Gender
Stop abusing adolescents — PPAG Boss
Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Madam Abena Adubea Amoah, has raised concerns about the troubling revelations of the rise of abuses that were meted out to adolescents and women during the COVID-19 pandemic in some parts of Africa.
Ms Abena Adubea Amoah made these complaints while delivering a speech at the PPAG, UNFPA support pre-implementation meeting held at Koforidua last week.
According to her, many homes have become places of abuse instead of safety for some adolescents when they were encouraged to stay home in order to contain the deadly pandemic.
She said the abuses ranged from battery and the infliction of unimaginable pain to children, adolescents and women among other gender-based violence.
The Executive Director indicated that, some women suffered sexual exploitation and dehumanisation at various degrees that the public never thought could happen.
“For these past few months that young people have been made to stay home as a precautionary measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, we have witnessed high levels of lack of parenting skills, supervision and guidance,” she stressed.
According to her, over the past years, parenting and supervision of children have largely been left in the hands of teachers, even though it was not their primary responsibilities.
Ms Abena Adubea said parents have provided their children with mobile phones, and these children also watch television with multi-viewer option programmes which were harmful, but the parents do not supervise them.
She said this exposes children to the consumption of illicit materials and contents including pornography, sexting and experimentation of multi-sexual partner acts.
According to her, teenage pregnancy rates seem to be soaring in Ghana and the addition of COVID-19, coupled with absentee parents could result in pregnancy that would curtail the education of many adolescent girls.
“We have to think, create, innovate and champion activities and programmes that would respond to current realities, challenges and state of the people we serve, she said.
Ms Abena Amoah reiterated that, if some agencies including the PPAG failed to work, the Ghanaian society would experience the horror of an unplanned and unprepared population, and the consequences could be catastrophic.
She advised the public to strictly adhere to the protective guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and PPAG, as Ghana was propping herself to function within the new normal life with COVID-19.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
A training and capacity-building workshop was held on Thursday for the media to intensify coverage on gender-based issues to support women’s participation in leadership and governance in Accra.
The workshop, held under the theme ‘Strengthening Advocacy for the Implementation of Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Equity) Law, 2024 – The Case of the Media’, brought together journalists from selected media houses.
The Convener of the Affirmative Action (AA) Law Coalition, Ms Sheila Minka-Premo (Esq.), stressed that the media has a critical responsibility to educate the public on the importance of the Affirmative Action Act, noting that sustained and informed reporting would strengthen advocacy and support the effective implementation of the law.
While commending both the Legislature and the Executive for the passage and presidential assent of the Affirmative Action Bill into law, the AA Law Coalition Convener appealed to government to address existing gaps. These include the constitutional provision of 30 per cent women’s representation in politics, inadequate policy frameworks to advance affirmative action, and weak compliance by state institutions.
She charged the media to highlight and promote the role of women in leadership and to actively support a smooth and effective implementation process of the Act.
In her welcome address, Executive Director of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said the training sought to strengthen journalists’ advocacy skills to enable them to educate the public on the provisions and significance of the law.
Dr Mensah-Kutin commended ActionAid Ghana for supporting the advocacy efforts, urging the media to prioritise the law to ensure its sustainability.
The Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121) was passed by Parliament in July 2024 and received presidential assent in September 2024, following years of sustained advocacy by women’s rights organisations, gender activists, and other stakeholders.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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STEMINIST Foundation, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with support from Keta Ramsar Centre has trained about 25 women selected from the Keta Municipality on the rights of women and how to use them for their voices to be heard in their communities.
STEMinist Foundation, Ghana, is a network of women advocating equal opportunities through excellent representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The women, mostly fishmongers and other self-styled workers, were taken through topics such as Understanding Energy and Climate Justice, Fossil Gas Expansion, Livelihoods’ Care Work and Health, Women Leadership, and Power Building among others.
Mrs Nerissa Edem Anku, Gender Justice Transition Advisor of the Foundation, noted that the theme “Energy Justice: Empowering Women with Power, Rights and Dignity,” was chosen for the women to reconnect, reflect, and look ahead in shaping their rights as women.
She stated that women have been relegated to the background in the communities when it comes to decision making, stressing the need to correct that for them to know they have rights to fight for themselves.
Mrs Nerissa Edem Anku further noted that women in fishing communities wanted to see real and tangible improvements in their living conditions, spearheaded by government to prevent unhealthy confrontations with the local people.
She assured that the NGO would continue to strengthen its programmes to ensure that women were empowered to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of their families, communities, and the nation.
Miss Portia Adu-Mensah, Facilitator, Community Mobilisation Communicator, on her part added that all stakeholders have to adopt more innovative steps to build an environment in which women can thrive. That, she said, would win the confidence of the women and promote more inclusive partnerships.
The Assemblywoman for Dzelukope, Ruby Adukpoh, on behalf of the women thanked the NGO for the gesture and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their collective voices and influence in shaping policies that will affect them.
From Kafui Gati, Keta
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