakened, as a result of budget cuts.
Millions of women also continued to endure some extremely severe forms of violence and discrimination across the globe, the UN said. Nearly one in five girls is married before the age of 18, and nearly one in three women globally have survived partner or sexual violence in their lifetime.
In the past year, 316 million women experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, the report said.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Li Junhua, said the statistics were not inevitable. “It is the result of choices, made visible through data. Investing in gender equality, institutions, and the statistical systems that hold them to account is not a cost. It is the fastest route back to the 2030 Agenda’s promise of equal power for all.”-GNA
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