Gender Ministry, CAMFED sign MoU to promote gender equality, women empowerment
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), Ghana, to commit both parties to work at achieving gender equality and women empowerment.
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The singing of the MoU is to, among other things, facilitate Ghana’s achievement of its vision of fulfilling Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, noted that the government was committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment and this had resulted in the approval of the National Gender Policy in 2015.
The policy, she explained, sought to mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment concerns into the national development process in order to improve the social, legal, civic, political, economic and cultural conditions of the people of Ghana.
Gender Parity
The minister commended CAMFED Ghana for its role in promoting gender parity in education at the secondary level by providing a sustainable model for community development.
“The support of non-governmental organisations (NGO) in advocating gender parity in education, particularly at the community level, will enhance the achievement of national educational goals and objectives,” she said.
She also indicated that education was a key part of the government’s strategy to improve individuals’ well-being and societies’ economic and social development.
“Education is an essential means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to fully participate in the development process. Sustainable development is only possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunities to reach their potential,” she added.
She was grateful to CAMFED Ghana for responding to the government’s call for partnership with civil society in order to realise gender equality and women empowerment goals.
CAMFED Ghana
The Executive Director for CAMFED Ghana, Ms Dolores Dickson, explained that CAMFED Ghana was an international NGO which focused on girls’ education and young women’s empowerment and was currently working in 31 districts in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central regions.
According to her, the organisation launched its five-year strategic plan last year, which placed emphasis on the empowerment of young rural women.
However, with the launch of the National Gender Policy, she said, it had become important for CAMFED to align its activities with the achievement of the national vision, hence the decision to sign the MoU covering the next five-year.
She further reiterated that CAMFED Ghana’s commitment was to align its activities and strategies with those of the ministry and to ensure the sustainability of actions that promoted gender equality.
The signing of the MoU was witnessed by the Chief Director of the MoGCSP, Mr Kwesi Armo-Himbson; acting Director of Social Protection, Mr Richard Adjetey, and Executive Support / Human Resource Manager for CAMFED, Ms Jacqueline Coffie.
