Empower women to thrive—Oxfam
Oxfam in Ghana has called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders in the country to institute deliberate policies that can create a conducive environment for women and women owned businesses to thrive.
It explained that the government and its actors must put in every effort to recognise, reduce and redistribute unpaid work, freeing time for women to actively participate in economic activities.
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In a statement issued in Accra on July 30, the Media and Communications Lead of Oxfam in Ghana, Naana Nkansah Agyekum, said there was the need for traditional leaders to prohibit harmful cultural norms; gender biases and ensure fair distribution of resources in their communities.
“We are calling on the government departments and agencies to increase access to economic opportunities by adopting a Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) process.
“It includes analysing and responding to how the intersection of gender with other identities, such as ethnicity and age, determines citizens’ needs,” she said.
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The statement comes at the back of the commemoration of the Pan African Woman Day on July 31.
It explained that the importance of the African Woman who continues to be the backbone of economies as entrepreneurs, farmers, traders, scientists, artists, agriculturalists and leaders in many other sectors could not be overemphasised.
Women contribution
Oxfam estimates that unpaid care work globally per women aged 15 plus is at least $10.8 trillion annually.
Women continue to contribute significantly to national and global economies, whether in corporate and informal businesses, or by doing unpaid care work at home.
“We recognise and affirm the role of women’s political, economic and social contribution to the world as we mark the 2021 Pan African Women’s Day.
“Statistics have also shown that, when we invest in women's economic empowerment, we set a clear path towards gender equality, poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth,” she said.
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Oxfam’s contribution
Oxfam has over the years-initiated projects and campaigns to empower women to explore other economic activities.
One of such projects is the recently launched Women’s Economic Advancement for Collective Transformation (WEACT) aimed at enhancing well-being and inclusive growth for women, in the shea and cocoa value chains.
This project which is funded by Global Affairs Canada will work across nine districts in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Savanna, Western North and Western Regions of Ghana.
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Effective gender budgeting
Oxfam’s research conducted in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Tanzania has shown that there are government practices, systems, and structures that need to be well institutionalised to facilitate effective gender responsive budgeting that benefits women in the agricultural sector.
The findings of this research lay a solid foundation for the WEACT project which is engaging women in the target districts to tackle the barriers they face in their day-to-day activities in accessing productive resources such as land and capital.
The project will further work with couples to promote equitable living through a gender model family training.
Women will also receive entrepreneurial skills to enable them to begin additional/alternative livelihoods.