Gender Minister commends forerunners
The National Council of Women and Development (NCWD) was the first national women’s machinery instituted in Ghana 40 years ago to ensure the full integration of women in national development.
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The NCWD was established by NRCD 322, 1775 by the then Head of State, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, as a follow-up to a UN Resolution calling on member states to establish an appropriate government machinery to accelerate the integration of women in development and the elimination of discrimination against women.
The council was established as Ghana’s Women Machinery for advancing gender equality and equity, as well as the empowerment of women and girls. The result of that humble beginning is today’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, which used to be the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs.
In April, this year, the ministry launched activities marking the year-long anniversary celebration of 40 years of the Women’s National Machinery with the maiden gender dialogue on the theme, ‘Ghana Women’s Machinery: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects’.
Meet-the-press
When she took her turn at the monthly ‘meet the press’ series last week, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, paid tribute to the forerunners whose efforts had led to the establishment of the ministry to work towards women empowerment and development.
She said people such as the late Mrs Justice Annie Jiagge, an Appeal Court Judge, Professor Florence Dolphine, Mrs Selina Taylor of blessed memory, Dr Mrs Mary Grant, Mrs Molly Anim-Addo and Mrs Charlotte Abakah, as well as all the former executive secretaries and directors were very instrumental in the day-to-day administration of the national machinery for women and development.
According to Nana Oye, cabinet had approved the National Gender Policy which would provide broad policy guidelines, strategies, operations and actions in furtherance of government’s commitments for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment targets in its national vision of “a stable, united, inclusive and prosperous country with opportunities for all”.
Broad objectives
She gave the broad objectives of the policy as women empowerment and livelihoods, women rights and access to justice, women leadership and accountable governance, economic opportunities for women and gender roles and relations. The policy, she said, would thus address gender equality, equity and empowerment of women for national development.
Also, as part of the ministry’s objective to create the appropriate legal regime for incorporating gender into socio-economic development, the ministry, Nana Oye said, had finalised the Affirmative Action (AA) bill and would soon be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
LEAP 1000
The ministry, Nana Oye said, took the fight against poverty to another level when it launched the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty 1000 (LEAP 1000) which targets poor households with pregnant women and children less than two years.
The project, she said, was currently being implemented in 10 districts of the Northern and Upper East regions where 6,124 beneficiary households in seven districts of the Northern and three districts in the Upper East regions have been paid.
The LEAP programme she said also targeted inmates of witch camps, leprosarium and government-run orphanages, and so far, grants had been paid to a total of 751 alleged witches at Gambaga, Kukuo, Nabuli, Kpatinga, Leli-Daberi and Ngnani-Yendi.
A total of 405 inmates of Nkanchina-Kpandai, Ho, Ankaful-Cape Coast and Weija-Accra Leprosarium were paid their LEAP grants; 382 inmates of residential homes for children and orphanages at Osu-Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Mampong-Ashanti and Jirapa, as well as 12 inmates of a destitute home for the elderly at Bekwai in Ashanti were all paid LEAP cash grants.
Community Dialogue
Also, as part of efforts to help curb sexual and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and improve on women's empowerment in the country, the ministry organised Community Dialogue sessions for 2,958 stakeholders in Takoradi, Fesi-Bame, Kpando, Daboase in Western Region, Asokore-Mampong in Kumasi, Tolon and Karaga in Tamale, Winneba and Mankessim in Central Region.
The sessions created the platform for participants to discuss and design innovative community-related interventions to address these issues.
The ministry had also started a project titled ‘From Street-to-School’, which is meant to reunite street children with their families. It is part of the promotion of family based-care in Ghana. So far, 147 street children have been identified in the Tema Manhean area, 13 have been sent back to school but 47 have refused to go to school.
She said following the restructuring of the ministry, the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) has been redesignated as the Department of Social Development (DSD). This, she said, was to reflect the welfare and service roles played by the department.
