Ghana committed to achieving gender equality
The 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has opened at the UN Headquarters in New York with a commitment by participating nations to use the session as a platform to work in order to provide a momentum for the attainment of the global Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.
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The Agenda 2030 was adopted by all UN member states in September 2015, as the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and as a positive step in pushing Sustainable Development Goal Five (SDG 5) on gender equality and women's empowerment.
The nine-day session being attended by representatives of member states, UN entities, including the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC), accredited non-governmental organisations from all the regions of the world is crucial for providing a step for the attainment of the 17 SDGs which have gender-sensitive targets to address challenges of the 21st century such as poverty, gender inequality, impact of climate change on women and women's empowerment.
Sessions
The sessions will include a ministerial segment with roundtable and other high level interactive dialogues, general discussions, as well as panel discussions and side events by stakeholders to draw attention to critical aspects of the work on gender equality.
Making a statement at a ministerial forum, Ghana's Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, said the country remained committed to utilising international protocols to enhance institutional arrangements for gender equality and women empowerment.
She said in keeping with the UN General Assembly resolution adopted 40 years ago that called on member states to establish appropriate government machinery to accelerate the integration of women in development and the elimination of discrimination against women, Ghana was among the first countries to establish the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD) the same year.
National women machinery
She said the NCWD became the first National women's machinery tasked to ensure the full integration of women into Ghana's development and champion the fight for gender equality and women empowerment, saying the machinery was elevated to a ministry in 2001 and again restructured in 2013 and designated as the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
"This institutional transformation broadened the ministry's mandate to address the needs of women, girls and other vulnerable persons from a holistic and integrated approach which actively involves men, boys and male dominated sections of society," she said.
She added that Cabinet had approved a number of important policies to strengthen the country's gender and social protection programmes and these include the National Gender Policy, the Child and Family Welfare Policy, the Social Protection Policy, the Justice for Children Policy and the School Feeding Policy.
She also mentioned the Affirmative Action and Ageing Bills currently undergoing legislation processes and the Adoption and Foster Care Regulation which has been finalised and validated to be put before Parliament this year.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the UN Under-Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UN Women, Madam Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the 60th Session of the CSW on the theme, "Women's empowerment and the link to the SDGs", marked the countdown to the implementation strategies of the Agenda 2030 to take dramatic steps in implementing the agenda and the first review of the historic agreed conclusions from the 57th Session of the CSW (2013), which focused on ending violence against women.
Private sector support
She said the implementation agenda required the support of the private sector to address the root causes of the challenges confronting women, and find new and sustainable ways to attain Agenda 2030, explaining that the agenda did not replace the Beijing Platform of Action which had been supported by civil society commitments to transform the lives of women and girls at the regional and global levels.
She described the commission as the largest and most critical inter-governmental forum which attracts members of various NGOs and country representatives from around the world with diverse voices every year to discuss critical issues of women and galvanise attention for action to end all forms of discrimination against girls and women, child marriage and female genital mutilation.
In his remarks, the Chair of CSW, Mr Antonio de Aguiar, said the session marked the countdown to the attainment of the 2030 Agenda in which the world experts a future where there is gender equality and no one is left behind.
He said working towards the attainment of the agenda should not end with discussions but nations must come together and collaborate to attain the desired goals.