‘Don’t neglect boys at expense of girls’
A social development expert with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has proposed a balance in the education of male and females across the African continent to reduce the gender disparity against males.
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Even though the Social Affairs Officer, Social Development Policy Division (SDPD) of the UNECA, Dr Jack Jones Zulu, acknowledged that governments were doing their best to address gender inequality, it appears it had been skewed towards more females than their male counterparts.
If that was not addressed, he said, it had the tendency to trigger a phenomenon in the near future where a lot of males would be excluded in national development as against females.
Dr Zulu was speaking at the launch of the African Social Development Index (ASDI), a sub-regional report for West Africa in Accra.
The purpose of the report was to provide detailed recommendations on what African governments, including Ghana, could do to avoid social exclusion, especially on the part of males.
The report was launched by the acting Government Statistician, Mr Baah Wadieh, and the Director of the SDPD of the UNECA, Ms Thokozile Ruzvidzo.
The programme was put together by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with assistance from UNECA.
Gender dynamics
Making reference to the report on Ghana, Dr Zulu stated that despite the fact that human exclusion had been reduced by almost 32 per cent (between 2000 and 2014), more males had been excluded in terms of social development.
However, he was quick to add that the report looked at broad areas in the various African countries which were studied.
“In terms of gender dynamics, the exclusion of women had decreased by more than 32 per cent, while that of men decreased by 28 per cent during the period under review.
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“This could be associated with the relatively low level of poverty among women compared to men and affirmative policy interventions by governments,” he said.
The report also indicated that countries such as Benin, The Gambia and Burkina Faso continued to struggle with undernutrition and poverty.
Dr Zulu, therefore, called for more budgetary allocation and policy interventions to address the challenges.
Addressing social exclusion
To address social exclusion, Mr Wadieh emphasised that there was the need to address the high levels of poverty and illiteracy among the populace.
“If Ghana wants to reduce social exclusion, there is the need to pay much attention to youth unemployment, literacy levels, nutrition and child mortality,” he said.
In a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba, stated that the government was committed to addressing gender inequality and human exclusion in the country.
As part of the interventions, Ms Djaba said the government was currently running five intensive social programmes aimed at addressing human exclusion.
She added that the ministry was in the process of introducing the Aged Bill as a legal basis for the implementation of the National Ageing Policy which would focus on the well-being of the aged in society.
Writer’s email: [email protected]