News
St Maarten Speaker calls for renewed global commitment for gender equality
THE Speaker of Parliament of Saint Maarten, Sarah Wescot-Williams has warned that gains made over the past three decades remain vulnerable amid new and emerging threats.
She has therefore called for urgent global action to accelerate gender equality.
She said this in Accra last Thursday at the opening of the 3rd International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE 2025).
The three-day conference was attended by delegates from Africa, Caribbean and Europe and held under the theme “Charting the next frontier, to advance gender equality in developing economies in post 30 years Beijing declaration.”
She also challenged delegates to confront the unfinished work of the 1995 Beijing declaration and platform for action.
“30 years later, the promise of Beijing remains unfinished, and we do not have the luxury of time. Every barrier to the equality of women and girls anywhere becomes a threat to all of us.”
Mrs Wescot-Williams, who is also a gender advocate, emphasised that achieving gender equity requires more than acknowledging the problem.
She said it demands structural reforms and argued that although progress has been made in representation, education, and legal protections, women remain underrepresented in the spaces where the most critical decisions were made.
She urged governments to adopt gender-responsive budgets, strengthen parliamentary committees focused on gender affairs, and expand leadership pipelines for young women.
The Speaker warned that without intentional empowerment, gender equity will remain an aspiration rather than a lived reality.
On her part, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey reiterated the need to protect women and girls, particularly in domestic spaces where discrimination and violence are often hidden.
Dr Lartey, stressed the need for survivor-centered systems that address the emotional, psychological, and social effects of gender-based violence.
She highlighted the persistence of sexual and physical abuse within families, a subject often shrouded in silence, saying, “we cannot speak of equity when girls are unsafe in their own homes,” she said.
She reaffirmed the country’s commitment to advancing gender equality, describing the Beijing declaration as one of the most progressive global compacts on women’s empowerment.
According to the Minister, the Beijing conference has often been misinterpreted as a movement for women to dominate men and clarified that the declaration instead called for equal opportunities, dignity and full participation for women and girls.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Committee member and Volta River Authority (VRA) Board Member, Wonder Victor Kutor, has described calls for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as premature and unjustified.
He argued that there was no evidence to establish that the minister had committed any wrongdoing to warrant such demands.
Speaking on Joy News in Accra on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Mr Kutor questioned what had changed to justify the growing calls for the minister to step down.
He recalled that the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, had earlier indicated that the opposition was not accusing Mr Ablakwa of any wrongdoing.
Mr Kutor, therefore, challenged those demanding the minister’s resignation to provide fresh evidence to support their position.
“The call for the Minister to resign is premature, it is untenable. There is no evidence. I mean, what has he done wrong?” he questioned.
He added that documents, including boarding passes, airline receipts and flight manifests relating to the minister’s return journey, had been provided.
Mr Kutor expressed concern that the calls for Mr Ablakwa’s resignation could discourage young politicians from speaking out against corruption and advocating transparency.
According to him, politicians should not be targeted or maligned for demanding accountability, warning that such treatment could create the impression that speaking against corruption could later become a liability when one is appointed to public office.
He maintained that calling for accountability and transparency should not be used as grounds to target public officials without evidence of wrongdoing.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana will host the Africa Festival of Arts, Culture and Creatives (AFESTAC) 2026 alongside Industrial Skills Week Africa (ISWA) 2026 in Accra from December 9 to 12, 2026.
On the back of these programmes, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has called on corporate Ghana, the media and the general public to support the initiative through partnerships, sponsorships and active participation.
The events, supported by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), will bring together stakeholders to celebrate Africa’s rich cultural heritage, strengthen the creative economy, promote industrial skills development and create employment opportunities for young people.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
