SALOME DONKOR'S STORIES

Disbaning witches camps -Our collective responsibilities

2011-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Belief in witchcraft is widespread in Ghana and parts of Africa. Deception, fear, religious beliefs, ignorance and poverty are the major factors that perpetuate these superstitious beliefs and attitudes that in turn sustain this outmoded tradition, mostly perpetrated against old women.
According to the Southern Sector Youth and Women’s Empowerment Network (SOSYWEN), a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) that focuses on the empowerment of women and the youth, this belief, together with the consequent punishment meted out to women accused of being witches, dates as far back as the 17th century.
These women are among the poorest in a general poor area and are made up of illiterate old women and young children. In some parts of northern Ghana, they are banished from their families and communities and lives in witches camps located in those communities. Some are even murdered in cold blood.
A publication by the organisation as part of its advocacy work in finding a long-term and more comprehensive solution to witches camp, with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)/Royal Danish Embassy towards the “Witches Camp” Integrated Project, estimates that there are about 5,000 women and children living in witches camps in the three northern regions of Ghana and the inmates are aged between eight and 80.
These women cannot go back to their communities without the risk of being killed because they have been accused of being the cause of suffering or death of somebody at the village. They are subjected to abuse and other cruel treatment. Their rights are violated in various ways including forced and unremunerated labour on the overlord’s farms and they are deprived of many basic services such as water supply, health and school.
The booklet published by SOSYWEN, which is made up of quotes from selected eminent persons who are seen as opinion leaders and whose voices, views and opinions are well respected, quotes the Deputy Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, who expresses concern of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) about the situation of children whose education and growth are hampered through no fault of their, but for the simple reason that they are children of accused “witches”.
During a visit to the Ngani Witches Camp near Yendi in the Northern Region to acquaint herself with conditions in the camp, the deputy minister observed that the incarceration and confinement of women to camps by society and community members constituted gross violation of their human rights and freedoms and against the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Ghana was a signatory.
In a statement issued in Accra on September 6, 2011, MOWAC said it was collaborating with other stakeholders to work assiduously to disband all witches camps in Ghana and, therefore, called on community leaders and traditional authorities to provide support in that direction.
The Ngani camp is inhabited by 188 women and 41 men who have been accused of being witches wizards, and abandoned in the camp by members of their families and communities.
Hajia Gariba said the ministry considered the existence of these camps as not only a violation of people’s human rights but also a national disaster, adding “The ministry is liaising with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to provide relief items in the form of food and clothing to inhabitants of the camps”.
The statement by the deputy minister was published in the September 8, 2011 issue of the Daily Graphic, a day after the Chief Psychiatrist, Dr Akwasi Osei had written on the upcoming Witches Confab, scheduled for September 13, at the British Council in Accra.
The conference would be attended by about 100 participants from across the country, including representatives from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Arc Foundation, Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Parliament, Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), Queens, Related ministries, Human Rights NGO, Coalition of Health and the Ghana Mental Health Association.
Others are the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG), a body of users of mental health services, Churches, Muslim Community, House of Chiefs, Ghana Journalist Association, Ghana Registered Nurses Association, Ghana Medical Association, Ghana Bar Association, A Witchdoctor at one of the camps or camp overlord (Gambaga, etc), chief of a village hosting a witch camp, an inmate of the witch’ camp, social welfare and psychologists.
It is to examine these issues of witchcraft and witch camps and the historical origin of these camps, as well as the sociological and anthropological aspects of the witch camps, and to come out with solid interventions aimed at disbanding, banning and outlawing such practices.
The programme is in three parts, namely the exhibition of pictures from the witch camps and some newspaper articles on witches in the last few months, a documentary on witch camps and a workshop to be held after a series of lectures and presentations on witchcraft concept; mental health aspect, sociological aspect, human rights aspect and religious aspects.
Participants would form various working groups to deliberate on the nature of the problem and make suggestions on the way forward. After that, the conference would come into plenary to report and pool ideas and together craft a way to eradicate the problem. Participants will also draw a communiqué as an action point to be carried through and finally set up a task force to ensure the contents of the communiqué are carried through in order to achieve the goal of the conference.
The SOSYWEN publication, which also quotes 20 essays written on the subject of witches and witch camps by senior high school pupils from Nanumba North, East Mamprusi and Yendi districts all in the Northern Region, indicates a synthesis of the quotes, statements and essays reveal a general view that old women, their children and grandchildren should be allowed to live a dignified life and enjoy their fundamental human rights.
Some accept that witches do exist, and also endorse strong punishment and remedial treatment for the accused women to serve as a deterrent to their practices. Such views suggest the need for increased awareness about outmoded cultural practices and the cruelty endured by these women.
Belief in witchcraft is not only prevalent in northern Ghana, but in many parts of the country, where suspected witches including mothers, grandmother, daughters, daughter-in-laws, mother-in-laws and sister-in-laws suffer abuses and subjected to cruelty.
These questions asked by Dr Osei are very relevant in tackling the issue: What is witchcraft? Even if somebody confesses to being a ‘witch’ or is even ‘confirmed’ as a ‘witch’, assuming it were possible, how should such a person be treated? Does the Constitution allow people to be treated in such a demeaning manner? Where do human rights issues come in?
Witchcraft is a traditional, and sometimes religious belief in the use of magical powers of some people to do evil and some people believe that problems that may arise in a family, communities, leading to disaster, illness, misfortune and hardships are to be blamed on witchcraft.
In addressing the issue, traditional leaders, who are the custodians of traditions and culture of the people, as well as pastors should be targeted. Governmental and non-governmental organisations, related agencies and traditional authorities all have various roles to play, emphasising on education and law enforcement at the district and community level.

Women, real agents of change

2011-03-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The year 2011 can be described as another historic year dedicated to outlining the achievements of women who have transformed societies across the world. Apart from marking 100 years since the observance of International Women’s Day, 2011 also marks the beginning of the African Women's Decade, a period to draw attention to the many areas where gender discrimination continues to impede girls and women's human rights.
The Commonwealth Day, celebrated on the second Monday in March every year, was observed on March 14, 2011 and the theme for this year’s celebration was, ‘Women as Agents of Change’.
From the first World Conference on the Status of Women convened in Mexico City between June 19 - July 2, 1975 to coincide with the International Women’s Year when the UN recommended a UN Decade for Women (1975-85) to now, there have been intensified efforts to advance women’s development.
A message from the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Kamalesh Sharma, indicated that women were the barometers of society: They were an indication of its internal pressure levels and their fortunes could be the clearest forecasts of good or bad things to come.
It said where women prospered, societies prospered, and where women suffered, so too did the societies in which they lived, adding, “We have seen that we can accelerate social, economic and political progress” if we invested in women.
He said the evidence was clear: The Commonwealth had given practical help to women in entrepreneurship, it had supported the role of women in peace-keeping and in local and national politics and it had argued the case for empowering women — from putting young girls through school to ensuring that women had access to trained midwives.
“We have pioneered among our member governments a gender consideration to every aspect of national life, hence the need for policies and funds to match,” he said.
The statement said women were the people who could bring about real and lasting transformation at every level in society and unlocking their limitless but locked potential could open the doors of opportunity for all in the Commonwealth and the wider world.
One-half of the world’s population may be made up of women and girls; yet women and girls bear two-thirds of the world’s problems. Two-thirds of those out of school worldwide are girls and two-thirds of those who are illiterate or out of work or living with HIV and AIDS are women.
Women and girls make up over half of the world’s population. In the Commonwealth, that’s over one billion people. By educating them, giving them accessible health care and making sure they are treated fairly and have the same opportunities and protection as men and boys, we can go a long way towards addressing the many problems of the world.
The theme for the Commonwealth Day means that by investing in women and girls, we can accelerate social, economic and political progress. Women and girls need to be included at all levels of decision making to ensure that their needs are properly met.
Girls should have the chance to grow up and become healthy, educated women who can make a positive difference in their own lives and in the lives of others.
Reports received by the Gender and Children’s Desk on the occasion of yet another International Women's Day reflected on the extent to which laws have positively influenced the lives of Ghanaian women, the need to deal with traditional practices that are inimical to the development of women and increase women’s participation in decision making.
Mention could be made of practices such as widowhood rites, the payment of high dowry that leave some women as slaves to their husbands, customary servitude such as trokosi, the witch camps, diseases such as obstetric fistula, maternal health, as well as women’s right to inheritance, as some of the challenges confronting women’s development.
The ground-breaking law to positively affect the lives of women in Ghana was the Intestate Succession Law, 1985, PNDC Law 111. Another was the Registration of Customary Marriage Law, PNDC Law 112. Together, these laws, though promulgated during a military regime, provided protection for the inheritance rights of women by revolutionising the quantum of inheritance of surviving spouses and children to a deceased person's estate.
The 1992e Constitution prohibited harmful cultural practices. In 1994, female genital mutilation was made a crime and there was a further amendment of this law in 2007. In 1998, customary servitude was made a crime by our Parliament to address trokosi and the witch camps.
Despite the passage of these laws, Nana Oye Lithur, a gender activist and human rights lawyer, says to a large extent they have not helped protect women from harmful customary practices.
Reflecting on the theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day, there is the need to work towards expanding women's voice, leadership and participation, as well as ending violence against women.
Eliminating discrimination against women and girls, empowering women and achieving equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security should constitute the priority areas.
The need to strengthen institutions to monitor the implementation of constitutional provisions that guarantee women’s rights, legislative action, judicial interpretation and policies and pay particular attention to concerns of gender as important ingredients of sustainable development is also critical.
We need to give recognition to the contribution of women, especially those in the rural areas, to household income and the country’s general economy and development.
According to Mrs Chris Dadzie, a gender activist, there were a number of gaps in the 1992 Constitution in respect of gender equality and other rights of women that needed to be addressed promptly.
Mrs Dadzie, who is also a member of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Constitution Coalition, who was making a presentation on “Gender and Ghana’s 1992 Constitution” at a roundtable in Accra recently, was reported to have said that beyond those interventions, the Constitution review process needed further support in the spheres of gender and women’s rights in order to ensure optimum results and full ownership of the process by all Ghanaians.
These crises are already showing in Ghana that they will impede efforts to promote gender justice, eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for sustainable development.

Assessing results-based financing in reproductive health

2010-11-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor (published on 20/11/2010
THE Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit attended by world leaders, along with the private sector, foundations, international organisations, civil society and research organisations, in New York in September this year kicked off a major concerted world-wide effort to accelerate progress on women and children's health.
Reports from that summit indicate that child mortality (MDG 4) has been reduced, but not significant enough to reach the target, while maternal mortality (MDG 5) remains high in much of the developing world.
Deliberately ambitious, the MDGs have provided a global agenda that has galvanised international action towards agreed indices of change, including a specific target of reducing the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth by three-quarters by 2015.
The MDGs give a central place to maternal health and gender equality and MDG 5 — improving maternal health — is often called “the heart of the MDGs” because if it fails, the other goals will also fail.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006 report, while women in northern Europe have a one in 4,000 likelihood of dying from pregnancy-related causes, for those in sub-Saharan Africa the chance is one in 16.
Available evidence shows that 75 per cent of these deaths are preventable and that the timely provision of blood transfusion, caesarian section, oxytocin and antibiotic therapy and the timely management of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia are sufficient to reduce maternal mortality rates by 50 per 100,000 without the need for advanced technology and safe support mechanisms.
The problem of maternal mortality causes more anxiety and uneasiness, considering the fact that the factors that jeopardise maternal and new-born survival are preventable or treatable with essential services and, the most effective, affordable public health interventions.
Maternal mortality is defined by health experts as the death of a pregnant woman during her pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. According to the experts, an obstetric emergency is not a situation where the expectant mother involved could be asked to come back the next day, since that can result in her death.
Evidence from 20 years of research and pilot interventions has identified five primary causes of deaths among pregnant women. Pregnancy-related conditions, also known as obstetric complications, include post-partum haemorrhage (bleeding), eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy), sepsis (infection), prolonged or obstructed labour, as well as complications of abortion, and these are the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age in many developing countries.
Maternal mortality is a global issue and the concern for reducing it stems from the fact that at least 583,000 women die each year from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The alarming situation is that almost 90 per cent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The situation in Ghana is equally gloomy, with an institutional maternal mortality rate of 250 per 100,000 live births. Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality has been a challenge in Ghana over the past decades, as many more women continue to fall prey to this problem, in spite of the efforts by the government, the development partners, the private sector and civil society.
Attaining MDGs 4 and 5, still remains a big challenge to most developing nations, Ghana included. For this reason, the World’s Children Report for 2009 prepared by UNICEF called on political leaders, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to generate action at all levels to address the problem of maternal and neonatal deaths.
The MDGs Summit also expressed grave concern over the slow progress being made in reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal and reproductive health and the summit indicated that progress on the other MDGs was fragile and must be sustained to avoid reversal.
Similarly, the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, in an address read on his behalf at the 52nd annual general meeting of the Ghana Medical Association in Koforidua recently, on the theme, “Maternal Health Care in Ghana: The Realities Beyond the Policies”, said there were numerous challenges facing the health sector which could only be addressed through collaboration between the government and the GMA to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
He said such an initiative would also enable the country to attain its MDGs in the health sector and expressed the hope that the GMA would embrace the slogan, “Zero Tolerance for Maternal and Infant and Childhood Deaths”, and work in that direction to find solutions to the problems associated with such deaths.
The situation has been attributed to several factors, and with such growing concerns, the Ghana office of the World Bank (WB) is taking the initiative to hold deliberations with relevant players, especially in the public sector, as part of an identification mission being undertaken in preparation of a pilot project to implement results-based financing in the area of reproductive healthcare delivery in the country.
In line with the programme, a round-table discussion on the issues, the challenges and the way forward to identify possible actions was organised in Accra on Wednesday on the theme, “Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality through dialogue and action”.
The programme brought together a number of core practitioners and policy makers and other stakeholders to brainstorm on the problems, challenges and possible actions that can be taken to address the neonatal and maternal mortality issues confronting the country.
The programme, from the World Bank’s perspective, seeks to explore the extent to which civil society organisations, through civic engagement, could contribute to the bank’s regular programmes/projects on improving maternal health.
In his opening remarks, the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Mr Ishac Diwan, said there was the need to keep searching for more solutions and explore the usefulness of results-based financing.
An extended term consultant on financial management of the World Bank, Mrs Elizabeth Alluah Vaah, said the meeting was aimed at getting everybody’s view on the way forward, stressing, “We don’t have to throw our hands in despair.”
Discussion on the subject was generated after a documentary on maternal healthcare delivery in Ghana, produced by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) and titled, “The lights have gone our again”, had been shown.
It showed that lack of facilities, delay in accessing health facilities, acute shortage of skilled staff working under severe pressure, unsafe abortion, anaemia, lack of family planning services, as well as dissatisfaction on the part of some patients with the services provided by health service staff, negatively affected maternal healthcare delivery in the country.
Participants asserted that the problem was multi-dimensional and required effective public/private sector partnership to come up with a solution.
One issue that cropped up was the phasing out of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and the role of faith-based groups in the provision of maternal healthcare delivery.
While some maintained that TBAs and faith-based groups could not be done away with in maternal healthcare delivery, since those in the rural areas preferred patronising their services to visiting health facilities, others insisted that receiving antenatal care from a skilled provider, mostly a nurse or a midwife, and going through supervised delivery by a trained health official, was necessary to dealing with obstetric complications.
For her part, Madam Florence Okra, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Eve’s Foundation, an NGO that offers education on safe motherhood, suggested that TBAs and community-based attendants
should be trained and certified to team up with private midwives to offer the needed maternal health care to people, mostly in the rural communities where health facilities are inaccessible.
Ms Petra Vergeer, Health Specialist, made a presentation on the Concept of Results-Based Financing as a vehicle to achieve accountability for results and said the concept involved focusing on maternal and child health, increasing quantity and quality of selected health services provided, increasing health worker motivation, as well as providing financial incentives for health facilities for more quantity and quality services, in addition to providing financial incentives for pregnant women to deliver in health facilities.
A social development specialist of the World Bank, Ms Beatrix Alla-Mensah, said every year the bank selected a theme under its small grant programme and that was used to apply for funding and then advertised for civil society organisations (CSOs) to put in applications.
She said the theme for the small grant project in the coming year was on maternal health and that the bank, through its small grants programme, was looking to engage CSOs to identify innovative ways by which they could engage the public, sensitise and educate them as a way of addressing the demand side of the problem of maternal and neonatal mortality at the community, district and national levels.
Like the observation made by participants at the MDG Summit in New York, those who attended the focus group discussion in Accra realised key areas where CSOs could begin some civic engagement work in achieving “Zero Tolerance for Maternal and Infant and Childhood Deaths”.

Expanding radiotherapy centres to boost cancer treatment

2010-06-24T05:50:00.001-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE word ‘cancer’ evokes desperation that stirs grief and pain, a scourge that strains intellectual, social and emotional resources.
Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that there are over 20 million people living with cancer in the world today, with the majority in the developing world.
According to medical experts, cancer, which is the term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and invade other tissues, is one of the killer diseases among both men and women.
Each cancer is thought to first start from one abnormal cell. What seems to happen is that certain vital genes which control how cells divide and multiply are damaged or altered. This makes the cell abnormal. If the abnormal cell survives, it may multiply “out of control” into a malignant tumour, which consists of cancer cells that have the ability to spread beyond the original area.
Dr Clegg Lamptey of the Surgical Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra says cancer affects various parts of the body, which results in various types of cancers, each with its own name and its treatment.
Some types of cancers that affect parts of the body are breast, lung, stomach, skin, cervical and prostate cancers. Doctors say cancers in children can affect any part of their bodies. Leukaemia is a type of cancer that starts in blood-forming tissues such as the bone marrow and causes the production of large numbers of abnormal blood cells which enter the blood.
Given the complex nature of the disease, early detection of cancer is crucial for effective treatment and such detection is almost impossible without the requisite equipment and trained personnel.
Doctors contend that irrespective of the type of cancer a patient develops, he or she may need one of the following processes — surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy — and that usually patients who have prostate and breast cancers go through hormonal therapy.
For this reason, the news that Ghana has secured $13.5 million loan from the OPEC Fund and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa to upgrade and expand the radiotherapy centres at the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Accra and Kumasi respectively could be described as a positive step to enhance the care and treatment of cancer cases in the country.
The story published in the Daily Graphic early April, quoted the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, as stating in an interview that another $9 million dollars was being sourced to establish a new radiotherapy centre at the Tamale Teaching Hospital to serve the northern part of the country and neighbouring West African countries not having radiotherapy facilities.
She said the projects were being undertaken in line with the government’s determination to ensure that cancer cases received prompt attention at the country’s two teaching hospitals.
Ms Ayittey said upgrading and expanding the two centres would enhance the care and treatment of cancer cases in the country and ensure that cases which were hitherto referred to hospitals outside the countries were treated locally.
Doctors say cancer could be cured when detected early, and that cancers needed multi-disciplinary treatment with various specialists. However, if left untreated, it may spread and destroy surrounding tissues.
Radiotherapy is an important means of treating cancers and most cancer patients go through this treatment. According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, radiotherapy is used for the treatment of malignant cancer, and may be used as a primary or adjuvant modality. It is also common to combine radiotherapy with surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or the mixture of the three. Most common cancer types can be treated with radiotherapy in some way. The precise treatment intent (curative, adjuvant, neoadjuvant, therapeutic, or palliative) will depend on the tumour type, location, and stage, as well as the general health of the patient.
Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumour. The radiation fields may also include the draining lymph nodes, if they are clinically or radiologically involved with tumour, or if it is thought there is the risk of subclinical malignant spread. It is necessary to include a margin of normal tissue around the tumour to allow for uncertainties in daily set-up and internal tumour motion. These uncertainties can be caused by internal movement (for example, respiration and bladder filling) and movement of external skin marks relative to the tumour position.
To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs which radiation must pass through in order to treat the tumour), shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumour, providing a much larger absorbed dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue.
Lack of knowledge of the disease and the cost of treatment makes it difficult for most cancer patients to bear the cost of surgery and treatment. For that reason, some patients seek support from herbalists and pastors, instead of visiting the health facility.
Mrs Gladys Boateng, Director, Reach for Recovery, a breast cancer support group, said because of the stigmatisation, myth and fear surrounding the disease, nobody wanted to be associated with it, stressing that that was affecting the fight against the disease.
There is therefore the need for a concerted effort and intensive education to highlight the world-wide growing cancer crisis and its effect on women in particular. There is the need for counselling and other support.
It is also necessary to demystify cancer to disabuse the minds of patients of the fear, misconception and myths surrounding the disease and encourage patients to go for regular, medical examination.
The survivors are encouraged to participate in stress-relieving trips and also take active roles in visiting one another.
According to Mrs Boateng, another important aspect of cancer treatment was the need to establish a hospice for terminally ill cancer patients for proper care and support and pointed out that support groups, such as Reach for Recovery, needed to be offered the maximum support to continue their good works.

Dealing with gender stereotypes -

2010-06-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Inequalities between men and women, whether in the economic or cultural sense or both, certainly mean that women work hardest to produce food and water, yet benefit the least from their work.
This is because women have less power over the resources they produce.
Gender inequality impacts on access to food, property and land rights, as well as access to credit.
The World Development Indicators, 1997, Womankind World-wide, indicate that women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food and yet earn only 10 per cent of the world’s income and own less than one per cent of the world’s property.
To promote the EC/UN Partnership Programme on gender Equality for Development and Peace, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), under the auspices and sponsorship of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), recently organised a two-day forum to share experiences and exchange views with media practitioners on practices and principles for promoting gender equality as a priority development issue.
The forum discussed the Accra Agenda for Action endorsed by ministers of developing and donor countries responsible for development and heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions, after the Third High level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Accra from September 2-4, 2008.
The document provides the framework for promoting gender equality and also provides UNIFEM with a platform to introduce its new programme for 2010 - 2013.
According to the National Programme Co-ordinator of UNIFEM, the Proposed New Programme on Financing Gender Equality and Aid Effectiveness, Programme Country Strategy, developed after the adoption of the action programme, would address four key gaps and challenges in the country.
She mentioned the need for capacity building or the strengthening of key government institutions on their roles and functions in the implementation of the national gender equality agenda, the need to strengthen gender equality and the role of civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations in monitoring and evaluating government and donors’ commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda in national development plans, budgets and development co-operation frameworks.
It will also address issues associated with limited progress on mutual accountability of governments and donors, as well as the lack of relevant gender desegregated data and information on financing for gender equality, costing of gender equality and women empowerment programmes and gender responsive budgeting implementation in the country.
In identifying the main activities that will be carried out and the programme partners to achieve the expected results, UNIFEM mentions ministries, departments and agencies, United Nations agencies and other multilateral, as well as bilateral, agencies, the private sector and the media.
One important way in which the media can deal with gender inequalities is to publish stories that challenge stereotypes and these include those that overturn common assumptions about women and men in relation to their attributes, traits, roles or occupations.
Conversely, stories that reinforce stereotypes will reinscribe the generalised, simplistic and often exaggerated assumptions of masculinity and femininity in a given cultural context.
The preliminary report by the Global Media Monitoring Project, 2010, states that stories in Asia are almost eight times as likely to reinforce gender stereotypes than to challenge them.
It said in Africa, stories were almost 16 times as likely to reinforce than challenge stereotypes, adding that the larger percentage of stories that reinforced rather than challenged stereotypes suggested a need for media practitioner awareness on understanding, recognising and challenging stereotypes in reportage.
The top five topics in which women are central pertain to women in politics, violence and crime. Specifically, these are women in political power and decision-making, gender-based violence, violent crime, domestic politics and disaster. Further, the preliminary results show that women are not central at all in several news topics that are of importance to them, such as labour (employment, unemployment) and poverty (housing, social welfare and aid).
The report shows that the breakdown of topics with the highest coverage in all regions indicates that the media in Africa devoted 25 per cent of news coverage for politics and government, 21 per cent for social and legal, 19 per cent for the economy, 18 per cent for crime and violence, nine per cent for science and health,, six per cent for celebrity, the arts and the media and sports and zero per cent for the girl-child.
The hierarchy of priorities reveals the need for a radical transformation of the news media agenda towards one that is cognisant of and responsive to gender interests in the news.
The topics, ‘science and health’ and ‘social and legal’, are relevant to women’s gender interest. What is needed is a re-alignment of the priorities on the news media agenda to reflect the interest of the majority.
The most significant of participants’ commitment at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness was their resolve to work together to help countries across the world build a successful future for all, a future based on a shared commitment to overcome poverty, a future in which no countries will depend on aid.
The participants agreed that by 2010, each of them should meet the commitments they had made on aid effectiveness in Paris in 2005 and in Accra and reach beyond those commitments, where they could.
They agreed to reflect and draw upon the many valuable ideas and initiatives that had been presented at the High Level Forum and asked the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness to continue monitoring progress on implementing the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action and report back to the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011.
As was rightly pointed out by Dr Doris Dartey, a communications consultant and media educator, the media should not reinforce gender stereotypes or publish gender-blind stories.
There is the need for media practitioners to set their personal agendas and use the media to get people to tell their stories.
That should be done in such a way to champion cultural change, safeguard women’s rights and shine “the dark spots in society”.

Women Candidates Support Package is laudable

2010-06-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The important role of women in politics and public office is recognised within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of the indicators for monitoring MDG 3 that relates to promoting gender equality and women empowerment, is the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and other levels of decision-making process.
The 2005 World Summit Outcome reaffirmed the commitment to increase representation of women in government and decision-making bodies, including opportunities to participate fully in the political process.
Marked progress has been made since 1995 in the numbers of women elected to national parliaments and statistics from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) database on women in national parliaments indicate that 20 countries achieved over 30 per cent representation of women in 2006, which compares favourably with the very short list of five countries that had achieved this in 1995 (Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden).
The IPU database indicates that almost all of the 20 countries have used some form of electoral quotas to ensure that women account for a certain number of percentage of candidates for office or officeholders, whether through a constitutional commitment, a provision of election legislation, voluntary action by political parties, or some combination of these.
Two articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) deal with women’s participation in political and public life. Article 7 commits States parties to ensure equality between women and men in political and public life, including the right to vote, to be eligible for election, to participate in formulating government policy, to hold public office and to perform public functions. That provision also includes the right to participate in non-governmental organisations and other associations.
Article 8 requires States parties to ensure that women have equal opportunities with men to represent their governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organisations. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women provided additional guidance in the implementation of the Convention in 1997 in its General Recommendation 23, which highlighted the application of the Convention to all levels of government and to the activities of a range of organisations concerned with public and political life, including public boards, local councils, and the activities of political parties, trade unions and professional associations.
The involvement of more women in politics and decision-making is significant, since it is expected to meet their interests and basic needs and enable them to continue to influence policies from a gender perspective and address inequalities and injustices in social relationships. The full participation of women in the electoral process was also key to the growth of democracy.
The local government system has therefore become good grounds for some women who want to enter national politics. But there are various challenges that confront women intending to enter local government, which make it difficult for them to take the initiative.
To address these challenges, which include social and economic factors, the Department of Women in the various regions have been tasked to work in collaboration with the district assemblies and identify 20 women from each district to support them to take part in the forthcoming district assembly elections.
This month, the Electoral Commission (EC) also announced a package to encourage more women to contest the upcoming district level elections scheduled for October 26, this year.
Known as The Women Candidates Support Package, it is set to be introduced in recognition of the peculiar challenge women faced, with financial support from the European Union, and it will include training workshops to be attended solely by female candidates.
In 2005, with the support of the Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the EC and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs undertook intensive leadership training programmes for potential women candidates for the 2006 district level elections.
In addition to this, the Women in Local Government Fund was also launched to support female contestants. Despite these, the low numbers of women in local and national politics means that it is also important to look at other methods, such as quota representation, to bridge the gap between the numbers of men and women represented in the political arena.
Ms Gloria Ofori Buadu, President of the Women Assistance Business Association (WABA), an organisation that supports women, described the EC’s initiative as a good idea but stated that there was the need to repackage these programmes well in order not to incur the displeasure of other contestants in the local elections.
She said in the last elections some male contestants used the raising of funds to support female candidates, to campaign against the women, with some of them alleging that the female candidates had been given a lot of money, while their male counterparts had none.
She also advised the EC to stick to the date fixed for the election and said in the last election, a number of the electorate lost interest in the polls as a result of the change in dates.
Some women contacted said the details of the EC’s package should be spelt out and made known to prospective contestants, to help them derive maximum benefit from the scheme, to significantly improve gender balance in decision-making at all levels.

Children count - Make the commitment

2010-06-24T05:39:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
TO many parents and those who have the interest of children at heart,"every day is Children's Day". The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1 as International Children's Day in 1925 to promote the well-being of children around the world. This followed resolutions taken at the World Conference in Geneva, Switzerland that year.
On this day, the whole world observes the need to reach out to the youngest members of our world community. Each year in commemoration of International Children's Day, Amnesty International calls on the international community to take concrete steps to protect and promote children's rights, which are the foundation for a thriving human rights culture.
It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the International Children's Day: One theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.
The day, celebrated as a holiday in some countries, is usually marked with speeches on children's rights and well-being, children TV programmes, parties, various activities involving or dedicated to children, with some families going out with their children. Many nations declare days for children on other dates.
In the United States of America, Children’s Day observations predate both Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day, though a permanent annual single Children's Day observation is not made at the national level.
The celebration of a special Children’s Day in America dates from the 1860s and earlier.
In 1856, Rev. Charles H. Leonard, then pastor of the First Universalist Church of Chelsea, Mass., set apart a Sunday for the dedication of children to the Christian life, and for the re-dedication of parents and guardians to bringing-up their children in Christian nurture. This service was first observed the second Sunday in June.
In Ghana, similar programmes are held in some churches such as the Presbyterian and Methodist that mark Children’s day with drama, Bible recitals, and talk on children’s rights and development. Such programmes are also used to raise funds in support the Children’s Ministry of those churches.
To mark the 20th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Geneva Conventions, respectively, the International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a new brochure on children and war. This brochure examines the risks faced by children caught up in armed conflict, the steps taken to address their specific needs and the rules of law defined to protect them.
Much was not heard about this year’s International Children’s Day celebration in the country, but one significant programme held in Accra on Saturday June 5, that is also related to the promotion of child’s rights, was the launch of the 2010 World Day Against Child Labour and the current International Labour Organisation (ILO) Child Labour Global Report.
The worst forms of child labour as defined in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 182 included practices such as the sale and trafficking of children, serfdom and forced or compulsory labour including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, the use, procuring or offering of children for prostitution, or for the production of pornography or pornographic performance: And the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs.
Some people contend that there is no child labour in the country,arguing that children who help their parents to raise money
for the upkeep of the family are not engaged in child labour. However, the 2003 Ghana Child Labour Survey (GCLS 2003), revealed that 2.47 million children out of an estimated number of 6.36 million aged between 5 and 17, were economically active, with about 1.27 million in activities classified as child labour.
Speaking at the programme, the Deputy Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Anna Bossman, was reported to have stated that child labour continued to pose problems that resulted in child abuse and hindered the growth and development of children in developing countries.
A communiqué adopted by participants after the six-day forum at the recent annual Easter School for Children in Sunyani, organised by Child's Rights International (CRI) in co-operation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), urged the Department of Social Welfare to monitor the activities of children and called on the Department of Social Welfare, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC),to institute programmes to tackle the problems of child labour and early marriages involving children.
This was based on their observations and findings during different field trips to the Techiman Market, various houses, shops and drinking bars to distribute 250 copies of the Children’s Act 560. The visit to the Techiman Market revealed that, although the day of the visit was not a market day, there were many children at the market carrying loads of food items.
The communiqué indicated that majority of the children, aged between six and 17 started selling at the age of six, with some of them ‘working’ permanently for the whole week for approximately 10 hours a day, while those working temporarily, ‘work’ five days a week, earning between GH¢1 and GH¢20, with some earning as low as 50 Ghana pesewas a day.
It said most of the children, who were malnourished, lived in rented kiosks and stores, and take unprescribed drugs to ease their body pains, and some were knocked down by vehicles without any compensation.
Recognising the need to respond to the health, education, safety, and social and emotional well-being of children, countries that joined the world community in observing International Children's Day renewed their commitment to improving the lives of children around the world.
Ghana, as well as the global community in general need to commit herself to promoting access to a quality education for all children,strive to improve the lives of young people by seeking innovative solutions to poverty,including programmes that provide emergency relief, promote economic opportunity and integrate human rights concerns into humanitarian assistance.
As a parent/guardian, we need to commit ourselves to love, cherish and nurture our children physically, mentally,emotionally, attend to their spiritual needs and affirm our love to them. All adults have the responsibility to make the world a better place for children.

Children’s rights need protection and commitment

2010-05-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560) defines a child as a person below the age of 18 and entrusts parents with the responsibilities to protect the child from neglect, discrimination, violence, abuse, exposure to physical and moral hazards and oppression.
Media reports on the abuse of the rights of the child sometimes involving parents, who refused to provide guidance, care, assistance and maintenance for the child and assure them of their survival and development, amount to breach of the Children’s Act.
The efficient enforcement of children’s rights is affected by the fact that most children were not enlightened on their rights, while some state institutions charged with the protection of children’s rights were confronted with challenges that render their operations ineffective.
At the recent annual Easter School for Children in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, organised by Child's Rights International (CRI) in co-operation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), that provided a forum for children to actively participate in open discussions about critical issues that affected their welfare and the enjoyment of children's rights, the participants engaged in constructive dialogue with one another and with policy makers and government officials in Ghana.
The Tano North District Girl-Child Co-ordinator, Mrs Margaret Anane-Agyei, lamented the high incidence of teenage pregnancy among students in the district, in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
She said last year,23 female students who wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the district, were found to be pregnant and pointed out that apart from that, some female students found to be pregnant were in primary four and in other classes.
She attributed the problem to poverty, which she said had led to a high level of parental neglect and irresponsibility, adding that, in their quest to make money, some parents neglected the training and upbringing of their children and left them “to manage their own affairs”.
She also said the negative influence of foreign culture which made some young girls in rural communities copy foreign culture blindly, as well as peer pressure influence, have compounded the problem.
She stressed the need for churches to use the Women and Men’s Fellowships to champion parental responsibility and child upbringing, and also called for women empowerment programmes to improve the financial position of women to help them support the upkeep of their homes.
The Deputy Regional Co-ordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Supervisor of Police (ASP) Setina Aboagye, said much as emphasis was being put on the need to arrest perpetrators of child sexual abuse, emphasis should also be placed on the need for victims of sexual abuse to make a report to the police and also seek early medical care to protect them against sexually transmitted diseases.
She also called on the media to protect sexual violence victims in order not to compound their emotional and psychological trauma.
The Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, Mr Bright Appiah, said failure to promote children’s rights amount to stifling their efforts to realise their potentials, adding that the CRI organised the programme annually on specific theme “to remind us of what we can do to protect the rights of children”.
The Associate Community Services Officer of the UNHCR, Ms Elsie Dinah Yaokumah, said like all other children, displaced and trafficked children, as well as and street children need to be provided with the basic necessities of lives namely, food clothing and shelter and pointed out that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has camps in various parts of the country, sheltering refugee children from neighbouring countries.
The participants, after the six-day forum, presented a communiqué to the Regional Co-ordinating Council,after they had visited the Techiman Market,various houses, shops and drinking bars to distribute 250 copies of the Children’s Act 560.They also visited the Sunyani Traditional Council to interact with the traditions rulers.
The communiqué called for intensive efforts to empower women through the institution of microfinance programmes, as well as the institution of a social intervention programmes to ensure that all these children are covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
It also urged the Department of Social Welfare to monitor the activities of children and urged the Department of Social Welfare, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), to institute programmes to tackle the problems of child labour and early marriages, involving children.
It further called for the translation of the Children’s Act into Child friendly versions to be produced and distributed to promote legal literacy of the Act, stressing that the production of more copies of Act 560, as well as its translation into local dialects for the appreciation of all, must be enhanced.
Children who participated in this year’s programme exhibited unique talents, in addition to sharing experiences and discussing critical issues that affected the welfare of children.
The participants entertained the gathering with cultural display to emphasise their expectations from parents, guardians, child rights activists and stakeholders, in order to bridge the gap between children’s rights and realities.
A 12-year-old Junior High School (JHS) student of the Duayaw Nkwanta District Assembly JHS, Hannah Serwaah Arthur, who was selected by her school to participate in the Presidential Dinner in Accra, won the admiration of the audience with her display of brilliance and eloquence with a recital on the importance of education and the need for parents to educate their children to help unearth their talents.

‘Shirley Graham Du Bois was a woman of many lives’

2010-05-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Mrs Shirley Graham Du Bois, the widow of Dr W.E.B Du Bois-an American civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, historian, author and editor, is not only remembered for her political commitment to the civil rights movement, women’s rights and anti-colonial struggles in Africa and Asia, but also remembered as a faithful caretaker and companion of her legendary husband.
The African-American author, playwright, composer and activist for African-Americans and other people, lived between 1896 and 1977, and got married in 1951, the second marriage for both. The couple later emigrated to Ghana, and received citizenship in 1961. In 1963 her husband died.
A biography on Mrs Du Bois, titled “Race Woman: The life of Shirley Graham Du Bois” written by Dr Gerald Horne of the University of Huston, described her as a “restless, multifaceted woman” and indicated that her life began with an early commitment to uplift her race.
The book shows how Mrs Du Bois handled successfully or unsuccessfully, the conflicts that confronted her as a black woman in a male-dominated arena and her personal struggle to resolve her parenting responsibilities with her artistic and political goals.
She understood that a solid education could free her from the challenges confronting most women in her time and reasoned that education might allow her to achieve better employment and be able to better support her children. For that reason, she relocated in 1929 to Paris, France, to study music composition.
In 1965, she was made the director of Ghana Television and in 1967, she moved to Cairo, Egypt, after a military-led coup d'etat, where she continued writing and died of breast cancer in March 27, 1977 in Beijing, China, where she had gone for treatment.
An 11-member panel that discussed the book at the American Embassy in Accra recently, as part of the centenary celebrations of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, made reference to Mrs Du Bois’ political and cultural activities and commitment to uplift her race.
Prof. Ablade Glover, who met Mrs Du Bois in Ghana in 1964, described the formative years of Mrs Du Bois as interesting, considering the fact that she left her sons in the care of others to go and study in France, where she met a lot of Black Americans and Africans who shared her activist kind of thinking.
Dr Mohammed Ben Abdellah of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon, touched on the frustrations of artists, like Mrs Du Bois, in her bid to get a firm grip on the theatre and her contribution to the establishment of Ghana television in 1965. It was her expectation at the establishment of Ghana Television that 85 per cent of programmes to be shown on that station would originate from Ghana.
In her presentation, Dr Esi Sutherland Addy, a scholar in Diaspora studies, African history and culture of the Arts, touched on chapter five of the book, which she said revealed the soft and vulnerable side of Mrs Du Bois who spent a lot of time caring for her husband in his latter days, while Prof. Akosua A Ampofo, of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, described Mrs Du Bois as a woman with many lives that is worthy to be considered, adding that she was a strong character in her marriage, playing the motherly role, which she described as intriguing.
The other panelists were Dr Kofi Baku, immediate Head of the History Department of the University of Ghana, Prof. Alex Quarmyne, a retired Director of Ghana Television, who took over from Mrs Du Bois as the Director of Ghana Television after she left Ghana, Madam Mamle Kabu, writer and novelist from Ghana, Ms Doris Kuwornu, Director of Corporate Affairs, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Prof. Kojo Yankah, founder of the African University College of Education, and Prof. Akosua Anyidoho, of European University in Ghana.
The discussions were followed by a Video Conference with the author described Mrs as woman with tremendous accomplishment and said he referred to her as ‘Race Woman’ because Mrs Du Bois was concerned about the life and destiny of people of African-American descent.

‘Let’s support women in local government’

2010-04-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The role of women in politics and public office is one of the current burning governance issues because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance processes.
Gender and policy advocacy organisations recognise that improving the lives of women and other members of society require a balanced gender representation in government structures by promoting greater responsiveness to women in politics and decision-making.
For some women who want to enter national politics, governance at the various levels, namely the local or district, regional and national, is crucial to them, since it provides them with good training grounds to improve their chances of being elected to political office to promote gender-balance in decision-making at all levels.
The involvement of more women in politics and decision-making is expected to meet their interests and basic needs and enable them continue influence policies from a gender perspective and addressing inequalities and injustices in social relationships.
The local government system has therefore become good grounds for some women, who want to enter into national politics. But the most difficult challenge that confront most women intending to enter into local government, is lack of funds.
To support women in the 2006 District Assembly elections, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the “Women in Local Government Fund” to assist women aspiring to take part in local government elections.
According to the Public Relations Officer of MOWAC, Mrs Addisa Ofori Adu, each of the 1,772 women who contested the 2006 District Assembly elections, received GH¢20.00 for their campaign activities.
She said the Department of Women in the various regions have been tasked to work in collaboration with the district assemblies and identify 20 women from each district to support them to take part in the forthcoming district assembly elections.
Speaking at a day’s review meeting on “Challenges and Prospects of Women in Decision-Making Positions”, in Koforidua recently, the Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Women, Ms Jane Kwapong, re-emphasised the need for the private sector, corporate bodies and related organisations and individuals to financially support the “Women in Local Government Fund”
She said society should see gender equality as a tool for sustainable development and called for support and encouragement by both men and women to ensure that more women were elected in the forthcoming district assembly elections.
Participants were drawn from civil society organisations, women’s groups, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Gender Desk Officers and assemblywomen.
She urged political parties to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and men to engage in political activities and take further steps to elect women in their “safe constituencies” to contest parliamentary elections to increase the number of women in parliament.
She said since women’s reproductive roles tended to militate against their participation in politics and other decision-making processes, there was the need to encourage the sharing of parental and household responsibilities to enable more women participate in public life.
The Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Madam Beatrice B. Boateng, who is also an elected assembly member of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly, advised women to rise above reproach in the face of all challenges and prove their worth, stressing that some women had been able to make it, despite the challenges.
She mentioned poverty as a major challenge that prevented women form aspiring to greater heights and pointed out that the problems could be overcome with determination, perseverance, hard work and optimism.
Mr Rex Baah Antiri of the Ghana Education Service (GES) appealed to the government to create an enabling environment that would strengthen women to be part of decision-making, especially at the higher levels.
He called for sustained efforts to deal with all forms of violence against women and repressive cultural practices against women to enable them contribute their quota to development.
Participants suggested that efforts should be intensified to address the issue of gender stereotyping, as well as speed up the socialisation process and gender equality, adding that the empowerment of women should not be limited to those in the towns and cities, but extended to rural women.

Reducing maternal mortality is a concern for all

2010-04-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
When families lose their relations through maternal and neonatal death, the joy that motherhood brings to families and relatives turn into agony, suffering, pain and distress.
Stories of causes of maternal mortality and neonatal (new-born) mortality in Ghana and other developing countries with high rates of maternal mortality, paint a gloomy picture and portray a state of despair as a result of the slow progress being made in saving women’s lives quickly.
This is in view of the fact that the Ghana Demographic Health Survey, 1993 puts the maternal mortality rate in Ghana at 214 per 100,000 live births with a life time risk of one in 35, and health experts say the situation may not change by 2015 if no drastic measures are taken to reverse the situation.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 2006, while women in northern Europe have a one in 4000 likelihood of dying from pregnancy-related causes, for those in sub-Saharan Africa, the chance is one in 16.
Available evidence shows that 75 per cent of these deaths are preventable and that the timely provision of blood transfusion, caesarian section, oxytocin and antibiotic therapy, and the timely management of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia are sufficient to reduce maternal mortality rates by 50 per 100,000 without the need for advanced technology and safe support mechanisms.
The problems cause more anxiety and uneasiness considering the fact that the factors that jeopardise maternal and new-born survival are preventable or treatable with essential services, and the most effective, affordable public health interventions.
Maternal mortality is defined by health experts as the death of a pregnant woman during her pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. According to the experts, an obstetric emergency is not a situation where the expectant mother involved could be asked to come back the next day, since that can result in her death.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed to by world leaders in September 2000, included a specific target of reducing the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth by three-quarters by 2015 but health experts say the situation may not change by 2015 if no drastic measures are taken to reverse the situation.
An obstetric gynaecologist, formally at the Koforidua Regional Hospital, Dr J.E Taylor, once remarked that, “when a woman is pregnant, one of her legs is in the grave and depending on the care and treatment she receives, both legs can enter the grave or the other leg would come out of the grave”.
That is why the MDGs give a central place to maternal health and gender equality. MGD 5, improving maternal health, is often called “the heart of the MDGs” because if it fails, the other goals will also fail.
Evidence from 20 years of research and pilot interventions has identified five primary causes of deaths of pregnant women. Pregnancy-related conditions, also known as obstetric complications, include post-partum haemorrhage, (bleeding), eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy), sepsis (infection), and prolonged or obstructed labour, as well as complications of abortion, and these are the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age in many developing countries.
Maternal mortality is a global issue and the concern for reducing maternal mortality stems from the fact that at least 583,000 women die each year from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The alarming situation is that, almost 90 per cent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
An online report by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF, 1999) estimates that there are 585,000 maternal deaths globally each year, resulting from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The situation in Ghana is equally gloomy with institutional maternal mortality rate of 250 per 100,000 live births.
In 2008, the then Minister of Health, the late Major Courage Quashigah (rtd) revealed that the country was not winning the war against maternal deaths (Daily Graphic, April 5, 2008). That statement might have touched the hearts of many people, including women in the reproductive age, as well as the relatives of people who have lost their dear ones through maternal and neonatal deaths.
Recently, a couple, Mr Thomas Vaah and his wife Mrs Elizabeth Vaah, came out into the open to complain about the mistreatment Mrs Vaah endured when she was admitted at the Lister Hospital for delivery (Daily Graphic, Saturday, April 10, 2010).
The essence of their story was that Mrs Vaah was admitted at the Lister Hospital for delivery. However, the hospital authorities did not approach their work with diligence and dedication leading to the unfortunate but avoidable death of the baby boy.
The traumatised couple has set up a foundation called “Vaah Junior Foundation for Better Maternal and Child Health” to serve as : A mouthpiece platform for families affected by such negligence, Create awareness on the prevalence of professional negligence in maternal and child health care delivery in Ghana, help provide legal backing for families affected by negligent and incompetent maternal and child health care service delivery, as well as institute an award scheme to reward and recognise exemplary service by maternal and child health personnel and service providers.
Barely two weeks after that incident, another pathetic story had been reported involving the death of the wife of a Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Mrs Fuseini, at the Police Hospital on April 21, during child birth at the Police Hospital in Accra (Daily Graphic, April 23, 2010).
A report quoted the Director-General of Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Timothy Ashiley as saying that the news came as a surprise, especially, when a research published recently indicated that the Police Hospital had the best maternal health standards in the country.
In an article written by Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, titled “Solidarity with the Vaahs”, published in the April 15, 2010 edition of the Daily Graphic, the author who said he had been a victim of the negligence of medical staff at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, said he had been paying for that since December, 1999.
He explained that his daughter who has a permanent brain impairment, could not speak and has problems with speech, and had since 2000 been on medication, which is usually imported specially for her.
It is obvious that husbands who have lost either their wives or children or both through child birth, due to various reasons, have stories to share, but most of such incidents or reports are not reported to draw public’s attention. They include stories involving expectant mothers who are carried in hammock to hospitals that are miles away, due to bad roads and lack of transport and health facilities that do not have the requisite drugs and equipment to make the process of child delivery smooth.
There are also cases of institutional delays at the health facility and the attitude of health professionals that contribute to maternal and neonatal deaths.
In 1987, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other United Nations agencies like UNICEF launched the Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI). Since then, efforts have been made to raise awareness about safe motherhood, set goals an priorities for the global Safe Motherhood Initiative and also support national safe motherhood programmes through the stimulation of research, mobilisation of resources, provision of technical assistance, and sharing of information to make childbirth and pregnancy safer.
These efforts have rallied interest and commitment from donors, programme planners, researchers and practitioners to reduce the maternal mortality rate, the indicator with the greatest disparity between developed and developing countries. Ghana adopted the SMI and that led to the initiation and implementation of Safe Motherhood programmes in the country.
In 1998, the government introduced free antenatal care for all pregnant women and in September 2003, a policy of exempting all users from delivery fees in health facilities was introduced.
The exemption policy was given a further boost in 2008 when the British government provided the Ghana Government with £42.5 million to provide free medical care for pregnant women under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
These were done to remove financial barriers to using antenatal and delivery care in public and private health facilities, in order to complement the role of dedicated and skilful health professionals to achieve a reduction in the maternal mortality rate.
In October 2007, the 62nd general Assembly of the United Nations approved a new target on universal access to reproductive health. The indicators of measuring progress towards the target included providing access to family planning to reduce unintended pregnancies of adolescents; and providing antenatal care to address health risks to mothers and children.
Reproductive health problems remain the leading cause of ill health and death for women of childbearing age world-wide. The impact of reproductive health intiatives is to make motherhood safer by; improving access to family planning in order to reduce unintended pregnancy and achieve preferred spacing between intended pregnancies; achieving skilled care for all births; and providing timely obstetric care for all women who develop complications during childbirth.
The 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) said almost all Ghanaian women (95 per cent) received some antenatal care from a skilled provider, most commonly from a nurse or midwife (63 per cent) and a doctor (24 per cent), adding that more than three-quarters of women had the recommended four or more antenatal visits, and 55 per cent of women had an antenatal care visit by their fourth month of pregnancy, as recommended.
Accessing antenatal and postnatal care enabled more women to take iron tablets or syrup and intestinal parasite drugs during their last pregnancy before the survey. Women who received antenatal care during their most recent births were informed of the signs of the complications of pregnancy, and were also protected against neonatal tetanus.
This year’s State of the World’s Children Report for 2009 prepared by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), called on political leaders, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to generate action at all levels to address the problem of maternal and neonatal deaths.
A woman’s health is critical to the well-being of her family and to the economy of her community and her country. The health of a pregnant woman is even more special because she needs access to essential health services to save her life from death resulting from obstetric complications that cannot be predicted and are difficult to prevent.
The voices of persons whose lives have been lost due to maternal and neonatal deaths, such as Mrs Fuseini, Vaah Jnr and many others that are not known, are criying for immediate action at all levels to address the problem of maternal, neonatal and infant deaths, and the time to act is now.

Best wishes to our mothers and children

2010-02-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The common theme running through the messages of all those who have the interest of Ghanaian women and children at heart during this festive season, and the years ahead is the desire to see the end of problems militating against the development of women and children.
A gender activist and a columnist of the Daily Graphic, Nana Oye Luther, wrote in her column in the Tuesday, December 22 issue that her Christmas wish for women in Ghana “is for the better economically endowed Ghanaian woman to reach out of her comfort zone and give a Christmas present to a rural disadvantaged woman. Give her a package to help educate her children”.
The report of the Parliamentary Committee on Gender and Children on the 2010 annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), presented to Parliament recently by the Chairman of the committee, Mr Sampson Ahi, urged the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) to re-prioritise its activities in order to provide skills training for women’s groups under the ministry’s budget allocation for 2010.
The committee stated that in reviewing the performance of MOWAC in 2009, it realised that no skills training and economic support was provided for women’s groups, adding that providing skills training and economic support for women’s groups was a means of empowering women financially and thereby accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.
In her Christmas message, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, called on the citizenry to reflect on the various problems militating against the development of women and children in Ghana, such as parental irresponsibility, child neglect, child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence and rape, among others.
She said in spite of the many interventions put in place by the government to make education accessible to all, such as the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and the provision of free uniforms and exercise books to pupils in all public basic schools, some irresponsible parents failed to enrol their children in school, adding “ these children end up on the streets with some growing to become social miscreants engaging in armed robbery, drug abuse and prostitution, among others”.
“Women and children face rape and physical abuse daily. These experiences lead to psychological trauma, depression, the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including HIV and AIDS, physical disabilities and sometimes, even death”, the minister lamented.
She, therefore urged all to use the Yuletide to reflect on the problems and also work out ways in which all Ghanaians could assist to end “these social cankers”.
She said it was the responsibility of every Ghanaian to report perpetrators of rape and other abuse on women and children to the police and security agencies, stressing that “parents should take the education, welfare and protection of their children seriously to ensure that they grow up to become responsible adults”.
Ms Dansua indicated that the government for its part would continue to put in place the necessary interventions to address women and children’s issues and ensure that women and children in the society would be able to develop their full potential without any social, cultural or economic impediments and also offer maximum protection to enable them to grow up to become productive citizens.
“As we celebrate Christmas and also prepare for the New Year, I wish, on behalf of the ministry and on my own behalf, to extend our gratitude and best wishes to all Ghanaians, especially our stakeholders, who have supported us this year to advance the cause of women and children in Ghana” she said.
A message from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service urged parents and guardians to remain committed to the upbringing of their children.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Freeman Tettey, said Christmas was a period of showing love, understanding and giving, and advised parents who had neglected their parental responsibilities to honour their duties to God and humanity and ensure that their children were provided with food, clothing and shelter, the basic necessities of life.
He said records of cases received by DOVVSU indicated that child non-maintenance was on the ascendancy and pointed out that the issue had a correlation with the crime rate, since children who were neglected and left on the streets tended to engage in all kinds of anti-social vices.
According to him, child non-maintenance cases constituted 458 out of the total of 12,456 cases reported to the unit between January and December this year, and described the situation as a serious threat to the foundation of society.
Mr Tettey, therefore advised parents to be very responsible and also remain vigilant during the festive period so that their children would not fall victim to perpetrators of rape, defilement and other violent crimes against women and children.
He appealed to the public to co-operate with the police to fight violence against women and children by reporting people who commit such crime to the police.

Darlings Foundation expands programmes

2010-02-09T09:13:00.001-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
SINCE its establishment in 1998, the Darlings Human Development Foundation (DHDF), a charitable non-governmental organisation, has worked consistently to render quality service to women and children in need, the marginalised and the vulnerable groups in society.
The organisation is dedicated to helping women, children and beneficiary communities to reach their full potential by empowering rural women to develop themselves and to improve their financial position through micro-economic ventures, farming, vocational training, among others.
The programmes of the organisation, which operates in 24 communities in the Agona East District of the Central Region, are geared towards reducing family burden, cutting down on rural-urban drift, child delinquency and teenage pregnancy, and to also sensitise rural dwellers to the importance of education, especially for the girl-child.
The DHDF also aims at providing access to quality education and vocational training in the rural communities and organising educational programmes on sexual reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS and enhancing good parenting.
The organisation’s annual report for 2009 indicates that the DHDF believes that by such strategies, the inequalities between the urban and the rural dwellers could be bridged.
The report also indicates that the DHDF has developed in-depth understanding of how to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and, therefore, works with communities to help them find their own solutions, come up with sustainable ways to make a living and take part in changing balance of power, which is often tipped against them.
Since the construction of the multi-purpose Akokoasa District Assembly Primary School, the organisation had been providing educational support, such as allowances for teachers, uniforms for needy pupils, textbooks and sporting kits.
To improve academic standard of the pupils and to attract and retain teachers, the organisation purchased a set of generator for the school to be used in the night for both academic and domestic purposes.
The organisation has also set up a vocational centre at Amanfro No.11 and provides staff of the centre with allowances, educational materials, daily lunch for students and scholarship packages to orphans and the needy.
Through interventions of the organisation, 78 widows have been supported with clothing, cash and other relief items, while the DHDF support services to homes and orphanages have benefited the Osu Children’s Home, Village of Hope, and Christ Foster Home.
The report said in the ensuing year, the organisation hopes to put up a three-unit classroom and a KG/Nursery block for children at Otabilkwaa in the Agona East District of the Central Region, raise funds to provide bursaries for about 20 needy girls in the Darlings Vocational Training Centre and construct the first phase of the Darlings Villa in the Yilo Krobo District.
The report expressed the organisation’s appreciation to all those who supported its operations, and appealed to philanthropic individuals, organisations and corporate bodies for further assistance.

Challenging Heights faces death threats

2010-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
THE Executive Director of Challenging Heights, Mr James Kofi Annan, has stated that members of the child-related non-governmental organisation in Winneba and related organisations have been receiving death threats from some people for working on child trafficking cases in the area.
He said that began after his organisation, with support from the West Africa Regional Co-ordinator of Free the Slaves, Mr Emmanuel Otoo, and other organisations co-operated with the police to arrest child traffickers in the Winneba area following community sensitisation programmes organised on child trafficking.
Their efforts led to the arrest, trial and conviction of a woman who trafficked two children from the Central Region to Yeji for fishing on the Volta Lake.
The woman, Comfort Sam, alias Simpa Aba, was sentenced to three years in prison by an Agona Swedru Circuit Court presided over by Justice N.K.E. Osam, on January 8, 2010, after she had been found guilty on three counts of conspiracy, human trafficking and the use of trafficked persons.
Comfort's husband, Kofi Sammy, who is alleged to be part of a network engaged in child trafficking, is also facing trial and will appear before the court on Thursday, January 21. He is currently being held in police custody.
Also accused is the mother of the two boys, Efua Grace, who is currently on police bail.
According to the police, the victims, who are brothers, were both sold for GH¢115 by their mother three years ago when they were six and eight.
Mr Annan described the threats on their lives as serious and indicated that the matter had been reported to the relevant security agencies for further action.
He said human trafficking was a gross abuse of fundamental human rights and criminal offence under the Children's Act 1998, Act 560, adding that Ghana prohibited all forms of trafficking through its 2005 Human Trafficking Act which prescribes a minimum penalty of five years imprisonment for all forms of trafficking.
Throwing more light on the case, Mr Annan said with information from community members, the organisation initiated efforts to search and rescue the children in August 2009.
He said the rescue team met with the traffickers three times at Makango on the Yeji side of the Volta Lake and warned them and other fishermen also holding children in slavery to return them to their parents and never to use children any longer because it was illegal.
He said efforts by the rescue team to have the children released proved futile and the case was subsequently reported to the Winneba Police, who assisted Challenging Heights in contacting the Yeji Police for further assistance.
Mr Annan said child trafficking persisted in Ghana, despite the Human Trafficking Act passed by Parliament five years ago, and recalled that in July last year a court in Accra sentenced three Chinese to 41 years in imprisonment for human trafficking.
He said his organisation would not relent in its efforts to support the security agencies to curb the menace of child trafficking and asked members of communities to assist in dealing with the problem.
He said the police had assured it of full protection and warned the public that threats against individuals were very serious offences punishable by law, adding that the relevant units within the police had expressed their commitment to the fullest use of the law to protect human rights activists.

Increase in sexual assault is worrying

2010-02-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The shocking account of the ordeal of a 10-year-old class five pupil who was allegedly defiled by a man at Achimota who escaped after the act, was horrifying. The girl bled profusely and defecated on the floor as a result of the sexual assault on her.
The victim (name withheld), narrated her ordeal, during the Metro TV evening news on Monday January 25, speaking fluent English and vividly explaining what happened to her on the day in question.
She said she was sent to buy something and on her way back home, she met the suspect who said he was looking for somebody.
The innocent girl told him that she did not know the person in question but advised the man to get in touch with her parents who may be of help to him.
The stranger walked together with the girl for a while and on their way, he branched to a nearby house where nobody was around and called the girl to come and look at something.
When the girl got there, he drew a knife and told her that he was going to rape her and warned her that he would kill her if she resisted. He, therefore, covered the innocent girl’s mouth, tied her hands and pinned her down and defiled her.
A content analysis of some newspapers show an increasing spate of reported cases of defilement in parts of the country. No day goes by in this country without any defilement or rape case either being reported in the media, at the law courts or police service.
Statistics from the Greater Accra office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that sexual offence cases recorded by the unit in the region, increased from 4,904 in 2008 to 5,709 last year.
The breakdown is 552 cases of defilement, 161 cases of rape, 59 cases of indecent assault and 15 cases of incest recorded in 2008. In 2009, the unit recorded 492 cases of defilement, 170 cases of rape, 64 cases of indecent assault and 14 cases of incest and most of these offences were committed by strangers, tenants, neighbours and close relations of the victims.
Some of the cases are so pathetic that one wonders whether the future of women to-be, will be worth what is being fought for now. Some of the suspects and perpetrators are above 60 years while some victims are minors less than one year old.
Can one imagine these stories, all published in the Friday January 22 issue of the Ghanaian Times. One story said “a 25-year-old shoemaker has been sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by a Kumasi Circuit Court for raping a porter”, another said “a 20-year-old carpenter at the Sokoban Wood Village has been sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by a Circuit Court in Kumasi for defiling an eight-year-old girl”.
Another story stated that “three persons, an adult and two juveniles, who allegedly gang-raped a 14-year-old girl, were on Tuesday put before a circuit court in Cape Coast on charges of defilement”, while another said “ the Juaso Circuit Court has remanded a 20-year-old photographer in prison custody for defiling a six-year-old girl”.
The Greater Accra Regional Public Relations Officer of DOVVSU, Chief Inspector Irene Oppong, defines defilement as the act of having sexual intercourse with a child below the age of 16.
Many are the children who are defiled each day but do not have the courage to disclose their plight. Majority of such victims are children who live in compound houses and newly created suburbs or vicinities, where only few people have put up buildings.
Other groups of victims are children who seem to have no parental or guardian control. Most men who abuse these minors sexually have often been successful in deceiving their victims with threats of death, should they disclose to anybody, while others give their victims confectioneries or meagre sums to prevent them from disclosing their ordeal to anybody.
These acts leave the victims with serious physical injuries, disabilities, emotional and mental problems and sometimes lead to death.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) adopted 20 years ago and Ghana’s Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560) stresses that the dignity and rights of every child are to be respected in every circumstance. The Act has served as a working tool for Ghana and has been translated into six major local languages.
So many of the cases are tried in courts and the culprits convicted when they are found guilty but the increasing spate of reported cases of rape and defilement, is outrageous and there is still more to be done to deal with the situation.
A Ghana News Agency health news on May 5, 2009 said Dr Peter Baffoe, a gynaecologist at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, has expressed concern at the spate of rape and defilement cases in the country and said if pragmatic measures were not taken to deal with the problem immediately it would become worse.
The doctor explained that there were several and serious health implications for victims of rape and defilement. He mentioned HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases that could be transmitted to the victims of rape and noted that some girls who were raped or defiled sometimes refused to take male partners for marriage due to the trauma they underwent as victims in their earlier life.
The doctor said rape and defilement in some instances could lead to infertility in women and called for the enforcement of the law to deal drastically with anybody who indulged in rape, to serve as a deterrent. He indicated that there were a lot of instances where rape and defilement cases were not given serious attention by the courts and said this often discouraged people from reporting their cases to the police.
Chief Inspector Oppong called for maximum co-operation, in terms of reporting, between the public and the police. She said most sexual offences need witnesses and it is difficult for justice to be done when there are no witnesses.
The PRO, who gave some security tips to parents, children and the general public, advised girls and women not to walk alone in the night or even during the day in secluded areas, not to follow people to secluded area or attend to strangers.
She also advised them not to accept gifts from men, desist from watching television in people’s rooms and avoid sitting on the beds of people they visit and also wear tight trousers when going out.
She said parents should also give their daughters security tips constantly and ensure that an elderly person always accompanies drivers who pick their children from school and also avoid leaving their daughters in the care of houseboys, male friends, neighbours and associates.
She said family members, family heads or clans of victims of sexual assault should consider the hazards the victims were likely to undergo in the future and desist from settling such cases out of court.
Much as the police and the courts are expected to see to speedily facilitate the processes in dealing with rape and defilement cases, parents also need to take proper care of their children, refrain from sending their children during odd times and report defilement and rape cases to the Unit.
The problem needs the support of all to battle it out though it is expected demands must be put on the police to deliver to expectation, it is also expected that parents and guardians, the media and the general public as a whole must play their role in the process.

Zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

2010-02-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Today is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. The occasion is a UN-sponsored awareness day that takes place on February 6 each year, as part of efforts to make the world aware of female genital cutting and to promote its eradication.
The late Mrs Stella Obasanjo, the then First Lady of Nigeria, made the official declaration on "Zero Tolerance for FGM" in Africa during a conference organised by the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) on February 6, 2003. Then the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights adopted this day as an international awareness day.
The term "female genital mutilation" (also called "female genital cutting" and "female genital mutilation/cutting") refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons. Female genital mutilation has no known health benefits. On the contrary, it is known to be harmful to girls and women in many ways.
An estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women world-wide have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and more than three million girls are at risk of being cutting each year on the African continent alone.
Sources from the Population Reference Bureau on the prevalence of FGM/C among younger and older women indicate that in Somalia 99 per cent of women aged 35-39 and 97 per cent of women aged from 15-19, have gone through the practice, in Gambia, 80 per cent of women aged 35-39 and 88 per cent of women aged 15-19 have gone through the practice, while in Kenya 40 per cent of women aged between 35-39 and 20 per cent of women aged from 15-19 have gone through the practice. In Ghana, as of 2006 3.8 per cent of women aged from 15-49, 1.4 per cent aged 15-19 and 5.7 per cent aged 35-39, have gone through FGM/C.
FGM or cutting is practised in at least 28 countries in Africa and a few others in Asia and the Middle East. Among the countries where the practice is most prevalent is Guinea , where FGM/C has been inflicted on 99 per cent of women there. There are also reports from Europe, North America and Australia, indicating that the practice takes place among immigrant communities.
It is generally performed on girls between ages four and 12, although it is practised in some cultures as early as a few days after birth or as late as just prior to marriage. Typically, traditional excisors have carried out the procedure, but recently a discouraging trend has emerged in some countries where medical professionals are increasingly performing the procedure.
FGM or cutting of the female genitalia is practised at all educational levels and in all social classes and occurs among many religious groups, although no religion mandates it. Prevalence rates vary significantly from country to country (from nearly 98 per cent in Somalia to less than 1 per cent in Uganda).
Since the early 1990s, FGM/C has gained recognition as a health and human rights issue among African governments, the international community, women’s organisations, and professional associations. Global and national efforts to end FGM/C have supported legislation targeting excisors, medical professionals, and families who perpetuate the practice, but political will and implementation remain an issue.
The practice poses serious physical and mental health risks for women and young girls, especially for women who have undergone extreme forms of the procedure.
Forced excision inflicts pain and trauma – which is far worse when there is no anaesthesia. Lack of blade sterilisation can cause exposure to HIV/AIDS or long-term health complications.
According to a 2006 World Health Organisation (WHO) study, FGM/C can be linked to increased complications in childbirth and even maternal deaths. Other side effects include severe pain, haemorrhage, tetanus, infection, infertility, cysts and abscesses, urinary incontinence, and psychological and sexual problems.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working closely with its partners around the world in the campaign for the abandonment of FGM/C everywhere within a generation. The organisation does this by raising awareness and enhancing capacities at various levels of society and in the government.
UNICEF’s approach recognises that all children are entitled to protection – as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF draws attention to the duties of governments, families, communities and individuals to respect those rights and supports them in doing so. In addition, children and adolescents themselves can play an active role in their own protection and as advocates for the protection of others.
The organisation identifies eight key aspects of a proactive environment against the practice, namely: Attitudes, traditions, customs, behaviour and practices, governmental commitment to fulfil and protect girls’’ rights, open discussion and engagement with child protection issues, protective legislation and enforcement, the capacity to protect and develop children’s life skills, knowledge and participation, monitoring and reporting of child protection issues, and services for recovery and reintegration.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa explicitly recognize that practices harmful to women such as FGM are violations of human rights.
Many governments in Africa and elsewhere have taken steps to eliminate the practice of FGM in their countries. These steps include laws criminalizing FGM, education and outreach programs, and the use of civil remedies and administrative regulations to prevent the practice. Eighteen countries— Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Togo—have enacted laws criminalizing FGM. The penalties range from a minimum of three months to a maximum of life in prison. Several countries also impose monetary fines.
In Ghana, actions towards ending FGM are in accordance with Article 5 of the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and on the Rights of Women in Africa. In this vein, some women were arrested and prosecuted at the law courts for violating a ban against the traditional practice of cutting the genitals of young girls, which had been described as an ''outmoded custom.''
FGM is a violation of the rights of women and girls and the medical, social, psycho-sexual and economic consequences of the practice should make all to resolve not to allow it to continue under the guise of tradition or religion.
The WHO is committed to the elimination of female genital mutilation within a generation and is focussing on advocacy, research and guidance for health professionals and health systems. This is a call to all states, international and national organisations, civil society and communities to uphold the rights of girls and women.
It also calls on those bodies and communities to develop, strengthen and support specific and concrete actions directed towards ending female genital mutilation. Without any one of these elements, children are more vulnerable to abuse, violence, discrimination and violation of their rights.

Report ranks Ghana fairly child friendly

2009-12-15T03:44:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
THE 2008 African Report of Child Well-being, has rated Ghana 29th in terms of the country’s efforts to improve child well-being.
Prepared by The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), an independent, Pan- African policy and advocacy centre based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the report reviews and compares the performance of 52 African governments using a common set of indicators and an innovative Child-friendliness Index developed by ACPF.
The report that scores and ranks the performance of African governments in terms of their efforts to improve child well-being, is prepared every two years and the current one was launched on 20 November 2008 in Nairobi and Amsterdam. The report was made possible through the financial support of International Child Support (ICS) and Plan International.
Ghana is among countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Gabon, Mozambique, Togo, Zambia, Mauritania, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger that were categorised as fairly Child Friendly Countries.
The most Child Friendly Countries include Mauritius, Namibia, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria and Cape Verde.
According to the report, a child-friendly government is “one that is making the maximum effort to meet its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil child rights and ensure child well-being.”
Dr Assefa Bequele, Executive Director of ACPF, in a statement said African Governments had an impressive record in their formal accession to the relevant child-focused international treaties. But the extent of their commitment to children’s issues varies widely, and the gap between promises and reality remains wide in many countries.
Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former Foreign Minister of Tanzania and a three-term former Secretary General of Organisation of African Union (OAU) now African Union, in a statement said “we are convinced that the report is a significant contribution to public policy. It is an African report on African children by an African organisation”. In another statement, Professor Jaap Doek, former Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, adds that “This is a meticulously researched and evidence - based report, and the first of its kind on the subject in the region.”
A statement issued by Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, a Ghanaian child’s rights organisation, said the extent to which government respected children and protected them from harm and abuse, and provided them with opportunities for a healthy and productive life had an impact both on the future of the children concerned and the future of the country.
It added that a healthy, well-fed and educated child population was necessary to build a foundation for productive and knowledge-based economy that could make the people participate effectively in today’s globalised world.
“Similarly, the way we raise and treat our children at home and at school is critical for what they will be as adults and citizens. A child growing up in an environment where he sees his mother being beaten by the father, where girls are discriminated against and excluded, where differing views and opinions are not tolerated, and where choices are not negotiated contribute to chaos and democratic disorder” it said.
The statement made reference to the fact that Ghana was the first country in the world to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and urged the government to lay down the appropriate legal and policy frameworks that must be reflected in the laws, policies on government’s commitment to child protection
It said the most Child Friendly countries earned that rating because they put in place appropriate legal provisions to protect children against abuse and exploitation; they also allocated a relatively higher share of their budgets to provide for the basic needs of children and their resources were effectively used and the results reflected in the children themselves.

MOWAC advised to reprioritise its activities - To provide skills training

2009-12-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
THE Parliamentary Committee on Gender and Children has advised the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) to reprioritise its activities in order to provide skills training for women’s groups under the ministry’s budget allocation for 2010.
The committee stated that in reviewing the performance of MOWAC in 2009, it realised that no skills training and economic support was provided for women’s groups, adding, “The committee considers this situation as unfortunate, since other activities of the ministry were undertaken to the detriment of the economic empowerment of women groups.”
This was contained in the committee’s report on the 2010 annual budget estimates of the MOWAC that was presented to Parliament on Friday by the Chairman of the committee, Mr Sampson Ahi.
It said providing skills training and economic support for women’s groups was a means of empowering women financially and thereby accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.
The committee appealed to the government to adequately resource MOWAC to enable it to deliver on its mandate. It also urged the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning not to relent in its efforts at ensuring that promises made in the budget statement were fulfilled.
It indicated that in view of government’s commitment to the empowerment of women, particularly the vulnerable, the rural and urban poor, as well as facilitating the survival, protection and development of the Ghanaian child, MOWAC’s budgetary allocation, compared to the national budget, had been below 1.0 per cent over the years.
It stated that for 2010, the budgetary requirement of MOWAC was GH¢5,344,336 but that amount had been slashed to GH¢4,139,59.
It indicated that the concept of gender was cross-cutting and inextricably linked to development, adding that if Ghana was to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the government must demonstrate its commitment towards gender equality, the promise of empowering women, as well as the protection and development of children by allocating resources to MOWAC in future budget estimates.
The committee noted with concern the over reliance on donor funds for the programmes and activities of MOWAC and indicated, for instance, that in 2008, MOWAC was to benefit from donor funds to the tune of GH¢570,479.
It said the ministry’s projection for 2009 was GH¢6,768,571, out of which only GH¢1,752,092.94 had been released to MOWAC as of November ending.
It said in 2010, donor funds allocated to MOWAC was GH¢4,371,404, noting that although that amount had been slashed compared to the approved amount for 2009, it represented 53.62 per cent of the total budgetary allocation made to the ministry.
The committee noted that the situation was not a healthy development, since any delays or problems encountered in accessing those funds would disrupt the service and investment programmes of the ministry, thereby impacting negatively on its performance.
It also touched on the need to provide an office space for MOWAC and its departments and urged the sector minister to ensure that the construction of an office complex to accommodate the staff and the secretariats of the ministry commenced in 2010, since MOWAC had land demarcated for an office complex.
The report also touched on the outlook of the ministry for 2010 and said MOWAC would continue to collaborate with stakeholders, organisations and development partners to collectively address women’s reproductive health, infant and maternal mortality, child trafficking, child labour, streetism, irregular migration and other issues of national concern to women and children.
The ministry would also review the National Gender and Children’s Policy and ensure the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) policy document was engendered to cater for the needs of women and children in the project areas and particularly to halt the irregular migration of young women and other youth from the northern to the southern parts of the country.

Stand up to violence against women

2009-12-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
ON December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly, by Resolution 54/134, designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and invited governments, international organisations and NGOs to organise activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on that day.
Before that, women's activists had, since 1981, marked November 25 as a day against violence. November 25, 1960 marked the brutal assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on the orders of the Dominican ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
According to Article 1 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life
The Executive Director of The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ms Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, in a message to mark the day, called on all to take a stand and say loud and clear, ‘No to violence against women’.
She indicated that every day, women and girls were subjected to domestic violence, exploitation, sexual violence, trafficking, harmful traditional practices such as bride burning and early marriages and other forms of violence against their bodies, minds and human dignity.
“As many as one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way,” she said, and called on the global community to come together to demand an end to the most pervasive, yet least reported, human rights abuse in the world in the 16 days leading up to Human Rights Day and every day.
She welcomed the leadership example exhibited by what she termed “a new network of men leaders, led by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as part of the United Nations UNite Campaign to end violence against girls and women” and lauded the commitment to actively engage men and boys in the cause to end impunity, promote justice and human rights and end widespread violence against girls and women.
She said whether they were policy makers, community or religious leaders, fathers or husbands, uncles, brothers or young boys, they could all do their part to eliminate all forms of violence against women.
The Executive Director also welcomed the recent Security Council resolutions 1888 and 1889 that strengthened accountability to women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, adding that by condemning sexual violence, calling for a stronger role for women in peace building and mandating peacekeeping missions to protect women and girls, the resolutions signalled a political commitment to address sexual violence as a peace and security issue.
In a statement to mark the day read on the floor of Ghana’s Parliament, the MP for Savelugu and Chairperson of the Women Caucus in Parliament, Madam Mary Salifu Boforo, said in most cases, violence against women went unreported because majority of the victims were afraid to lose their marital status, while some were ignorant of their rights.
She noted that some harmful attitudes against women were reinforced by certain religious and other community leaders who exhorted women to stand by their husbands in all circumstances, while at the same time failing to take a clear stand against wife battery and marital rape.
A number of challenges and negative practices continue to affect the development of women in Africa and other parts of the world. Problems impeding their ability to expand their capabilities, how to attain their full freedom and dignity and how to promote and sustain empowerment programmes are some of the inequalities confronting African women in their daily lives.
In a report on violence against women in Ghana, the UN Division for the Advancement of Women indicated that widowhood rites included confining the widow to a room, shaving her head, having her wear a rope around her neck and making her go through a ritual bath.
In some African countries, women still lack access to economic rights and land ownership, ability to influence reproductive and family development such as who to marry, how many children to have and their spacing.
The Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organisations and individuals advocating for gender equity, which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008, has established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevails in Africa, while increasing efforts are being made to address them.
All segments of society must, therefore, unite for the dignity and well-being of women and girls, for now is the time to build a society based on respect for fundamental human rights and the equal rights of men and women.

Be part of the ‘Know Your HIV Status Campaign’

2009-12-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Comments and reactions by some people to issues relating to HIV and AIDS tend to show that they have rather become fatigued with stories on the global pandemic. There are times when people feel reports on the pandemic have become sterile.
To such people, the same story relating to education on the prevention of HIV and AIDS that highlights basic information about the A, B and C (Abstinence, Be faithful and use a Condom) of HIV and AIDS has been told over and over again.
Contrary to that perception, interactions by a group of journalists with persons living with HIV (PLHIV) during a three-day writing clinic organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Koforidua recently showed that a lot more stories needed to be heard on the epidemic in the country.
The story was told of a young woman who met a would-be partner who had travelled from Europe into the country to get married to her.
The would-be couple took a bold decision and decided to check their HIV status. Before they could go to collect the results of the test, they engaged in unprotected sex and the results proved that the man was positive, while the woman was negative.
Since she had been exposed to the virus through unprotected sex, the woman immediately made her problem known to doctors who put her on anti-retroviral therapy for one month.
Subsequent tests on the woman showed that she had not been infected with the virus.
She was lucky.
There was the pathetic story of another woman whose marriage broke up and after staying single for some years, met a man who married her.
She and her new husband did not go for HIV anti-body test to know their status and three years after their marriage, the man died, while their one-year-old baby fell seriously ill.
Tests conducted on the child showed that she had been infected with HIV. Based on the results, the woman also went for the test and the results proved positive.
One women also described the trauma she went through as a result of stigmatisation by members of her community and close family members. She said because of her HIV positive status that became known to the people following the death of her husband, no hairdresser is prepared to do her hair, as a result of which she wears a wig.
These stories narrated by the PLHIV, provided a compelling description of the context of HIV transmission in Ghana, the extent of fear, misconception, myths and stigmatisation against persons infected and affected with the virus.
These pose a great challenge to the national response to HIV and AIDS with reference to counselling and testing services. These challenges also create gaps in the attainment of universal access target, which is defined as being as close as possible to providing sustainable and quality HIV services that will lead to prevention, as well as offering counselling and support and access to care for all in need by 2010.
In spite of the fact that the annual rate of infection had reduced from 3.6 per cent in 2003 to 1.7 per cent in 2008, HIV is still a problem in Ghana, considering the fact that currently there are an estimated 240,802 HIV positive cases in Ghana, as against 236,151 in 2008.
Majority of the infections in the country, nearly 90 per cent, are within the age group of 15-49 years, with 58 per cent of infected people being women and girls.
Less than 10 per cent of Ghanaians know their HIV status and the aim of this year’s World AIDS Day, which fell on December 1, is to embark on activities that encourage people to buy into the ‘Know Your HIV Status campaign’ being undertaken nation-wide by the Ministry of Health, while emphasising human rights issues which impact on HIV and AIDS.
Currently, heterosexual sex remains the predominant mode of transmission, accounting for 75-80 per cent of all infections. Mother-to-child transmission and transmission through blood and blood products account for 15 per cent and five per cent, respectively.
Other consequences of the burden of the epidemic can be seen in the number of AIDS orphans and adult deaths in the population. In 2000, it was estimated that AIDS accounted for about 12 per cent of all deaths in Ghana, while about 140,000 children had been orphaned as a result of AIDS.
Except for the screening of donated blood and patients with symptoms suggestive of AIDS, routine testing for HIV and AIDS shall not be carried out and testing shall not be done without the knowledge of the subject.
Stigma and discrimination have greatly affected the response to HIV and AIDS. This is because while only 10 per cent of the global population knew their HIV status, in Ghana, it was eight per cent.
This means that a lot more people do not know their status and are likely to be living with the virus but will not know they have it, while a number of those who know their status and are in need of anti-retroviral treatment have refused to go for treatment because of the fear of stigmatisation and discrimination.
Records indicate that about 70,000 people infected with the virus need ARV, but because the knowledge gap is depreciating, resulting in stigmatisation and discrimination and consequent misinformation on transmission and misconception that tend to relate the spread of the virus to superstition, promiscuity and other factors, such people resort to spiritualists for support, while others take herbal concoctions that worsen their conditions.
One important submission made by the Director of Technical Services of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Dr Richard Amenyah, in his presentation and subsequent explanation to issues, was quite revealing and convincing.
He said there was the need for every individual to know his or her HIV status and keep it. This means that people who are now entering marital relationships will know the status of their would-be partners, while those in casual relationships and do not know the status of their partners will make efforts to check their status and practise safe sex.
People who also participate in social activities and strike new acquaintances that could make them engage in unprotected sex need to be wary of the epidemic and appreciate the fact that such behaviour puts them at risk of contracting the virus.
Ghana’s goal is to prevent new HIV infections, as well as mitigate the socio-economic and psychological effects of HIV and AIDS on individuals, communities and the nation. The first national strategic plan focused on five themes: Prevention of new infections; care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS; the creation of an enabling environment for a national response; decentralisation of implementation of HIV and AIDS activities through institutional arrangements; research and monitoring and evaluation of programmes.
The second national strategic plan, currently in process, focuses on: Policy, advocacy and enabling environment; co-ordination and management of the decentralised response; mitigating the economic, socio-cultural and legal impacts; prevention and behaviour change communication; treatment, care and support; research and surveillance and monitoring and evaluation.
This require increased resources, working towards the elimination of stigmatisation, enhanced access to affordable medicines, a reduction in vulnerability of persons affected by HIV and AIDS, particularly orphans, children infected with the virus and the aged.
There is the need to deal with low risk perception, especially among the youth, due to misconception and lack of adequate in-depth knowledge about HIV through the dissemination of information to reduce high risk behaviour and personal risk exposures, stigma reduction, increasing ART therapy to help PLHIVs manage the disease and prolong their life span.
There is the need to utilise HIV prevention services and promote safer sexual practices in the general population, especially among young men and women aged 15-49.

‘EWEC summit provides good experience’

2009-11-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Participants at this year’s two-day summit organised by the Eagle Women’s Empowerment Club (EWEC) in Accra had a good and fulfilling experience, as well as a leaning and impacting process that will lead to a greater commitment to help empower African women.
Some of the participants had varied expectations and hoped to be enlightened on the opportunities available to them to give them easy access to loans that would enable them to expand , set up new businesses or climb the corporate ladder.
Others expected to be exposed to innovative ways of doing businesses to enable them to venture into more challenging areas, while some participants also expected to share ideas on business policies that impact positively on their companies and improve their lives.
The Principal of New Business Division of the Ghana Export Promotions Council (GIPC), Mr Isaac Okine, offered a lot of information for the participants in this respect and encouraged them to invest in such areas as power and gas, agriculture, the financial services, tourism, information technology, manufacturing and industries.
He allayed the fears of the women and told them that unlike the negative perception that people, especially women, had about doing business in the country, there were flexible conditions such as tax rebates which included a corporate tax rebate of eight per cent on export income for non-traditional exports; 22 per cent for hotels and 25 per cent for all other activities.
The summit was organised under the auspices of Eagle Productions Limited in collaboration with Africa Business Women’s Network (ABWN), in Accra. It was held on the theme "Synchronising Global Business- A New Orientation for The African Woman".
It brought together women entrepreneurs from Ghana and other West African countries who shared ideas on issues relating to high interest rates and other economic barriers that prevented small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) from flourishing.
Ms Josephine Hayford of Hay Looks Unisex Fashion With Pride deals in embroidery, Buobuo, Agbada, Kalftan, Kente and Asokey, was among a number of exhibitors at the summit.
She said with her natural “Beauty by Design Concept”, she won the Best Young Entrepreneur of the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs between 1997 to 2003, adding that her sense of style, which is key to her continuing strides and achievements in the sector, made her the best producer of elegant, gorgeous and stunning African wears for all ages, women, men and children.
Ms Jennifer Nwachukwu of Designer’s Choice, whose organisation, located on the Spintex Road in Accra, designs hats, beads and headgear and markets lace materials, shoes, bags and perfumes, expressed optimism that the summit would open new doors for the organisation.
A fashion designer, Ms Doris Owusu Ampomah of Leorus Collection, who markets formal, evening and bridal wear, as well as embroidery designs and interior decorations, spoke about the role of small-scale enterprises in national development , said they needed financial support to expand their businesses.
The President of EWEC, Ms Juliet Asante, said there was the need to encourage women to build their skills and develop their potential in support of the nation’s growth and advancement since they constituted more than half of the nation’s population.

Women’s involvement in ‘galamsey’ - Causes and effects

2009-11-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
It would be difficult to find words to console the grief-stricken families of the victims of the mining tragedy that hit Dompuase, near Wassa Akropong, in the Western Region.The accident, described as one of the biggest mining tragedies in the country, claimed 18 lives, including that of 14 women, who were buried alive when a landslide struck while they were working in a mining pit last Tuesday.
The deceased were said to be part of a team of about 30 people working in the pit. The accident left one survivor who is also a woman.
While sympathsing with the bereaved families and extending our condolences to them, it is equally important to continue to talk about the accident to collate views from the public on how to resolve the problem and to impress on those in authority to make mining laws effective.
A statement made on the tragedy by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi East, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, in whose constituency the accident occured, indicated that the women went into the mining pit to carry gold-bearing limestone as a means of livelihood.
According to the MP, almost all the deceased women were single parents who were catering for between two to five children.
It also said two of the women were breastfeeding mothers who always carried their babies strapped to their backs as they worked in the pit but the babies were saved on that fateful day as their mothers decided to leave them in the care of others.
The tragedy brought to the fore the need for state institutions to monitor and control the work of artisanal miners and force them to comply with safety measures.
It also showed the anxiety and determination of rural poor women to make ends meet, though through the most hazardous way.
‘Galamsey’, which is the corrupt version of the phrase, “gather and sell”, is a form of small-scale mining that takes place without official approval. It is carried out openly and often the operators get into confrontation with the law agencies and do not care where the precious mineral must be gathered and sold.
According to Mr Aidoo, the business has one of the largest following in the country in terms of work force and ancillary activities, and those engaged in the bisuness often encroach on the mining concessions.
He said there were over 5,000 people directly involved in the business in the Amenfi East Constituency, while there was an estimated 20,000 people involved in the business in Prestea, with a number of people also in Tarkwa Nsauem, Telekubukazo, Mpohor, Sefwi Juaboso, Bibiani, Obuasi, Konongo, Wa, Bole and wherever gold is.
A survivor in the Dompuase accident was reported to have stated that the pit owner contracted six men and 24 women who entered the pit for the day’s galamsey business and those engaged in the operation did so with simple implements such as shovels, pans, bamboo sticks and even their bare hands, in some cases.
The menial and risky jobs that involve stone digging, crashing, grinding, washing and carrying, mostly invloved children aged between eight and 17 years, who are recruited into galamsey operations, instead of being in school or under some apprenticeship for skills and trade.
As the Dompuase galamsey tragedy was discussed in the media, contributors to the discussions tried to assign reasons for the circumstances that compel women in their prime age and children to desperately dare to engage in such a deadly venture. Some said it was out of desperation for job, hence the need for the government to promote and co-ordinate policies that will enhance the well-being of women and children. Others also attributed the issue to parental neglect and irresponsibility on the part of fathers.
Clearly, the phenomenon of galamsey is a multi-faceted issue that requires a multi-sectoral attention and these concerns seem to have been addressed by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, when he delivered the government's Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2010 Fiscal Year that was presented to Parliament on Wednesday.
The minister outlined measures aimed at achieving the government’s objective of promoting women empowerment through the delivery of social programmes targeted at poverty reduction, and indicated that GH¢ 103.8 million is to be allocated to reduce poverty in the country.
He said the amount, which is the government’s projection of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) spending for 2010, is to help improve on the financial ability of the poor in the country, most of whom are women and children.
The minister contended that the initiative and other poverty relief initiatives formed part of the government’s policies to protect especially, the vulnerable, rural and urban poor, as well as facilitate the survival, protection and development of the Ghanaian child.
He mentioned other initiatives as the Livelihood Empowerment Programme (LEAP) which he said was going to be allocated with GH¢12 million, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority programme which will be allocated with GH¢25 million, rural electrification, GH¢30 million and the National Youth Employment Programme, which will benefit from a GH¢15 million package.
To sum up the words of Mr Aidoo, looking for gold or diamonds should not become the only preoccupation of the youth and as he suggested, the enabling conditions should be created to present new but equally lucrative opportunities for the youth and unemployed women.
After announcing these poverty alleviation initives, the next step is to ensure that these initiatives do not remain on paper but effectively implemented to benefit the people.
Furthermore, the call by Mr Aidoo for the strengthening of the country’s mining laws to encourage the use of machinery and equipment in the small-scale mining sector is also valid since it was through such a situation that one could make it impracticable for the use of child labour and eliminate all forms of women labour in unprotected mining pits.
It is obvious that the galamsey phenomenon cannot be eliminated but the work of artisanal miners could be monitored and controlled by state institutions.

Childhood mortality rates differ in rural, urban areas - Says 2008 GDHS

2009-10-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) has established that childhood mortality rates in the country differ by residence. According to the survey, the under-five mortality rate for the 10-year period before the survey in urban areas is 75 per 1,000 live births compared to 90 per 1,000 live births in rural areas.
The report however indicated that childhood mortality is decreasing in Ghana. Currently, 50 children per 1,000 live births die before their first birthday. It gave the breakdown as 30 per 1,000 live births, before the age of one month and 21 per 1,000 between one and 12 months.
These figures, according to the survey, showed dramatic decreases over the 20-year period since the 1988 GDHS. The report indicated that under five mortality rate in the country per 1,000 live births was 155 in 1988, which decreased to 119 in 1993, then decreased further to 108 in 1998 and increased to 111 in 2003.
In respect of infant mortality rates, the figures for the country per 1,000 live births during the same period were, 77 in 1988, 66 in 1993, 57 in 1998, 64 in 2003 and 50 in 2008.
Various reasons are attributed to the decrease in infant and under five mortality rates. According to the survey, spacing children, at least 24 months apart, reduces risk of infant death, indicating that, in Ghana, the median birth interval is 40 months. However, about 1 in 7 (14 per cent) infants in Ghana, are born less than two years after a previous birth.
Infants born less than two years after a previous birth have particularly high infant mortality rates (131 deaths per 1,000 live births) compared with 58 for infants born four years after the previous birth).
The GDHS also said almost all Ghanaian women (95 per cent) receive some antenatal care from skilled provider, most commonly from a nurse or midwife (63 per cent) and a doctor (24 per cent), adding that more than three-quarters of women had the recommended four or more antenatal visits, and 55 per cent of women had an antenatal care visit by their fourth month of pregnancy, as recommended.
Accessing antenatal and postnatal care enabled more women to take iron tablets or syrup and intestinal parasite drugs during their last pregnancy before the survey. Women who received antenatal care during their most recent births were informed of the signs of the complications of pregnancy, and were also protected against neonatal tetanus.
The survey indicated that over the past two decades, vaccination coverage had increased from 47 per cent in 1988 to 79 per cent in 2008. It said 79 per cent of Ghanaian children, aged 12 - 23 months, received all recommended vaccines (one dose of BCG and measles and three doses each of DPT and polio) at any time prior to the survey.
The report said during the two weeks before the survey, 1 in 5 Ghanaian children under five had diarrhoea, adding that the rate was highest (33 per cent) among children aged 12 - 23 months, and advised mothers to give children who had diarrhoea more fluids, particularly oral rehydration salts (ORS) since the survey established that the majority of mothers (90 per cent) know about ORS packets.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that children receive nothing but breast milk (exclusive breastfeeding) for the first six months of life. Infants should not be given juices, other milks or complementary foods until six months of age, yet 17 per cent of Ghanaian infants under six months receive complementary foods.
To reduce the risk of malnutrition, the survey recommends that complementary foods should be introduced when a child is six months old, in addition to breastfeeding.
The Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices recommend that children aged between 6 and 8 months should be fed from three or more food groups at least twice a day in addition to breastfeeding, and for children aged between 9 to 23, at least three times a day.
The GDHS, which also included haemoglobin testing for women aged 15 to 49 and children 6-59 months, established that more than three-quarters of children (78 per cent) have some form of anaemia.
It said anaemia among children was higher in rural areas than in urban areas, and decreased as mother’s education and wealth increase, adding that almost 9 in 10 children in the Upper East and Upper West regions are anaemic.
The 2008 GDHS was designed to provide data for monitoring the population and health situation in the country and has brought to the fore information that can guide policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.
The objective of the survey was to provide up-to-date information on fertility, family planning, childhood mortality, nutrition, maternal and child health, domestic violence and related knowledge and behaviour on HIV and AIDS.

How Nkrumah empowered Ghanaian women

2009-09-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE role of women in politics and other public offices is one of the burning governance issues, largely because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance.
A recent study by Dr Beatrix Allah-Mensah of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Women in Politics and Public Life indicated that there was ample evidence to substantiate the indispensable role women played in the prelude to independence and immediately after it.
The study revealed that the role of women was evident in the support they gave to the main political party of the time, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and it is also on record that women traders were keen supporters of the CPP government and also offered financial assistance and supportive services.
Soon after the formation of the CPP in 1949, for instance, some of them, notably Akua Asabea, stood shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts like Kofi Baako and Sacki Scheck as they toured the country and addressed large rallies to spread the message of ‘Independence Now’ for Ghana.
Hanna Cudjoe, for instance, did not only heroically rally the people behind the independent struggle, but also went a step ahead in establishing day care centres and day nurseries.
She worked extensively in the northern Ghana under the direction of Dr Nkrumah, who gave her the task of convincing women in certain parts of northern Ghana to discard some outmoded culture in the area .
During the early period of the struggle in May 1951, the CPP appointed Hanna Cudjoe, Ama Nkrumah, Letitia Quaye and Sophia Doku as propaganda secretaries with the responsibility of organising the CPP Women’s League.
Under the league, the women were divided into subsections at branch and ward levels. They organised rallies, dances and picnics as strategies to mobilise more people for early independence delayed by the colonialists for about a century.
Hanna Cudjoe was the Head of the Ghana Women’s League, and in 1960, the Women’s League and the Ghana Federation of Women, led by Evelyn Amarteifio, were merged to form the National Council of Ghana Women (NCGW) to replace the women’s section of the CPP.
The women’s movement was inaugurated by Dr Nkrumah on September 10, 1960 as the only organisation under which all Ghanaian women were to be organised to help achieve government post-independent political, social, economic and educational development of Ghana. The party leadership, therefore, institutionalised the initiative by making constitutional provisions for women’s league at the branch and ward levels as the main organising framework for women in the party. It was, therefore, not surprising that the party gave credit to women for the internal solidarity, cohesion and success of the CPP.
Mention could also be made of the role of Dr Mrs Letitia Obeng, an educationist, and other women who were nurses, broadcasters, judges and lawyers, who became part and parcel of the independence struggle.
Though not very visible like their male counterparts in the frontline, the female politicians, nonetheless, provided a vanguard force, rallying their families, communities, trade and various interest groups to join the struggle for national independence.
Allah-Mensah’s writing on ‘Women and politics in Ghana, 1993-2003’, cited in a book titled “One Decade of the Liberal State”, and edited by Kwame Boafo-Arthur (2007), states that the action was largely responsible for the development of the women’s wing of the party and also for the youth organisation. She records that women were efficient organisers who could bring thousands of people together for a rally at very short notice.
Indeed, it is noted that the NCGW and other groups were systematically and strategically co-opted into the CPP and given party membership cards as the only valid membership cards.
A paper written by Ms Joyce Rosalind Aryee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, on the “Contributions of Women to Ghana’s Independence and Democratic Governance”, dated March 2007 and quoted in the study by Dr Allah-Mensah, pointed out that Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s political success was based on the foundation set for women by the CPP.
It said in 1949, many benevolent and mutual associations, credit unions and market women’s voluntary groups sprang up and became staunch supporters of Dr Nkrumah and the CPP in general. It said those associations, though were not at the forefront of the independence struggle, were involved in activities which were politically significant.
The contribution of women to the political struggle caught the eyes of the leadership of the CPP and by May 1951, the party had appointed four women, namely Letitia Quaye, Miss Sophia Doku, Hannah Cudjoe and Ama Nkrumah as propaganda secretaries charged with the duty of organising women.
In spite of the role of women in the political struggle, there was no woman in Cabinet when Ghana attained republican status, but the contribution of women to Ghanaian politics after independence, resulting in the introduction of the Representation of the People (Women Members) Bill in 1960. The bill was passed and it received the Governor-general’s assent on June 16, 1960.
Through that act, 10 women were elected unopposed as Members of Parliament (MPs) in June 1960. They were Susana Al-Hassan, Ayanori Bukari and Victoria Nyarko, all representing the Northern Region, Sophia Doku and Mary Koranteng, Eastern Region and Regina Asamany, Volta Region.
The rest were Grace Ayensu and Christiana Wilmot, Western Region, Comfort Asamoah, Ashanti Region, and Lucy Anim, Brong Ahafo. That made Ghana one of the first African countries to introduce a quota system for women.
In 1965, Dr Nkrumah appointed Madam Susan Al-Hassan as the Minister of Social Welfare and Community Development, while others were appointed as district commissioners.
Over the past five decades after Ghana’s independence, the representation of women in local and national level politics, as well as in other areas of decision-making indicate that there was still much more to be done to ensure an effective representation of women in politics and other equally important sectors.

Challenge to enforcement of domestic violence laws

2009-09-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. By accepting the Convention, which was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, member states commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end all forms of discrimination against women.
These states are enjoined by the Convention to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolish all discriminatory laws and adopt appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organisations or enterprises.
They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
The Convention, often described as an international bill of rights for women consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
It defines discrimination against women as "...Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."
Ghana ratified CEDAW in 1986, and currently, 185 countries, constituting over ninety per cent of the members of the United Nations are party to the Convention. The latest country to append its signature is San Marino, on September 26, 2003, while Cook Islands assented the treaty on August 11, 2006.
The United States of America (USA) is among eight countries yet to ratify CEDAW, alongside Sudan, Somalia, Qatar, Iran, Nauru, Palau and Tonga.
States that have ratified the Convention are obligated to create laws that protect women on an equal basis with men, and to modify or abolish existing laws or customs that discriminate against women.
CEDAW is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women, and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. State parties also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and their exploitation.
The Convention provides the basis for realising equality between women and men by ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in political and public life, including the right to vote and to stand for election, as well as education, health and employment.
Agencies of the state agree to take all appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures, so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Despite the promising purposes of such statements, in reality the international convention that Ghana and other countries in the region have ratified have made little impact on a number of African countries.
According to Amnesty International, discrimination is the root cause of violence, and that impunity perpetuates violations and abuses. Violence against women is pervasive throughout the world. Approximately, one in three of the world’s women will experience violence at some point in their lives, with rates reaching 70 per cent in some countries.
Millions of women are abused each year, often in countries where they face discriminatory laws preventing them from seeking meaningful legal resource against such violence. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that globally, one woman in five will be a victim of rape or attempted rape during their lives. Within Africa, the estimate is one in three.
In Ghana, for example, bills that have clashed with cultural norms and religious beliefs have proven difficult to enforce. Individuals not widely in support of such laws may continue to deal with violence through traditional means, rather than turning to the protections of the law.
Numerous factors combine to limit women’s access to justice. Women’s lack of education about their legal rights may also inhibit some women from using laws once they are in place to protect them. For instance, a lack of access to formal education, limited legal literacy, and a lack of familiarity with the language of the courts may make court navigation difficult.
A research conducted by Action Aid Ghana, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and launched in 2007 to engender advocacy towards the implementation of the recommendations contained in the study on violence against women (VAW) in northern Ghana came up with certain revelations.
The study showed, among other things, that physical violence, denial of basic necessities, arbitrary dissolution of marriage, forced marriages and unnecessary reprimanding of women constituted acts of violence against women that were prevalent in northern Ghana.
The Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organisations and individuals advocating gender equity, which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008, established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevailed in Africa with increasing efforts being made to address them.
A paper presented by Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, the NETRIGHT Convenor, during the organisation’s end-of-year event in Accra last year, indicated that an estimated three million girls a year are said to be at risk from the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and many of them are in Africa.
She indicated that within the Ghanaian context , stories published on women during the period featured a range of themes and more than half of all the stories were on women, politics and decision-making, with a specific focus on the 2008 elections.
According to Dr Mensah-Kutin, other stories could be located within the general themes of violence against women, women's health, beauty and entertainment, women and the economy, as well as discriminatory practices against women.
Ghana has incorporated the Convention’s provisions into the laws and practices of the country, resulting in the enactment of laws such as the Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2000 (Act 732) Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694), and provisions in the 1992 Constitution to reduce violence against women and other human rights abuses by reversing discrimination and providing equal protection before the law.
However, the reality of the situation is that significant challenges affect the enforcement of domestic violence laws. Reports from the police indicate that it is often difficult to collect medical evidence to support domestic violence cases in the country, since there are a few medical facilities in rural areas where many women live, and even urban facilities may have inadequate resources to collect medical evidence. Many victims may also be unable to afford expensive medical tests, even if they are available.
At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra recently, the Society of Ghana Women Medical and Dental Practitioners (SGWMDP) urged the government, as a State Party to CEDAW, to ensure the full implementation of all the Provisions and General Recommendations of the Convention.
The association congratulated Ghanaian women, women of the world and the United Nations for the entering into force 30 years ago of CEDAW, and pledged its full support to the realisation of the aims and principles of the CEDAW.
By ratifying the Convention, Ghana has the obligation to protect certain groups and provide the special care and assistance required for the physical and mental well-being of women and children, among others.
Women rights advocates have recommended that the government should provide skills training and free medical care for women who are victims of violence, as well as provide logistics to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the police to strengthen their work.
They also suggest that non-governmental and civil society organisations should institute legal aid schemes to support victims of violence and also strengthen women’s pressure groups to fight for the rights of women.
Advocates must continue to engage in targeted outreach and education in order to ensure that communities understand and support the protections that domestic violence laws can provide so that victims can choose to make use of such laws.

Business Women’s Summit opens in October

2009-09-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in its 2008 report on Progress of the World’s Women, says that gender bias has meant that “women have been more concentrated than men in informal, subsistence and ‘vulnerable’ employment”. According to the report, ‘vulnerable’ employment referred to self-employment and jobs without salaries in family-owned businesses.
Global reports indicate that women constitute more than half of the world’s population. However, the fact remains that advances have been limited in the economic realm and for poor women in particular, as a result of disadvantanges that are often entrenched in social institutions, economic policies and development strategies that have not adequately recognised the important role of women in economic development and poverty reduction, and as important agents of change.
According to the International labour Organisation (ILO) fewer than 1 in 5 working women in sub-Saharan Africa received regular wages or salaries, compared to a third of employed African men and almost 93 per cent of women in the developed countries.
Looking ahead to 2015 and beyond, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon observes that although it is possible to achieve the overarching goal of ending poverty by 2015, “it requires an unswerving, collective, long-term effort."
In this respect, greater global co-operation is required to resolve the current challenges confronting women, to enable them play their respective roles towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that relate to providing basic human rights to each person on the planet to, namely health, education, shelter, and security.
Concerned with how women, particularly Ghanaian women, can contribute to redesigning global systems and practises in the quest to create a better world, the Eagle Women Empowerment Club (EWEC), in collaboration with the African Business Women’s Network, is organising an international business women’s summit from October 21 - 22 at the National Theatre, in Accra.
The summit is being facilitated by Vital Voices, Exxon Mobil and Fortune 500 Companies, “Synchronising Global Business – A new orientation for the African woman”. Advocacy will also be around high interest rates in many African countries- a major threat to SMEs.
Participants include leading Fortune 500 women, representation from the World Economic Forum, government representatives, business women and women leaders in organisations from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Liberia, and other African countries.
Launched in 2008 as a networking platform for women, EWEC is the local chapter of the Africa Businesswomen’s Network (ABWN), an association of businesswomen’s organisation throughout Africa. ABWN is powered by Vital Voices, Exxon Mobil and supported by Fortune 500.
The goal of the club is to build a network of businesswomen’s organisation in Africa in order to expand the number of women suceeding as entrepreneurs and leaders in the corporate world; to raise the profile and credibility of women in business; to foster global networking opportunities among businesswomen; and to advocate policies that expand economic opportunities for women.
The President of EWEC, Ms Juliet Asante said the number of women performing roles as bread winners continued to increase every year, adding that research shows that women-led companies survived better than alternatives.
She said the back bone of every economy is its SMEs, and especially, in Africa, the majority of SMEs were owned or run by women and as a result, woman obviously had the main responsibility of the home.
She pointed out that it was obvious that any developing country that was serious about closing the poverty gap, cannot continue to ignore the real threat of disempowering such a powerful part of its society and economy, stressing that it is a fact that the world cannot continue to ignore the importance of including women in the decision-making process at all levels.
She said the summit would explore the unique contributions that women could make towards achieving a better world culture. The focus will be the awakening of the woman to see the current world situation as an opportunity to fine-tune and emerge from the world crisis as better business people, through best practices and advocacy aimed at ensuring a better future for all peoples.
She said during the summit, participants will dialogue with Fortune 500 women, through panel discussions and Workshops.
Another important part of the summit will also be a discussion on the Global Re-design Project put forward by the World Economic Forum, and how women can add their voices to the ongoing dialogue.
Some key presentations will be on: branding/ visionary leadership/ the questions of succession/ women transcending cultural limitations/ entering new markets/ corporate social responsibility, etc. all of which is aimed at better positioning the Woman leader to fearlessly improve her environment for the betterment of society.

Negative aspects of widowhood rites

2009-09-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Widowhood practices vary among various ethnic groups in the country, some impacting negatively on widows and orphans. Among some ethnic groups, widows are forced to strip naked in public and undergo other unpleasant exercises that abuse their right to dignity.
In a report on violence against women in Ghana, the United Nations (UN) Division for the Advancement of Women indicated that widowhood rites included confining the widow to a room, shaving her head, having her wear a rope around her neck and making her go through a ritual bath.
The Widows and Orphans Ministry (WOM), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded in 1993 and based in Bolgatanga, whose mission is to fight for the interest of widows and orphans conducted research on inheritance in the Upper East Region and found that widowhood rites are considered dehumanising by many widows.
The organisation identified the following widowhood rites that include stripping a widow naked and having her wear only shea tree leaves; having the widow bathe naked in public; forcing the widow to marry a man from her late husband's family; having the widow feed the ritualist during and after the funeral; and isolating the widow and exposing her to black ants.
Compelling women to observe some of these cultural rites like compelling the widow to marry a man from her late husband's family, seem to increase their susceptibility to HIV transmission and endanger their lives.
Reports from the Upper West Region indicate that this practice nicknamed “Bye Election”, is prevalent in the area.
When reached on phone by this reporter to find more about the customary rite, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Women of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Catherine Bob-Milliar, said widowhood inheritance that involved the remarriage of a widow to an elder brother of her late husband, was prevalent in parts of the region.
Explaining how the system operates, she said when a man died, the widow had to go through the traditional rite or pay the dowry, which sometimes involved four cows, to the relatives of her deceased husband and move out of her late husband’s compound, adding that the relatives of the deceased tended to be very unsympathetic to a widow who has no child with her late husband and refuses to perform the rite.
She said although the practice had some significance some years back, since it was seen as providing the widow and her children with some form of social security, it now needed a second look, considering the risk involved in the possible spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS.
Touching on other negative aspects of the practice, she said it sometimes resulted in domestic feud, considering the fact that the senior wife of the man, who is re-marrying a new wife, gets peeved.
According to Mrs Bob-Milliar, her department registered 7,000 widows, comprising young ones, as of 2002, and pointed out that the surprising thing is that these days most young girls who are widows, are not interested in the widowhood inheritance.
She said since the dowry was very high, particularly in Lawra, coupled with the high illiteracy rate among women, compared to men, women who found themselves in that condition had no option but to go through the practice.
She, however said, a few enlightened ones, who were economically empowered, preferred to refund the dowry to the family of the deceased to remarrying an elder brother of her deceased husband.
She said the Department of Women had intensified sensitisation programmes through dialogue with chiefs, opinion leaders and women leaders to enlighten them on the need to revise the customary rite in order to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and safeguard the health of the people.
When asked whether the affected women were not aware of PNDC Law 111 that protected a widow or widower, whose spouse died Intestate, Mrs Bob-Milliar said because of the payment of high dowry by husbands, women were seen as the ‘property’ of their husbands, adding that although widowhood rites were prohibited under Ghana's penal code many widows were not aware of this legislation.

Women need to be weary of self-styled pastors

2009-09-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Recent reports of the spate of abuse of women by self-styled pastors and spiritualists amply demonstrate the extent to which frustration, anxiety and depression suffered by these women can drive them to do things that cannot be justified.
Some of these self-styled pastors and spiritualists, who take advantage of the ignorance and vulnerability of some of the female members of their congregation, subject them to all manner of degrading treatment and sometimes, life threatening acts in the name of “spiritual cleansing”.
This issue generated a strong argument among a group of public office staff, who expressed divided opinions.
While some sympathised with the women and tried to appreciate their vulnerability, others could not readily assign reasons to what may have driven them to allow these pastors and spiritualists to take advantage of their situations to take them through those exercises, and sexually abuse them in the process.
Whatever the case may be, it is true that certain conditions may compel some women to become victims of these pastors and spiritualists, although it may seem unjustifiable.
Although it may seem unjustifiable, most African societies detest childlessness in marriage, and married women who find themselves in this situation, are compelled to move heaven and earth to get a child. In most cases, these women fall prey to self-styled pastors and spiritualists who subject them to all kinds of inhuman and degrading treatment.
In other instances too, some old women are branded witches and are accused of being the cause of all evils in the family.In parts of Ghana, such suspected witches are confined to witches camps, while those who are dragged to churches are subjected to all kinds of inhuman treatment to make them confess.
In parts of the country, women who go through prolonged labour are accused of infidelity and are subjected to all kinds of treatment to make them ‘confess their sins’. These are thought to be justified and the perpetrators see nothing wrong with it.
These, among other issues confronting women, prompted the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) to issue a statement condemning the practice, which it described as disheartening.
In a release signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO),Mrs Adiza Ofori-Adu, the ministry cited the case of one Kojo Addai, a 30 year old pastor of God's True Church at Teshie, who allegedly washed the genital organs of some of the female members of his followers.
The ministry further stated that reports also alleged that Addai deceived his female followers to believe that the best way of protecting them against spiritual forces was to take them through some rituals, one of which was for him to wash their genital organs.
It cited another case involving one Odartey Lamptey, who was being investigated by the Adenta Police for allegedly fondling the private parts of two women who went to him to seek treatment.
In another instance, the Ministry, said a 40-year-old woman, Esther Ayeley, was alleged to have been whipped to death by Pastor Kwame Kusi of Warriors Zion Prayer Camp at Asante Kwaku, a village near Nsawam.
The release said Kusi was alleged to have testified during a deliverance service that the deceased and her two daughters were witches and with the help of some members of the congregation, stretched out the woman and caned her until she collapsed and died the following day.
The ministry strongly condemned those acts and called on the security and law enforcement agencies to ensure that those self-styled pastors and spiritualists were brought to book in line with the country's laws.
To reflect on the role of the continent’s females in the society and celebrate African women’s accomplishments vis-à-vis gender equality at all levels of African politics, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now transformed into the African Union (AU), designated July 31 as Pan-African Women’s Day in 1962 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Currently, the date continues to be remembered in the African continent as the situation of women remains bleak, despite the fact that gradually they are starting to reach a comfortable economic independence and decision-making positions.
The first world conference on the status of women was held in Mexico City to coincide with the 1975 International Women's Year, to remind the international community that discrimination against women continued to be a persistent problem in most parts of the world.
The conference led to the declaration of the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985) proclaimed by the General Assembly which launched a new era in global efforts to promote the advancement of women by opening a world-wide dialogue on gender equality.
A process was set in motion to involve deliberation, negotiation, setting objectives, identifying obstacles and reviewing the progress made.
Despite these efforts, many women around the world continue to suffer discrimination and challenges posed by social attitudes and policies that continue to condone and perpetuate violence against women and girls.
The Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 defines violence against women as “any act of gender based violence that results in or likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”.
It includes sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, such as battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non spousal abuse and violence related exploitation.
Last year, Ghana launched the 3rd, 4th and 5th Combined Reports on the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Accra.
The ceremony provided a forum for the enumeration of measures taken over the years to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the country.
The reports covered the period 1993 to 2003 and highlighted progress made over the decade in achieving gender equality, as well as challenges and efforts being made by the government towards the realisation of women’s empowerment, equality, equity and sustainable development.
State parties are enjoined under provisions of CEDAW to submit periodic reports to the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women and the three reports provided additional information on questions and issues raised in the report and offers a lot of issues for discussion.
The Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organisations and individuals advocating gender equity, which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008 established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevail in Africa with increasing efforts being made to address them.
A paper presented by Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, the NETRIGHT Convenor, during the organisation’s end-of-year event in Accra, indicated that an estimated three million girls a year are said to be at risk from the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and many of them are in Africa.
She indicated that within the Ghanaian context , stories published on women during the period featured a range of themes and more than half of all the stories were on women, politics and decision-making with a specific focus on the 2008 elections.
According to Dr Mensah-Kutin, other stories could be located within the general themes of violence against women, women's health, beauty and entertainment, women and the economy, as well as discriminatory practices against women.
Some studies have found strong association between low socio-economic status and violence against women. However, in some settings women with high autonomy may actually be at risk of violence.
Unless women are asked directly about violence, many will not disclose it. This is mainly due to the shame and fear of reprisals from the perpetrators.
Another statement issued by MOWAC urged the media to devote more attention to issues confronting women and children.
The release said, in addition to facing all forms of discrimination and abuses, women were raped and violently assaulted by their spouses and partners.
It also said, parents were increasingly shirking their responsibilities towards their children, resulting in streetism, child trafficking, child prostitution, teenage pregnancy and the use of narcotic drugs, as well as other social vices which threatened the well being and survival of children in the country.
As was referred to in the release, Ghana will,next year, take part in the Beijing+15 review meeting on the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action. The media was reminded of its critical role in the implementation process.
It behoves social workers, marriage counsellors and dedicated pastors committed to the work of God (not self-styled pastors and spiritualists) to help women in need to overcome their agony and tribulations. Women also need to refrain from seeking the services of these self-styled pastors and spiritualists, and pray to God, guided by the scriptures that “In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be known unto God” Philippians 4:6.

‘Let’s demystify breast cancer’

2009-09-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The President of Breast Care International (BCI), Dr (Mrs) Beatrice Wiafe-Adae, has called for a concerted effort and intensive education to highlight the world-wide growing breast cancer crisis and its effect on women in particular.
She said it was necessary to demystify breast cancer to disabuse the minds of patients of the fear, misconception and myths surrounding the disease and encourage women to go for regular, medical examination of their breasts.
Speaking in an interview, she said because of the stigmatisation, myth and fear surrounding the disease, nobody wanted to be associated with it, stressing that, that was affecting fight against breast cancer.
Dr (Mrs) Wiafe-Adae, who is a breast cancer specialist and a surgeon in charge of the Peace and Love Hospital at Kumasi and Accra, said the cause of the disease was unknown but women with breast cancer-positive family histories should have regular breast examinations, and mammogram (breast x-ray), since they are at risk.
She said because the disease was not painful at the initial stages, people with breast cancer did not see the need to seek medical care when they developed the disease but waited till the advanced stage, when it was difficult to manage the disease.
She said all hands must be on deck to equip women with knowledge of the disease, since the lack of it made some victims seek support from herbalists and pastors, instead of visiting a health facility.
Dr (Mrs) Wiafe-Addae expressed concern about the stigmatisation of breast cancer patients and pointed out that “going round to educate people on the disease to ensure early detection and treatment can save the woman’s breast and her life as well”. She stressed “ignorance is killing our women and we have to fight it by empowering them with knowledge of the disease”.
She said for that reason, BCI continued to embark on education and clinical examination in churches, communities and other public areas to counsel women to go for breast screening and encourage those who have developed the cancer to seek treatment.
She added that since the organisation started its programme in 2002, over 150,000 women had been reached, adding that out of 100 people examined every year, “you are likely to get at least one case of breast cancer among the group”.
She advised patients not to be afraid of mastectomy (surgical operation to remove the breast) and other breast cancer treatment, and pointed out that breast cancer was 95 per cent curable when it is detected early.
She advised women not to take any lump in their breast for granted but to seek medical care.

Media urged to respect children’s rights

2009-09-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, Mr Bright Appiah, has urged the media to respect provisions of the 1992 Constitution and other child protection policies that protect the rights of the child.
He said inasmuch as the media need to perform their duties such as exposing wrongdoing in the society, they must also be mindful of the rights of children, as stipulated in the Children’s Act of 1998 (Act 560), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),
ratified by Ghana in 1989, as well as other national and international conventions that offer adequate protection for children.
Reacting to a photograph accompanying a story on the operations of a paedophile obtained from a video clip published in the September 10 edition of an Accra daily, that showed the pictures of children engaged in oral sex with the suspect, Mr Bright Appiah said “the publication violated the fundamental principles of the country’s child protection policies”.
He quoted Section 2 (1) of the Children’s Act, which states “The best interest of the child shall be paramount in any matter concerning a child” and Section 2 (2), which states that “The best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerned with a child” and said the publication contravened these provisions.
He said Ghana was the first country to ratify the CRC, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989, which spells out the basic human rights which children everywhere are entitled to.
Article 17 of the CRC recognises "the important function performed by the mass media," and calls on governments who have signed the convention to "ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources. " It also encourages the media "to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child," and calls on governments to encourage the development of guidelines to protect children from harmful material.
Mr Appiah said the victims had already suffered serious emotional and psychological trauma and needed to be rehabilitated but coverage approach by the paper, which prominently featured the victims, who are minors, with the sexually offensive photographs “promoted obscenity” and grossly violated their rights.
The Daily Guide in its September 10, 2009 edition, published the story and accompanying pictures of victims having oral sex with an alleged American paedophile, Patrick Ken Larbash, 65, who was said to have lured the children, some as young as three, to his house.

Why Chereponi Seat should be retained by a woman

2009-08-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
THE passing away of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chereponi Constituency in the Northern Region, Mrs Doris Asibi Seidu, on Saturday, August 1, has dealt a painful blow not only to her family members, constituents and parliament, but also to women activists longing for improvement in the representation of women in politics and decision-making.
This means a reduction in the already low number of women in the current 230-member Legislature, from 20 to 19. Her death means a bye-election will be held to find a replacement, but it is not certain whether a women will win the bye-election to replace her.
In 2004, 104 women contested the parliamentary election out of which 25, comprising 20 females from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and five from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were elected.
Mrs Seidu won the Chereponi seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2004 and retained it in the 2008 elections when she polled 9,188 out of the 17,559 valid votes cast, representing 53 per cent of the votes.
Achieving an improvement in the representation of women in politics and decision-making had been an issue that had attracted the attention of gender advocates and women rights groups.
The number of women in the current Parliament makes it a herculean to meet the international target of a minimum of 30 per cent women in political decision making positions
Average women constitute only 17 per cent of representatives in parliaments across the world, and Rwanda is the first country in Africa to meet the 50 per cent quota as stipulated in the African Union (AU's) Protocol to the African Charter on Rights of Women in Africa.
During the 2008 elections the Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF) Ghana consistently highlighted on the need for the various political parties to work with their women’s wings and women’s rights groups to put in place affirmative action to address the abysmal performance of women in the parliamentary elections, under its “We Know Politics” project.
WiLDAF maintains that the country needs affirmative action to step up the exposure of women to the public political positions. That assertion challenges her with an awesome responsibility of making the voices of her constituents heard in parliament.
During the elections, there were specific activities and statements from women's groups to political parties to field more women in safe seats, as there were others to directly strengthen individual women's capacity to stand and win seats as parliamentary candidates.
The Women's Manifesto Coalition hosted by ABANTU for Development also initiated actions supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), ActionAid, Frederick Ebert Foundation FES and others in support of that goal.
Gender and policy advocacy organisations recognise that improving the lives of women and other members of society require a balanced gender representation in government structures by promoting greater responsiveness to women in politics and decision-making.
Women would also have improved chances of being elected to political office to promote gender-balance in decision-making at all levels so that their interests and basic needs will continue to be met by influencing policies from a gender perspective and addressing inequalities and injustices in social relationships.
A statement issued by WiLDAF, Ghana, said the passing away of Mrs Seidu is a blow to the women’s movement considering the low representation of women in the current parliament in particular and political decision making bodies in general, adding that the MP will be remembered for winning her seat in the Chereponi constituency for the second time.
The statement called on political parties that will contest the Chereponi seat, to honour the hard work and dedication of the late MP by nominating female candidates for the upcoming bye-election.
It said the current 8.7 per cent representation of women in Parliament of 230 demonstrates the unwillingness to meet the international target of a minimum of 30 per cent women in political decision making positions, adding that since the return of democratic rule in 1992, women’s participation in government and public structures at both the national and local level has not been the best, given the much touted progress Ghana has made in democratic governance.
The statement pointed out that a majority of democratic enthusiasts consider Ghana’s democracy to be gradually consolidating and that Ghana must, as a matter of course, adhere fully to democratic values and principles, among which is respect for women’s rights.
The statement expressed the condolences of Board and Staff of WiLDAF Ghana to the Women’s Caucus of Parliament for the loss of an astute member and a friend, adding that “we are saddened by the death of Mrs Seidu”.
The MP died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, after battling with a protracted illness, 2009.
Mrs Seidu, who was a teacher and social worker by profession, served on the Education and Mines and Energy committees in parliament. She is survived by a husband and one child.

Tackling challenges confronting women

2009-08-19T09:24:00.001-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
A number of challenges and negative practices continue to affect the development of women in Africa and other parts of the world. Problems impeding their ability to expand their capabilities, how to attain their full freedom and dignity and also how to promote and sustain empowerment programmes, are some of the inequalities confronting African women in their daily lives.
In some African countries, women still lack access to economic rights, access to land ownership, ability to influence reproductive and family development such as who to marry, how many children to have and their spacing.
To reflect on the role of the continent’s females in the society and celebrate African women’s accomplishments vis-à-vis gender equality at all levels of African politics, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now transformed into the African Union (AU), designated July 31 as Pan-African Women’s Day in 1962 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This was at the first-ever Pan-African Women’s Conference, which was attended by 14 countries and eight liberation movements, during the African Women Conference.
Twelve years on, women gathered again on July 31, 1974 in Dakar, Senegal, to create a more even representative organisation called the Pan African Women’s organisation (PAWO). This day was dedicated as the ‘Day of the African Woman’ on the occasion of the first Congress of the PAWO that year, culminating in the celebration of African Women’s Day, which falls on July 31 every year.
While the AU has since moved the official celebration date to 25th September, events world-wide are nonetheless planned around its original date of July 31.
Currently, the date continues to be remembered in the African continent as the situation of women remains bleak, despite the fact that gradually they are starting to reach a comfortable economic independence and decision-making positions.
The theme for this year's celebration is “ fighting against the exploitation of women and girls” and three main topics, namely forms of exploitation suffered by women and girls in Africa, both in public life and within communities and families, awareness of the countless negative consequences of the phenomenon and government and partners' willingness to develop concrete strategies in finding an appropriate response to the phenomenon, are being addressed under the theme.
Exploitation refers to the use of human beings, women or girls in this context, for the purpose of making profit. It is reducing this human beings to an object, to a means of achieving one's goals. The result is sufferings notably physical, moral and psychological.
As such the commercial use of women and girls' image in the media, pimping, rape, excessive dowry, forced marriage, the non consideration of women's domestic production, oppressing sexual life and motherhood, discriminatory and unjust sexual division of labour, manipulation of female electorate, food taboos unjustified at scientific level, buying of economically distress women and girl's conscience and sex by socially and financially well located men etc. are illustrations of the most current forms of exploitation in the African context.
The work to mainstream gender in continental organisations has been, and continues to be, a long process. For years, Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) in collaboration with African Women’s Committee on Peace and Development (AWCPD) has worked to bring a gender perspective to the continent’s agenda. This work began in Lomé, Togo in July 2000 with the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the AU and continued thereafter with a series of meetings aimed at pushing forward the agenda of increasing the inclusion of women at the decision-making level.
FAS and AWCPD also organised a vigorous campaign for gender mainstreaming involving many African women’s networks.
Commemorating the 45th Pan-African Women’s Day with a panel discussion of ministers of the Senegalese Government on July 31, 2007 in Dakar, Senegal, Mme Bineta Diop, Executive Director of FAS, made a presentation on FAS’s advocacy activities – particularly, The Gender is My Agenda campaign. The Gender is My Agenda campaign was launched following the adoption of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) by the member states of the AU in 2004. The campaign focuses on the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the SDGEA in African Union member states.
To mark the Day of the African Woman, The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The Commission), the premier regional human right body conveys a message of goodwill to all African women and reminds member states to support the activities organised by civil society organisations and governments across the Continent. The commission highlights these events to demonstrate the historical role women played in society which is the character of women as pioneers able to build and lead in developments.
The commission urges all to continue observing the rights of women, endeavour to empower and develop women.
All of these rights are provided for women’s enjoyment and practice in the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, of which only 25 Member States, party to the African Charter have ratified.
Against this background, the commission urges all member states who have not ratified the Protocol, to do so as member states mark the ‘Day of the African Woman’. The commission also urges member states to analyse the impact of the world economic and financial crisis on the lives of the African families and to assess the impact of the world crisis on the lives of the African families, strategies for its reduction and forms to diversify actions to fight poverty.
The commission emphasises that a delay in ratifying the protocol, delays the enjoyment of freedoms and rights enshrined in the protocol. Thus perpetuating suffering of the women of Africa, which goes against the foundation on which this day was dedicated.
Poor women suffer from poor health and a high incidence of maternal deaths. Both men and women in Africa face numerous health challenges, often related to poverty. In particular, women face an array of health issues related to their reproductive roles.
Women living in poverty tend to have poor nutrition, low access to clean water and sanitation, and less access to medical care. In particular, they tend to have less access to obstetric and gynaecological care.
Consequently, a higher incidence of poverty tends to correspond with poor health among women, and higher maternal deaths.
Even as producers and entrepreneurs, it is widely acknowledged that African women have access to fewer resources than men.
In Ghana, various programmes and projects have been put in place to promote women’s health, rights and development.
In 1992, the Ministry of Health, having observed the numerous health problems affecting women and children in particular, set a number of priorities for itself, and intensified maternal and child health services and family planning activities as part of the strategies within the framework of the national population policy.
To combat the serious impact of malaria on pregnant women and children, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), was a major cause of maternal and child mortality and in pregnancy, the Ministry of Health was implementing a Global Action Plan on Malaria was adopted and over possible measures to completely combat the disease. This include the identification of all malaria endemic areas and mosquito breeding zones and destroying all mosquito lava, in addition to providing intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for pregnant women during pregnancy, and the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) for the entire population living in malaria affected areas.
To promote access to healthcare for expectant mothers to reduce maternal mortality, the government introduced the free maternal care for pregnant women under the National Health Insurance Scheme, while the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service is working strenuously to control domestic violence.
The country’s constitution also protects the rights of women and safeguard them against discrimination and exploitation.
However, daily reports in the media, as well as reported and unreported incidence of commercial use of women and girls' image by the media and publicity agencies; rape; excessive dowry; demeaning female family labour; oppressive sexual life and motherhood; sex by socially and financially well established men with distressed women and girls; female genital mutilations; sexual harassment of school girls and students by their teachers, the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on women, etc. show that the fight against the exploitation of women and girls, is not over.
For example, a survey conducted by the World Bank found that over 95 per cent in Ghana and 90 per cent in Zambia of female workers are employed in the informal sector. This has been marked by the entrance of large numbers of women as the households have tried to compensate for the fall in men's real wages and employment. Women continue to be disproportionately employed in the informal sector, a sector which still receives little structured support in terms of infrastructure (e.g., water, power, telecommunications). Workers in the informal sector also have relatively low access to credit.
Overall, the unemployment rate of women continues to be significantly higher than that of men. Thus, although some steps have been taken to pass legislation that increases women's access to productive and other resources in some countries (e.g., land and credit), women still continue to be at a disadvantage in terms of access and control of economic structures.
There is therefore the need for an unwavering commitment to the protection and promotion of African women and girls' dignity. The woman is a human being just like a man. It is important to treat her as such.
The adoption of gender mainstreaming of all government policies and programmes, if fully implemented, is likely to improve the situation of gender imbalance in the sphere of social capital by increasing the number of women in leadership and decision-making. More gender responsive Government programmes are also likely to bring about a re-orientation of priorities, and subsequently in Government spending patterns.

Rosalind Kainyah works with passion

2009-08-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The story of Ms Rosalind Kainyah, Vice President, External Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility of Tullow Oil plc, is inspirational and worthy of emulation by the up and coming youth, especially the girl-child. Extolling the virtues of hard work, commitment and resolve to attain greater heights in education, she pursued her career with passion and has carved a niche for herself.
Born in London some five decades ago, Ms Kainyah has a wealth of experience in business, international law, public affairs and corporate communications, which gives her a rare appreciation of both the economic and social impact of companies doing business in Africa.
Until she joined Tullow Oil one-and-a half months ago, she worked with the De Beers Group in the United States for seven years, first as Corporate and Commercial Legal Counsel at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), then later as Executive Director of Corporate Communications at DTC and finally as Director of Public Affairs for De Beers.
Her office is responsible for the company’s external relations and corporate relations globally, maintaining and building new relations with governments, special interest groups, the media, civil society organisations and stakeholders in the oil and gas industries in countries where Tullow Oil operates.She also co-ordinates the management and development of the company’s global social responsibility programmes.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra on her vision and mission for Tullow Oil, Ms Kainyah said she did a lot of due diligence before joining the company, and realised that over the last two decades the company had proved itself as a successful business entity, and that she intended to build on the good foundation as well as manage the expectations of the industry.
She said she was also looking at how the company’s operations were contributing to the creation of employment, the tax element as well as royalties, by building a broader economic base.
She said she was a great believer and held the conviction that education was key to success in life, stressing that “education, upholding social values and listening to elders have sustained me”.
She was educated in Ghana and in England, and holds a degree in English Firm the University of Ghana, Bachelor of Law and Masters in Law degrees from the University of London.
She is a member of the Bar of England and Wales, a member of G50, a self-help African business group based in London, consisting of African professionals focused on the repatriation of financial and intellectual capital to the continent.
She also serves as a trustee on the boards of The African-American Institute, based in New York, and the Africa Centre for Economic Transformation, based in Accra.
She practised law in various ways and in corporate law, and with her interest in the role of companies and operations of companies in Africa, she decided to take the appointment at Tullow.
According to Ms Kainyah, her mother, who was a nurse in the army, is her first role model, adding that the exploits of women like Madam Barbara Baita of Flaire Catering Services, female ministers like Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs Betty Mould-Idrusu, as well as the first female President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, are all sources of inspiration to her.
She advises women to take education seriously and acquire knowledge to build a strong foundation to enhance their development, stressing that “we need to be assertive, brave and feel proud that we are women and prove that we can do it without resentment”.
Established in 1985, Tullow Oil plc is one of the leading independent oil and gas exploration and production companies with operations in over 20 countries across four core areas, namely, Africa, Europe, South Asia and South America. It is the parent company of Tullow Ghana Limited and it is a key player in the development of Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry.

Exclusive breastfeeding - Vital for infant health

2009-08-06T10:21:00.001-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE early days of life are the most vulnerable for a child. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the risk of mortality is greatest during the first days of birth, when it is estimated that between 25 per cent and 45 per cent of neonatal deaths occur.
To improve child survival and proper growth of the child, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that babies should be exclusively breastfed from birth to six months, and then continuos breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond. Breastfeeding is the best and ideal way to provide new-borns with the nutrients they need. In addition to being more affordable than buying enriched milk formula, breast milk contains the nutrients needed by infants for healthy growth and development and is also easier for babies to digest. It is so full of nutrients that some doctors even recommend provision of breast milk to children for several years.
To protect, promote and support breastfeeding, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1st to 7th August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies. The theme for this year’s celebration is "Breastfeeding - a vital emergency response. Are you ready?” and the national theme adopted by the Ghana Infant Nutrition Action Network, the Ghana branch of the International Baby Food Action Network, is “Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies.”
The week-long celebration is expected to highlight the need to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in emergencies for infants and young child survival, health and development. The week provides the opportunity to advocate for a simple way to save children's lives.
The celebration commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF at a meeting of governments and policy-makers from more than 30 countries in Florence, Italy, in August 1990.
The World Summit for Children endorsed the Innocenti Declaration in September 1990, and its operational targets became part of the Summit goals for the year 2000. Together, the declaration and Plan of Action of the World Summit for Children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child constitute an ambitious but feasible agenda for the well-being of children.
The declaration sets important operational targets that enjoins nations to appoint a national breastfeeding co-ordinator of appropriate authority, and establish a multi-sectoral breastfeeding committee composed of representatives from relevant government departments, non-governmental organisations, and health professional associations.
It also commits nations to ensure that every facility providing maternity services practises all 10 steps to successful breastfeeding and enact imaginative legislation protecting the breastfeeding rights of working women and established means for its enforcement.
“Exclusive breastfeeding is one of the most powerful tools we have to combat child hunger and death,” says UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. “The Innocenti Declaration created a movement that has helped to save millions of lives and brought us closer to the Millennium Development Goals,” she states.
According to Ms Veneman, “the achievements since the Innocenti Declaration should inspire us to do more to reach out to vulnerable mothers and children”. She praised the dedication of a vast international community of breastfeeding advocates, who have worked tirelessly to turn the promises of the Innocenti Declaration, and the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative, into action.
Breast milk gives a baby ideal nourishment during the critical first months of life, as well as vital immunity against killer diseases like pneumonia.
Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDGs) aims at reducing child mortality and it is estimated that almost one-fifth of all child deaths could be prevented and the lives of over two million children saved every year, through exclusive breastfeeding.
According to UNICEF, between 1990 and 2000, exclusive breastfeeding levels for children under six months in the developing world have increased by as much as three or fourfold in some countries. UNICEF, the WHO and other child survival partners hailed this progress as they commemorated 15 years of the adoption of the landmark Innocenti Declaration in 2005.
The International Baby Food Action Network, stresses that the Innocenti Declaration was revisited on its 15th anniversary and it was noted that much progress had been made with 20,000 hospitals in 150 countries designated baby friendly hospitals and more countries implementing the Code and Resolutions of the declaration.
The Co-ordinator for breastfeeding activities in the country and a member of Ghana Infant Nutrition Action Network, Mrs Esther Quaye-Kuma, told the Daily Graphic that this year’s National Breastfeeding Week would be launched in Mankesim in the Central Region.
She said the country has 287 baby-friendly accredited facilities and that maternity homes were also promoting early breastfeeding, but those facilities were yet to be accredited.
According to Mrs Quaye-Kuma, who is also the National Secretary of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA), surveys conducted by the Ghana Health Service and the Statistical Service indicate that exclusive breastfeeding rates in the country, were 15.6 per cent in 1993, 25.3 per cent in 1998 and 46.3 per cent in 2003.
She also said the 2008 preliminary reports indicate that exclusive breastfeeding rates increased from 54 percent the previous year to 63 percent that year.
She said breastfeeding in the first day of life, contributes significantly to improving the nutritional status of children in the first two years of life, prevent malnutrition and stunt growth, which usually have their origins in early age in life.
She said breastfeeding in particular is important not just for the duration of any emergency but have a life-long impact on a child’s life and on a woman’s future feeding decisions, stressing that breastfeeding in the first day is associated with sufficient flow of breast milk and enhances longer breastfeeding.
Global breastfeeding rates have risen, but Innocenti partners warned that lack of awareness amongst mothers, and lack of support from health workers and communities, as well as the growing number of emergencies and the continued rise of HIV/AIDS also endangers the lives of mothers and children.
The new Innocenti report published by UNICEF, WHO and other infant-feeding specialists, calls for greater government action and investment to protect exclusive breastfeeding. It also emphasises the need to support women in providing the best nourishment for their children.
Women should be encouraged to overcome all obstacles to breastfeeding including, social-cultural and economic barriers within the health system, the workplace and the community and this requires sensitivity, continued vigilance, and a responsive and comprehensive communications strategy.
Such empowerment involves the removal of constraints and influences that manipulate perceptions and behaviour towards breastfeeding, often by subtle and indirect means.
All infants should be fed exclusively on breastmilk from birth to 4-6 months of age.The governments also urgently needs to make mainstream the latest strategies for HIV positive mothers and infant-feeding into national policies.
We should be guided by the advise by the UNICEF Executive Director that “In times of crisis, the right feeding practices for children are the key to saving lives.”

Partners in Population and Development

2009-05-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE right to sexual and reproductive health is central to human freedom and development. Promoting reproductive health and rights and the full human rights of women is vital to efforts to build a more peaceful, prosperous and stable world.
Ghana revised its National Population Policy in March 1994, prior to the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, the same year to incorporate new emerging issues.
The National Population Council (NPC) has the responsibility to oversee the implementation of the revised national policy, which covers a wide range of population and related issues. The current focus of the NPC’s programme is fertility reduction and integration of population variables into development planning.
The centrality of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) and key actions to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals is a central agenda for sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The programme of action adopted by the ICPD gave support to the concept of direct South-South co-operation to strengthen and deepen the impact and effectiveness of population and development programmes.
In line with these recommendations, 10 developing countries announced the establishment of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) as an inter-governmental vehicle for the promotion of South-South co-operation.
The PPD is an inter-governmental alliance with a current membership of 24 developing countries, including 14 African countries. It came into being in 1995 at its inaugural meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, to promote South-South co-operation in the area of reproductive health and population and development and its secretariat is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Events organised by member countries have tended to promote better understanding and appreciation of the concept of South-South co-operation and strengthening national support for that co-operation in the areas of reproductive health, population and development.
The vision of the PPD is to drive the global reproductive health agenda to attain sustainable development by 2014 and to assist each member country and other developing countries to address successfully the sexual and reproductive health and rights and population and development challenges.
This is to be done through South-South collaboration by raising a common voice and sharing sustainable, effective, efficient, accessible and acceptable solutions considering the diverse economic, social, political, religious and cultural characteristics of our countries.
The focus areas of the PPD is to integrate MDGs and ICPD goals, promote reproductive health and rights, improve gender equality, strengthen the integration of reproductive health and HIV and AIDS, improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health and improving reproductive health.
Ghana became the 24th member of the PPD in 2008 and as part of efforts to strengthen South-South co-operation, the NPC, in collaboration with the PPD Secretariat, organised a national South-South support structure meeting in Accra. The meeting brought together stakeholders in reproductive health and population and development to discuss and map out modalities for the establishment of a national South-South support structure for Ghana.
In his address, the Executive Director of the PPD, Mr Harry S. Jooseery, said it was unfortunate that the funding of family planning programmes had fallen from 55 per cent in 1995 to seven per cent in 2005 which had hampered progress and plunged the populations of many developing countries into a situation of abject poverty, adding that in some parts of Africa family planning services were completely unavailable, while those services remained inaccessible in other parts where they were available.
He said it was true that some countries in Africa had recently achieved positive economic growth. However, there was a huge poverty gap existing between some African countries.
He touched on the rate of maternal mortality and mobidity in Africa, which he said was still the highest in the world, stressing that the average maternal mortality rate was 400 deaths per 100,000 live births and that it was more than 900 in some African countries.
He also said the use of contraceptives was 21 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, while the world average was 59 per cent, adding that an estimated 22 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007 and approximately 1.9 million additional people were infected with HIV during that year.
Mr Jooseery said with Ghana’s estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence rate reducing from 2005, with innovative programmes like “Stop AIDS, Love Life” Ghana was tackling the deadly disease in a timely manner, adding that the country had also made good progress in the achievement of the MDGs, since 2000.
According to him, healthy women whose human rights were protected could be fully productive workers and effective participants in their country’s political process, adding that only when women were healthy and empowered could they rise and educate healthy children.
To him, “these are the building blocks of stable societies and growing economies”, and pointed out that “in this time of economic uncertainty there is no more important investment to be made than investing in the rights of the women of our countries”.
The Executive Director of the NPC, Mrs Esther Apewokin, said the NPC had been involved in PPD programmes since 2007 when Ghana was invited to participate in the first partner country co-ordinators meeting of the Africa regional office in Kampala.
She said the NPC, in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), had developed training modules on integration of population variables into development planning and the modules had been used to revise some district plans.
She, however, mentioned that the inability of Ghana to generate local funding for population, health and development programmes, as well as inadequate resources to train more personnel, high attrition of staff in the district offices, low knowledge of computer application among budget and planning officers, was a constraint to integrating population variables into development planning.
In an address read on his behalf, the UNFPA Representative in Ghana, Mr Makane Kane, said the ICPD agenda declared 15 years ago was to be implemented within each country in partnership with governments, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, students, women’s groups and development partners.
He was optimistic that working together, the 24-member PPD would command a cumulative wealth of knowledge and experiences which, when shared, would lighten some of the intractable problems on societies.
Professor F.T. Sai, expert/consultant, Population, Development and Reproductive Health, who chaired the function, said it was important to appreciate the need to put the various policies into practice to realise the principles and purposes of reproductive health, population and development.

Hail our illustrious mothers (Daily Graphic, Page 11. 09/05/09)

2009-05-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Over the last few days the airwaves of local radio stations and television screens have been inundated with discussions by a number of people extolling the virtues of mothers, including their biological mothers and other women who have made invaluable contribution to their lives. This is in commemoration of Mother’s Day.
Those showering praises and adoration on mothers look up to a mother as an embodiment of love, the guardian angel of the family, the queen, the tender heart of love and the best friend anyone ever has, contending that mothers have a nurturing, caring and loving aspect that make them unique.
Mother’s Day is observed world-wide, just like International Women’s Day, which is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, which is observed on March 8 every year.
The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by an American, Anna Jarvis, as a day for each family to honour its mother, and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honouring fathers.
Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women world-wide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
My interest in the on-going discussions relating to the attributes of a mother was heightened after watching a televised programme, The Stand Point, on Ghana Television on May 1.
The discussions on the programme, which centred on issues confronting wives who do not have biological children, were quite intriguing and aroused my interest. Two of the three penallists have no children and that resulted in the break- up of the marriage of one, while the third speaker had her first child eight years after marriage.
The two childless women however demonstrated their resolve not to allow their circumstances to control them and refused to be victims of circumstances.
The third woman also demonstrated that, during the eight years that she had to wait on God for a child, she relentlessly continued with her life and trained to become a doctor in psychology.
One thing that was clear was that all the three women have made positive impacts on the lives of people and contributed their quota to national development.
People all over the world have their own customs in celebrating motherhood to show appreciation to mothers as those who bring forth children and nurture them to life, as well as women who care for people and even sacrifice their lives for the need of others.
According to polls, Mother Teresa is the most respected woman in the world. Her name is a by-word for selfless dedication in the service of humanity. Mother Teresa has this reputation of holiness amongst many non-Catholics and even secular people. And her reputation is based upon her charitable work for the sick and dying in Calcutta.
Similarly for Mother Teresa, she became a symbol for virtue, so even in cartoons, jokes, movies, and television shows, if you want a synonym for selflessness and holiness she is always mentioned.
The Christian doctrine describes the church as a mother because she is a bride who is forever bringing forth children of light, pillars of holiness, sources of inspiration, challengers of truth, and defenders of the faith. Fervent souls look upon the church as a dispenser of grace through a sacramental system.
We could go on and on talking about the opinions and feelings of people about a mother, but what I found very interesting were these quotations by Danielle Hollister accessed on BellaOnline.
It describes a mother as someone who cares when others care less, someone who encourages when others ridicule, someone who defends when others condemn, someone with patience when others are impatient, someone who appreciates when others fail to notice, someone who gives security in a world of insecurity, someone who is accepting when others reject and a friend for all time, to cherish and protect.
Another web site, parenting.myLot.com says a mother can be almost any size or age. She has soft hands and smells good. She does not like having her children sick, temper tantrums, loud noise, or bad report cards. She can bake good cakes and pies, but likes to see her children eat vegetables. She is underpaid, has long hours and gets very little rest.
Another online piece, describes a mother as the laundry woman, the cook and anything you wish to call her for she can be jack of all trade inside her home, giving proper advice at home, as well as nurturing and supporting family members all the way.
Colleagues, religious leaders and some parents, who were interviewed to elicit their views on Who is a Mother?, gave varied responses and opinions. I wanted to know whether a mother is a woman who brings forth children and desert them to fend for themselves due to socio-economic problems, or a woman, who lightens a home, ensures that family members, both close and extended, benefit from her passion, skills and resources, or a woman who takes care of children who are not her biological children, or a woman who does not just bring forth children, but provide them with care, support and provide for the needs of the child.
A colleague said a mother was the light of the home, she reigns in it, she's foremost the educator of her kids, the financial officer, for she handles the budget for the family, the accountant, for every now and then she gives an accounts of what is needed in the house.
A-45-year-old mother of four, Maame Yaa, said, “I love being a mother to my four kids for I consider them the best gifts I received from God. I consider my being a mother to them as my greatest achievement in life”.
Reverend Dei Awuku of the Atomic Hills Presbyterian Church said, to call somebody a mother, goes beyond just nine months of carrying pregnancy and giving birth to children, adding that, a mother is a person people can come to for food, advise, care, protection and comfort.
He said a mother is that person who knows what to do most of the time, and evokes trust and confidence.
An Evangelist and the Head Pastor of the New Bethel Revival Ministry International, Mrs Alice Newman, said children needed to appreciate their mothers in whatever condition they were and show them love and care.
She said sometimes mothers failed to take care of their children because of the hurts and pains suffered from a divorce and left such children to fend for themselves.
She explained that children from broken marriages deserved to be loved and properly taken care of by both spouses because they were not to be blamed for a marriage that had gone wrong.
Mrs Newman advised mothers to sacrifice in support of their children’s psychological, physical and social development to ensure that they grew up to become responsible people in future.
She said if mothers became more responsible, the number of street children could be reduced and cases of children accusing their mothers of being witches due to the hardships of life, may be minimised.
There are some people who do not know the value of their mother because they want to listen to themselves and others when confronted with problems they perceive to be insurmountable. Consequently, some mothers are being kept as ‘witches’ in camps, while others end up with depression and psychological problems, as a result of domestic and other societal problems.
But Rev Awuku’s advise to mothers is encouraging. He said since we would never have a society without problems, it is important for mothers to appreciate the power and glory of the Lord and utilise their gifts from God with the conscience of reason and maximise God in life to fulfil their roles as women and mothers.
As we celebrate Mother’s Day, all mothers (not only those who have brought forth children) have to believe, trust, and have confidence in themselves as women and mothers to look within for the answers instead of looking elsewhere. Happy Mother’s Day to all peace-loving and industrious women.

Counting malaria out - With preventive, control measures

2009-04-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Ghana joins the international community and the rest of the African continent to observe World Malaria Day, today (April 25), on the theme: “Counting Malaria Out”
Commemorative activities to mark the day in the country include countrywide advocacy and educational programmes organised by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), in collaboration with other stakeholders to intensify action aimed at minimising malaria infection, facilitate prompt treatment and prevent unnecessary deaths.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that malaria continues to haunt 40 per cent of the world's population and affects more than 500 million people a year, killing more than one million.
The burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe.
Malaria is a parasitic infection that can have a serious negative impact on pregnant women and young children in sub-Saharan Africa and other tropical areas. The WHO says the disease is also a major cause of maternal and child mortality and in pregnancy, it leads to low birth weight of babies, premature delivery, untreated low blood glucose and may cause brain damage in babies with low-birth weight.
A woman’s immunity to malaria may be compromised by HIV infection. The prevalence and intensity of malaria infection during pregnancy is higher among HIV-positive women and the risk to the woman and her new-born may be higher.
According to a statement by the Department of Social Affairs of the African Union, African children below five years of age and pregnant women are at highest risk of malaria. As they grow older, childhood malaria infection, including cerebral malaria, can have long-term effects such as delayed physical growth, impaired cognitive development, and persistent neurological damage on them. Malaria during pregnancy can be prevented, reduced and managed with appropriate, low-cost interventions.
Presentations made at a day’s media seminar in Accra to mark this year’s World Malaria Day, indicated that children experience between two and three episodes of malaria each year and the fever reduces their appetite and worsens their malnutrition, while recurrent episodes of malaria in children result in the loss of substantial amounts of time from school. The country records about 1,500 deaths from malaria among children under five years, while 60 pregnant women die every year from malaria.
Realising the devastating impact of the disease, African leaders declared April 25 of each year as Africa Malaria Day in all member states, at the Special Summit on Roll Back Malaria (RBM) held in April 2000 in Abuja Nigeria. Known as the Abuja Declaration on Roll Back Malaria in Africa, the initiative taken in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, culminated in the celebration of Africa Malaria Day. The leaders committed themselves under the Abuja Declaration, to “halving malaria burden in Africa by 2010.”
During the 3rd Session of the AU Conference of Ministers of Health (Johannesburg, April 2007), the Chairperson of the AU Commission launched the “Malaria Elimination Campaign.”
During the same year, the World Health Assembly at its 60th Session, instituted the World Malaria Day as a day for recognising the global effort at providing effective control of malaria. It is also an opportunity for countries in the affected regions to learn from each other's experiences, support each other's efforts and encourage new donors to join a global partnership against malaria.
Furthermore, on September 25, 2008, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria convened the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit on the theme “World Leaders Unite”, at which the Global Action Plan on Malaria was adopted and over US$3 Billion were committed to the fight against the disease.
Delivering a paper on Ghana’s malaria situation and the way forward at an international conference on malaria at Steyning in England recently, the Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa Yankey, was reported to have stated that malaria had been very expensive for Ghana in terms of human and financial losses, explaining for instance that, the disease cost the nation over $760 million in 2006, which was about 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The minister also outlined possible measures to completely combat the disease, which would include the identification of all malaria endemic areas and mosquito breeding zones and destroying all mosquito lava.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has adopted a pronged approach to ease the burden of malaria on women and children in endemic areas and that includes intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for pregnant women, malaria illness management during pregnancy, and the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) for the entire population living in malaria affected areas. The WHO approach to malaria prevention and treatment emphasises initiating preventive measures during antenatal care and effective case management for all clinical cases of malaria. As another routine part of focused antenatal care, women should be given information and counselling on the dangers that malaria poses to them and their babies, and the steps they can take to help protect themselves. These messages should address the importance of practices such as continuing antenatal care, receiving the next scheduled dose of IPT and iron/folate, sleeping under an ITN and covering their arms and legs in the evening.
In support of the national malaria prevention programmes, the United States Government announced in December 2006, that Ghana had been selected as one of the eight countries to benefit from an initiative to rapidly scale up malaria prevention and treatment interventions in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease was most prevalent under a five-year, $1.2 billion project.
The most up-to-date information on nationwide coverage of key malaria prevention and control measures in Ghana comes from a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted from August to early October 2006, which indicates that approximately 30 per cent of households reportedly own at least one bed net (of any type) while almost 19 per cent reportedly own one or more insecticide-treated nets (ITN).
A survey conducted by Netmark indicated that the number of people aware of ITNs has increased from 91.1 per cent in 2004 to 99.1 percent in 2008. Also, the proportion of households owning one ITN increased from 10.7 percent in 2004 to 61.6 per cent for the urban communities and from 11.2 per cent in 2004 to 66 per cent in 2008 for the rural communities.
In order to extend the reach of malaria interventions to the community level, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) was instituted to reduce malaria mortality by 50 per cent in vulnerable groups; namely pregnant women, children under five years of age, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
This will be accomplished by achieving 85 per cent coverage of groups at risk with four key interventions which are the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for malaria in pregnancy, use of ITNs, and indoor spraying with residual insecticides (IRS). Another goal of the PMI is to strengthen and improve the capacity of indigenous non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to undertake malaria prevention and control activities under the leadership of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP).
It is evident that bringing malaria control to zero would boost socio-economic development of Africa. Because malaria-carrying mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, long-lasting insecticide mosquito nets provide the best known means of effective protection. There is growing scientific evidence to demonstrate that combining mosquito net distribution with follow-on "hang up" campaigns carried out by trained volunteers in communities significantly reduces incidences of malaria. Trained volunteers who live in the same community as the beneficiary population and speak the same local language are ideally placed to help families overcome any social or cultural barriers that could prevent the effective use of nets.
Malaria control, elimination and eventual eradication are everyone’s business. “All of us: Children, youth, adults, educated, uneducated, rich and poor, have a role to play because malaria is predictable, preventable and curable, says the AU Social Affairs Department.
The department is of the view that funding for malaria is no longer a major constraint for implementation of programmes. What Africans need now is the unwavering commitment of leadership at all levels to mobilise the whole society by providing an enabling environment at households, community, district, sector and institutional levels for the battle against malaria to be won. Africa could then move nearer to achieving the MDGs by 2015.
The continent has support from the UN Secretary-General, WHO, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Gates Foundation and the USA President’s Malaria Initiative and other partners to mobilise capacity, resources and harmonise all existing malaria initiatives in order to finally eliminate malaria from Africa.

Child prostitution- A threat to development

2009-04-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The story narrated by an 11-year-old alleged child prostitute during interrogation at the Greater Accra Regional offices of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service was pathetic and sounded incredible. She described in chilling details how she serviced her clients and charged them various sums of money depending on the size of their male genital organ.
She also said she took alcoholic drinks laced with some drugs to enable her to sleep during the day, to psyche her up for her ‘night duties’
According to Chief Inspector Irene Oppong, Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra DOVVSU, 13 children, aged between 11 and 15, were arrested by the police in some parts of Accra and brought to the unit for their alleged involvement in child prostitution.
She said they were sent to the Shelter for Abused Children at Osu, but one of the girls aged 11, attempted suicide, for what she termed as deplorable conditions at the shelter.
When the Ghana Police raided Soldier Bar, a brothel near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, in May 2008, 160 commercial sex workers were arrested, and out of this, 60 of them confessed to being under 16 years. This confirms the incidence of sex business among children.
It is not surprising that an unconfirmed online report from the Globalmarch website states that there are at least 125 brothels in and around Accra that employ children.
Chief Inspector Oppong said last month, the Nima Police arrested six children suspected to be engaged in prostitution and pointed out that some of the children also operated around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Agbogbloshie, Konkomba market and Tema Station, while others travelled from the Eastern and Central regions to and from Accra daily to engage in commercial sex trade.
She said some of the children, who started the practice from the Kumasi Race Course as apprentice, were later lured to Accra after they had been trafficked to the city by women traffickers who are difficult to trace.
She said in the case of those arrested at Agbogbloshie, the children trafficked from Kumasi know the woman who brought them to Accra only as auntie or sister, and that had made it very difficult for the police to trace her. That, she said was in spite of the fact that the woman uses the children to trade in sex and collects GH¢20 from each of them every three days.
Commercial sex trade among children is a form of forced labour whereby children aged below 18 are forced to have sex with adults and juveniles in return for money, part of which is paid to a third party who usually acts as the mediator. Most of the time the mediator tended out to be “madams” who were engaged in child trafficking.
Reports from parts of Accra indicate that the practice, which is a violation of the rights and dignity of victims and tends to have traumatic effects on them, involves children as young as 11 years, despite the health implications and other risks involved.
The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child, which was referred to as the 1979 Declaration. The declaration called upon countries, local authorities, civil society organisations and parents to recognise and strive for the protection of the rights of children.
The declaration also influenced the passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in November 1989 and Ghana responded positively to the initiatives of the United Nations in being the first country to ratify the convention.
The adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 provides a clear statement prohibiting all forms of violence against children, reaffirming previous human rights instruments.
However, the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy asserts that millions of children throughout the world are victims of violence. They continue to be abused, exploited and trafficked under different categories of violence to children, from abuse in the family and institutions, to organised sexual abuse, including child prostitution, sex tourism and child pornography.
In 1998, Parliament passed the Children's Act (ACT 560) which provided a list of enforceable children's rights and obligations of parents towards their wards.
Writing on the topic ‘Child prostitution and the age of sexual responsibility’ Nana Oye Lithur, the Africa Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives, pointed out that the laws of the country stipulated that children under age 16 may be willing to have sex, but they cannot legally have sex because they do not have the legal capacity to consent to have sex at that age. This is because a person becomes sexually responsible in Ghana at age 16. This means that any child in Ghana who is not 16 cannot give consent to sexual intercourse.
That is why any man or woman who has sex with a girl or boy who is below 16 years commits the offence of defilement. That child who is not yet 16 years cannot agree to have sex with the man or women because the child does not have that legal power or authority to give consent for sex when he or she is not 16 years.
The causes of this form of inhuman form of exploitation against children could be complex. Could it be due to severe poverty, low value attached to education, family dysfunction, a cultural obligation to help support the family or the need to earn money to simply survive that make children vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.
Social workers also say there are other non-economic factors that also push children into commercial sexual exploitation. Children who are at the greatest risk of becoming victims of the practice are those that have previously experienced physical or sexual abuse, a family environment of little protection, where caregivers are absent or where there is a high level of violence or alcohol or drug consumption, which induces boys and girls to run away from home making them highly susceptible to abuse.
Chief Inspector Oppong said although the practice was a criminal offence that warranted the prosecution of clients and the mediators since it amounted to defilement, indecent sexual assault and having unnatural carnal knowledge of a child, it was difficult for the police to arrest the perpetrators because they operated under cover.
The child involved is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object and it involves children in the urban poor, where the victims are most disadvantaged and in some cities in Ghana.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 182 classifies commercial sexual exploitation of children as one of the worst forms of child labour in the world. Child prostitution and child pornography are examples of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated on the theme “Women and men united to end violence against women and girls”. The relevance of the theme cannot be overemphasised considering the fact that men and boys in particular, who patronise the services of these child prostitutes need to demonstrate that the practice, which constitutes exploitation against children, is not an acceptable behaviour and they need to speak against it, be role models to younger men and mentor them not to perpetrate domestic violence in any form.
Article 25 (1) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that “All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realisation of the right” 25 (1) (a) states that “basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all”.
Sections of the Constitution also enjoins Parliament to enact such laws that are necessary to ensure that “parents undertake their natural right and obligation of care, maintenance and upbringing of their children in co-operation with such institutions as Parliament may, by law, prescribe in such manner that in all cases the interest of the children are paramount”.
Apart from these constitutional provisions, Ghana was the first country to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Children, while at the national level the Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560) was promulgated to protect the welfare and interest of Ghanaian children.
It is however unfortunate that despite all these measures some children continue to suffer negative acts that constitute criminal practices that demean, degrade and threaten the physical and psychological integrity of children and subject them to emotional trauma.
The Executive Director of Challenging Heights, a child-related non-governmental organisation, Mr James Kofi Annan, called for the enforcement of the Children’s Act.
He said said it was necessary for the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and related agencies to identify the location of homes and centres and shealters for children and ensure that they operate with the necessary permits to protect the rights of the child.
This protection, he explained, should include giving the children food, health facilities, shelter, and education to enhance their integration into society, adding that the peculiar need of the child could also be identified and the necessary counselling services offered to such victims when they are rescued.
Mr Annan urged the government to resource the Department of Social Welfare to enable it to establish more centres in the country to take care of abused children who are rescued.
It is important to understand that proper child care requires that children are taken care of by family members and the society at large to enable them to benefit from the love and warmth of their families.
Parents, governmental and non-governmental organisations and child-related organisations, need to be more responsible and provide the children with the needed care and protection.

Making pregnancy safer - Ghana’s initiatives (Daily Graphic, 04/04/09)

2009-04-07T08:37:00.001-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Pregnancy and childbirth are generally times of happiness and much cherished by families due to the emotional and social joy that it brings to families.
In some cultural settings in the country, elaborate ceremonies are held to ‘outdoor’ new-born children and thank God for seeing the pregnant women through nine months of pregnancy.
Unfortunately, there are occasions that the period of pregnancy and childbirth pose great risk to the health and survival of women and new-borns and these result in maternal and neonatal mortality and mobidity.
When families lose their relations through maternal and neonatal mortality, the joy that motherhood brings to families and relatives turns into agony, suffering, pain and distress.
Pregnancy-related conditions, also known as obstetric complications, include post-partum haemorrhage, infections, eclampsia and prolonged or obstructed labour, as well as complications of abortion, and these are the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age in many developing countries.
Stories of causes of maternal mortality and neonatal (new-born) mortality in Ghana and other developing countries with high rates of maternal mortality, paint a gloomy picture and portray a state of despair as a result of the slow progress being made in saving women’s lives quickly.
The problems cause more anxiety and uneasiness considering the fact that the factors that jeopardise maternal and new-born survival are preventable or treatable with essential services, and the most effective, affordable public health interventions.
One of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 and it is necessary to assess the progress towards the achievement of the goal.
An online report by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF, 1999) estimates that there are 585,000 maternal deaths globally each year, resulting from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The situation in Ghana is equally gloomy with institutional maternal mortality rate of 250 per 100,000 live births.
In 1987, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other United Nations agencies like UNICEF launched the Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI). Since then, efforts have been made to raise awareness about safe motherhood, set goals an priorities for the global Safe Motherhood Initiative and also support national safe motherhood programmes through the stimulation of research, mobilisation of resources, provision of technical assistance, and sharing of information to make childbirth and pregnancy safer.
These efforts have rallied interest and commitment from donors, programme planners, researchers and practitioners to reduce the maternal mortality rate, the indicator with the greatest disparity between developed and developing countries.
Ghana adopted the SMI and that led to the initiation and implementation of Safe Motherhood programmes in the country.
In 1998, the government introduced free antenatal care for all pregnant women and in September 2003, a policy of exempting all users from delivery fees in health facilities was introduced.
The exemption policy was given a further boost in 2008 when the British government provided the Ghana Government with £42.5 million to provide free medical care for pregnant women under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
These were done to remove financial barriers to using antenatal and delivery care in public and private health facilities, in order to complement the role of dedicated and skilful health professionals to achieve a reduction in the maternal mortality rate.
This year’s State of the World’s Children Report for 2009 prepared by the UNICEF, which was launched in Accra last Wednesday, called on political leaders, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to generate action at all levels to address the problem of maternal and neonatal deaths.
Produced annually, the report is UNICEF’s flagship publication and closely examines a key issue affecting children. The 2009 edition of the report focuses on maternal and new-born health and identifies the intervention and actions that must be scaled up to save millions of lives.
It outlines the direct causes and underlying factors that undermine the health and survival of mothers and new-borns and mentions the causes of obstetric complications, which include post-partum haemorrhage, infections, eclampsia and prolonged or obstructed labour.
It also talks about complications of abortion, which account for most maternal deaths, and anaemia, exacerbated by malaria, HIV and other conditions which heighten the risk of maternal death from haemorrhage (bleeding).
It said for these reasons, around 1,500 women died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, adding that since 1990 the estimated annual number of maternal deaths world-wide had exceeded 500,000, amounting to almost 10 million maternal deaths during the past 19 years.
The launch of the report, attended by policy makers, health workers and members of civil society organisations, included an interactive panel discussion, during which members of the panel and the audience deliberated on the issue of maternal mortality in Ghana and the need for stakeholders to implement effective measures for reducing maternal mortality and improving neonatal survival.
The panellists were Dr Opoku Fofie, Gynaecologist at the Wa Hospital; Dr Elias Sory, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and Dr Nelson Damali, Obstetric Gynaecologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The rest were,: Dr Gloria Quansah Asare, Head of Family Health, GHS and Nana Oye Lithur, Africa Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Dr Quansah Asare said Ghana, like other developing countries, does not have the full complement of health care at health facilities to tackle the problem effectively.
She said there was the need to make sure that equipment was available and steps needed to be taken to address the problem of delay in getting to the health facility, adding that the road map to efficient maternal and new-born care was to equip adolescents with knowledge about reproductive health care.
Dr Sory said socio-cultural difficulties encountered by expectant mothers, such as crossing a river to the health facility, and with some perceptions in some traditional setups where women who deliver their babies at the hospitals are laughed at, the problem will still persist.
He also said there was the need to train more midwives to offer comprehensive, emergency obstetric care at the various levels of service delivery.
Nana Oye, who is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Safe Motherhood Initiative, stressed the need for doctors and health service providers to counsel and explain issues to patients and expectant mothers, who must also be given the opportunity to ask questions to know more about pregnancy and the risks associated with it.
She said that was necessary to empower women with knowledge on maternal health and reproductive rights for them to make informed choices on their reproductive health needs.
Dr Fofie spoke about the constraint and challenges confronting health personnel in the rural areas and suggested an incentive package to boost the morale of staff in those areas, as well as encourage others to accept posting to those areas.
Dr Damali called for the provision of basic materials and equipment and the expansion of infrastructure to meet the demands on health facilities, the result of increased hospital attendance due to the provision of free, medical care for pregnant women. He also said non-governmental organisations and individuals and related agencies and organisations should help strengthen the health care system.
The Majority Leader and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli West, who identified poverty and education as major constraints to maternal health care, called on all stakeholders to come on board to invest in sectors that support essential maternity and basic health-care services to strengthen health systems and improve maternal and new-born care.
He said in addition to enhancing information systems, it was also imperative to expand human resource, foster social mobilisation, establish equitable financing and develop infrastructure, transportation and the referral process.
The UNICEF Ghana Representative, Dr Yasmin A. Haque, asserted that maternal mortality and neonatal deaths were not about statistics, since the loss of the life of one woman through maternal death was painful. For that reason, she said the launch of the report provided an opportunity to count and investigate every life lost as a result of pregnancy and childbirth.
In doing so, we will all recognise the roles we have to play to complement efforts of health professionals, who also need to put in their best including the right attitudes to offer quality care to mothers and enhance safe motherhood in Ghana.

Woes of cancer patients - Reach for Recovery offers supoort

2009-03-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and who require surgery to remove the affected breast (mastectomy) experience fear, anger, depression, anxiety and a sense of helplessness.
Most of the patients who find it difficult to bear the cost of surgery and treatment become stressed up and, therefore, need a lot of counselling and other support.
To raise awareness of the suffering caused by breast cancer and help survivors to access the best possible treatment and care, Reach for Recovery Ghana, a breast cancer support group working closely with nurses and doctors at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the Trust Hospital and the 37 Military Hospital, visits women who have been diagnosed with the disease and those who had gone through mastectomy.
The organisation also solicits funds to help pay part of the treatment cost of some of the patients, which include physiotherapy and radiation to prevent the cancer from spreading to other organs of the body.
The support group ensures that the patients have seasoned speakers to talk to during their monthly meetings, during which they are provided with the opportunity to ask questions bothering them.
The survivors are encouraged to participate in stress-relieving trips and also take active roles in visiting one another.
The word ‘cancer’ conjures up deep fears of a silent killer that creeps up on a patient without warning. It evokes such desperation that it has become a metaphor for grief and pain, a scourge that strains intellectual, social and emotional resources.
Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that there are over 20 million people living with cancer in the world today, with majority in the developing world.
According to medical experts, cancer, which is the term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and invade other tissues, is one of the killer diseases among both men and women.
According to Dr Clegg Lamptey of the Surgical Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, roughly 70 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer had no identifiable risk factors for the disease.
But the family history risks are that if a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling or child) has had or has breast cancer, one’s risk of developing the disease approximately doubles. Having two first-degree relatives with the disease increases one’s risk even more.
Each cancer is thought to first start from one abnormal cell. What seems to happen is that certain vital genes which control how cells divide and multiply are damaged or altered. This makes the cell abnormal. If the abnormal cell survives, it may multiply “out of control” into a malignant tumour, which consists of cancer cells that have the ability to spread beyond the original area.
Dr Lamptey says cancer affects various parts of the body, which results in various types of cancers, each with its own name and its treatment.
Some types of cancers that affect parts of the body, in addition to the breast, are lung, stomach, skin, cervical and prostrate cancers.
Doctors say cancers in children can affect any part of their bodies. Leukaemia is a type of cancer that starts in blood-forming tissues such as the bone marrow and causes the production of large numbers of abnormal blood cells which enter the blood.
Doctors contend that irrespective of the type of cancer a patient develops, she or he may need one of the following processes — surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy — pointing out that usually patients who have prostrate and breast cancers go through hormonal therapy.
Dr Lamptey points out that cancer can be cured when it is detected early, stressing that cancers need multi-disciplinary treatment with various specialists. However, if left untreated, it may spread and destroy surrounding tissues. Sometimes, cells break away from the original cancer. They may spread to other organs in the body through the bloodstream or lymphatic system.
Mrs Gladys Boateng, Director, Reach for Recovery, who was diagnosed with the disease in Accra in 1999 and got treated in South Africa, said she was scared when she got to know of her condition, but Dr Clegg-Lamptey explained the disease and mode of treatment to her and that raised her confidence level.
She said she also went to a pastor for prayers and went ahead for the surgery, which was successful.
She said Reach for Recovery currently had an active membership of over 100. The volunteers have visited over 1,000 women since 2003 and participated in free-screening programmes, educational and television programmes, adding that the support group had lifted the shroud of secrecy surrounding breast cancer diagnosis and having mastectomy.
Speaking at a breast cancer symposium in Accra, Mrs Boateng said while on admission in South Africa, she had a visit from a volunteer from Reach for Recovery, South Africa who had then survived for nine years after she had been diagnosed with the disease and she really gave her hope, which made her work towards the formation of the support group in Ghana, after her return from South Africa.
According to Mrs Boateng, it was initially difficult to get integrated with the medical team and also convince other women to be volunteers because some women didn't want others to know of their status because they might be stigmatised and others would gossip about them but later some volunteers offered to help and that strengthened the support group.
“We counselled them and gave them 'goody bags’,” she said.
She said the group was also working closely with the Department of Women, the Breast Clinic and other support groups to launch the National Breast Cancer Fund to aid women go through the expensive cost of treating the disease.
She said Ghanaian women diagnosed with breast cancer had a number of challenges, including stigmatisation and gossip about affected women and lack of silicone prosthesis, while the few available were unaffordable, adding that the cost of treatment was highly unaffordable to most patients and the support group was not able to raise enough funds to help affected women
Mrs Boateng also said some herbalists and religious leaders still confused some women that cancer could be cured spiritually and attributed the illness to the devil,
She said the reconstruction of the affected breast needed to be properly addressed, while husbands of affected women needed to offer support to their wives, stressing that survivors needed love, care and encouragement from family members and friends.
She also said there was the need to establish a hospice for terminally ill cancer patients for proper care and support and pointed out that the support group needed to be offered the maximum support to continue the good work.

Women’s empowerment needs commitment

2009-03-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE first world conference on the status of women was held in Mexico City to coincide with the 1975 International Women's Year, to remind the international community that discrimination against women continued to be a persistent problem in most parts of the world.
The conference led to the declaration of the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985), proclaimed by the General Assembly which launched a new era in global efforts to promote the advancement of women by opening a world-wide dialogue on gender equality.
A process was set in motion to involve deliberation, negotiation, setting objectives, identifying obstacles and reviewing the progress made.
Despite these efforts, many women around the world continue to suffer discrimination and challenges posed by social attitudes and policies that continue to condone and perpetuate violence against women and girls.
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.
However the Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organisations and individuals advocating for gender equity, which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008, has established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevailed in Africa while increasing efforts are being made to address them.
Making a statement in Parliament to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, on the theme “Women and Men united to end violence against women and girls” the Member of Parliament (MP) for Twifo Ati Mokwa, Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, observed that women empowerment continued to be a central feature of the United Nation’s efforts to address socio-economic and political challenges confronting women across the world.
To add her voice to calls on the need to get more women involved in politics and decision-making, an American philanthropist, writer and gender activist, DR Swanee Hunt has urged Ghanaian women to be firm and resolute in the use of their imaginative, and visionary qualities to promote the interest of women and other vulnerable groups in the society.
She described Ghanaian women as energetic people with strong, imaginative and visionary qualities which could take them far if they received the neccessary support to develop their capabilities.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic after a meeting with 30 Ghanaian women, made up of parliamentarians, lawyers and representatives from non-governmental organisations, during a three-day visit to the country recently, she said Ghanaian women have made giant strides in national development, despite the challenges.
Dr Hunt, who is a Lecturer of Public Policy, is committed to the attainment of gender parity, especially as a means to end war and rebuild societies, as well as to alleviate poverty and other forms of human suffering.
She served as President Clinton's ambassador to Austria, from 1993 to 1997, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia, which focused on stabilising the neighbouring Balkan states. She had also worked extensively in Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and a little in South Africa and Liberia, and notably with the most strong women all over the world.
Ambassador Hunt was the Founding Director of the Women and Public Policy Programme at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where she also teaches “Inclusive Security”, exploring why women are systematically excluded from peace processes and the policy steps needed to rectify the problem. She has conducted research, training, and consultations with women leaders in some 60 countries.
She pointed out that as a gender advocate and women rights advocate, she decided to visit the country to learn more about the role of women in the country.
She described Rwandan women as strong women who played a crucial role during the ethnic genocide and pointed out that with the Hutsi, Tutsi conflict some key women in Rwanda, namely Inyumba Aloisia and Rose Kabuya, played crucial roles.
Dr Hunt said 14 years after the genocide, Rwanda's constitution adopted after a referendum held in 2003 guaranteed 30 per cent quota of the 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, for women.
They also created women councils in villages where they run offices and they got themselves in the constitutional committee with 30 per cent set aside for women who only contested those seats.
That strategy, she said, worked fantastically and after the country’s 2008 elections, the country became the first nation in the world whose legislative assembly had the majority of women when the party of the ruling government headed by President Kagame endorsed 35 female candidates in an inter-party coalition, adding that “if you want to look for a mother for Africa, look from Rwanda”.
She said Ghana lagged behind in the representation of women in governance, explaining that in the US as of the 2008 elections, there are 74 women serving in the current House of Representatives while the Senate had 17 women in 2008.
On the perception that ‘politics is a dirty game’, she said it would continue to be so until women got actively involved and indicated that like other countries, women in the US would be prodded many times before they will decide about politics.
She said such women should believe in women’s rights and concerns.
She advised women not to think that they do not have the capabilities and were not qualified to contest elections and advised women to look at the EMILY's List that helped to elect progressive female candidates who were pro-choice to office.
EMILY's List, which is an acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast," is a political action committee (PAC) in the United States, founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984. From the common political saying that, "Early money is like yeast, because it helps to raise the dough", the concept encourages women who want to enter into politics to start mobilising funds early.
Dr Hunt advised Ghanaian women, who want to contest in elections at both the district assembly and national level to take the decision now by starting to organise immediately, so that they can contest the elections and win.
In another interview, Mrs Gifty Klenam, the Member of Parliament for Lower West Akyem, who was at the meeting with Dr Hunt, described it as fruitful and said it provided a congenial atmosphere for deliberations on women in politics, trafficking and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSC Resolution 1325), relating to women, peace and security.
The Resolution, which tasks UN Systems and Member States to ensure that gender considerations are thoroughly integrated into all aspects of its security platform from conflict prevention to post-conflict reconstruction, was unanimously adopted by the Security Council in October 2000.
She said they deliberated on the negative effects of child trafficking in the country and the need to assess causes of child trafficking in order to come out with workable solutions to the problem.
She also said the meeting deliberated on the need for gender advocates to also contest in elections after doing their advocacy work to serve as an inspiration to women.

Childhood cancer - A growing problem

2009-03-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Some parents of child cancer patients who recounted their traumatic experiences in a documentary compiled by the Children’s Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital have pathetic stories to share.
I had the opportunity to watch the film after interviewing Dr Lorna Awo Renner, a paediatrician at Korle-Bu. One woman whose baby was diagnosed with cancer of the eye recounted how they supported the child to go through an expensive and painful treatment, which resulted in a surgery to remove the damaged eye in South Africa. The treatment, which involved the replacement of the damaged eye with an artificial one, also included chemotherapy at an expensive cost.
One man lost two children because he could not afford the cost of treatment for a bone marrow transplant that needed to be done in South Africa to save the lives of the children who were diagnosed with a kind of cancer that caused life-threatening blood disorders.
To raise awareness of the suffering caused by cancers in children and help them to get the best possible treatment and care, the Ghana Parents Association for Childhood Cancer (GHAPACC) was inaugurated in Accra to commemorate the International Childhood Cancer Day, which fell on February 15.
The mission of the association is to contribute to the health needs of children with cancer and other life-threatening blood disorders and their families.
It is also to provide support for children with cancer and make available to parents and families of newly diagnosed children information and logistics to organise support groups to assist children and their families to cope with the stress that accompanies diagnosis of childhood cancer and advocate for improved care for children with cancer and other life- threatening blood disorders.
The word ‘cancer’ conjures up deep fears of a silent killer that creeps up on a patient without warning. It evokes such desperation that it has become a metaphor for grief and pain, a scourge that strains intellectual, social and emotional resources.
However, when cancer affects a child, family members, friends and the patient are touched with such emotions and frustrations that cannot be described.
Cancers in childhood are supposedly rare events and, therefore, do not receive as much attention as other common diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, among others. However, the extent of sickness and pain caused by these cancers places a high burden on individuals, families and their communities.
Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that there are over 20 million people living with cancer in the world today, with majority in the developing world.
The WHO estimates that each year, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer and 90,000 will eventually die of it.
Health experts maintain that childhood cancers can be cured, provided prompt and essential treatment is accessible. However, the most pathetic aspect of the problem is that 80 per cent of children with cancer live in developing countries where effective treatment is not available and, as a result, one in two children diagnosed with cancer will die.
According Dr Renner, who is working in collaboration with the GHAPACC, access to treatment for children with cancer in Ghana started in 1965 when the Burkitt’s Tumor project, which offered free diagnostic services and drugs treatment for children with the commonest type of cancer in Ghana (Burkitt’s lymphoma), got underway.
She said that offered real hope of cure for hundreds of children, mainly from deprived rural areas, many of whom are now adults and contributing their quota to society.
The paediatricians who were pioneers of the project were Procis Nkrumah and the late Dr (Mrs) Susanna de Graft Johnson, with Prof Janet Neequaye, Dr R. Biggar and Prof Jennifer Welbeck playing important roles.
Unfortunately, this project, which was implemented with an American grant, ended in 1994. Thereafter, the Canadian High Commission, using proceeds from the Terry Fox Run, continued sponsorship from 1995 to 2001 and since then it has been up to families themselves to fund their children’s treatment.
Dr Renner said in Ghana there was no comprehensive epidemiological data on the magnitude of childhood cancers but she said with the country’s population of about 20 million, they expected about 1,200 children below 15 to be affected yearly.
She said there were only two centres at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Accra and Korle-Bu in Accra that had paediatric cancer units and children were referred from all over the country, even as far as Bawku, to these centres and that such children invariably arrived at an advanced stage of the disease.
Although in highly developed countries over 70 per cent of children with cancer are cured and over 90 per cent cured for some specific cancers, Dr Renner said the outlook in Ghana was dismal.
She mentioned late presentation, as a result of ignorance of families and health workers, lack of trained health workers to manage cases, limited access to the two paediatric cancer units, limitations with diagnostic capacity, inductee supportive care and cost of chemotherapy as some of the reasons.
She said the approximate cost to treat fully and cure one of the commonest childhood cancers (Burkitt’s lymphoma) is GH¢500 per patient within a period of three months, while others such as leukaemia, which is more expensive to treat, costs about GH¢10,000.
She said the cost of treatment was not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme and parents of the patients lost hope as a result of lack of funds, leading to treatment abandonment.
She, therefore, asked philanthropic organisations, individuals and corporate bodies to join hands with the GHAPACC in order to provide financial, logistics, psycho-social support, among others, for children with cancer and life-threatening blood disorders.
“Using the slogan of the Paediatric Society of Ghana ‘Our children’s health is our nation’s wealth’, we have to show that we ‘genuinely care and support’ and contribute in whatever way possible to ensure that the children of Ghana have access to improved health care,” she said.
Chaired by Mr F.K. Aveh, the association advised parents to look out for the St Siluan (a Russian monk who died in 1938) warning signs for childhood cancer and seek medical help for persistent symptoms.
These are a white spot in the eye, new squint, blindness, a bulging eyeball, a lump in the abdomen and pelvic, head and neck, limbs, testes, glands, unexplained fever, loss of weight and appetite, fatigue, easy bruising or bleeding, aching bones, joints, back and easy fractures, as well as neurological change in behaviour, balance, gait, headache and enlarged head.

Hajia Dubie makes women proud

2009-02-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
One woman who has made people of the Sissala East Constituency proud is Hajia Rafatu Halutie Alhassan Dubie. Her success in politics mirrors the rise of women in politics and a positive step in bringing women in her constituency into the limelight.
Hajia Dubie, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sissala East, who unseated the incumbent People’s National Convention (PNC) MP, Mr Moses Dani Baah, to become the first female MP for the constituency, has also been vetted and approved by Parliament as a Minister of State at the Office of the President.
Until she became an MP, the 61-year-old First Deputy Regional Women’s Organiser of the NDC, who is one of the 20 women in the country’s 230-member legislature, served in various capacities at the Tumu Hospital in the Upper West Region, and retired as a Deputy Chief Medical Assistant of the hospital in 2007.
She was an appointed assembly member of the Sissala District Assembly from 1994 to 2000 and elected the Presiding Member of the same assembly between 2000 and 2001, after which she contested for the Sissala East seat on the ticket of the NDC and lost in the 2004 parliamentary elections.
Determined not to allow her performance in that election to stifle her efforts, Hajia Dubie put the past behind her and contested for the same seat in the 2008 election and defeated the incumbent MP.
On average women constitute only 17 per cent of representatives in parliaments across the world, and Rwanda is the first country in Africa to meet the 50 per cent quota as stipulated in the African Union (AU's) Protocol to the African Charter on Rights of Women in Africa.
Achieving an improvement in the representation of women in politics and decision-making had been one issue that had attracted the attention of gender advocates and women rights groups
During the 2008 elections the Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF) Ghana consistently highlighted the need for the various political parties to work with their women’s wings and women’s rights groups to put in place affirmative action to address the abysmal performance of women in the parliamentary elections, under its “We Know Politics” project.
WiLDAF maintains that the country needs affirmative action to step up the exposure of women to the public political positions. That assertion challenges her with an awesome responsibility of making the voices of her constituents heard in parliament.
During the elections, there were specific activities and statements from women's groups to political parties to field more women in safe seats, as there were others to directly strengthen individual women's capacity to stand and win seats as parliamentary candidates.
The Women's Manifesto Coalition hosted by ABANTU for Development also initiated actions supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), ActionAid, Frederick Ebert Foundation FES and others in support of that goal.
One significant outcome of the 2008 elections is the appointment of the first female Speaker of Parliament, in the person of Mrs Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, to preside over the sittings of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic. That action had been described by women rights advocates as historic and a plus in the country’s democratic process to inspire more women to serve in decision-making positions.
To demonstrate the NDC government’s commitment to gender equality, President Atta Mills stated in his maiden State of the Nation Address to Parliament: “We will revise, adapt and implement our Affirmative Action Policy for Women of 1998, making sure that we have incorporated the key demands of the 2004 ‘Women’s Manifesto for Ghana’ as well as those of other political parties consistent with our women’s empowerment agenda.
Furthermore, it is heart-warming to know that there are eight women out of 35 ministerial nominees, who have been vetted and approved by Parliament. They are Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs; Mrs Juliana Azuma-Mensah, Minister of Tourism and Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
The rest are Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry; Mrs Sabah Zita Okaikoi, Minister of Information and Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology; Hajia Rafatu Halutie Alhassan Dubie, Minister of State, Office of the President, with Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe as the Central Regional Minister.
The deputy ministerial appointments announced by the President on Monday included five women.
Ghana also boasts the first lady Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Woode, who was appointed in 2007 and the first lady Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. These could be described as positive steps to improve women’s participation in governance and decision-making.
Asked to comment on the challenges that confronted her while contesting for the 2004 and 2008 parliamentary elections, the soft-spoken Hajia Dubie said although it was not easy, she was able to win the seat in 2008 because she had served the people and became familiar with their needs. She said she was prepared to withstand the frustrations that confront her as a woman in the areas of financial constraint and gender discrimination and encouraged herself by urging the people to appreciate the need to respect the views of women, who constitute over 50 per cent of the nation’s population.
She said her position as an MP and a Minister of State entails two things, namely to serve her constituents and the nation at large, adding that she was determined to use her position to better the lot of women who suffer various forms of abuse and neglect.
She said she had organised a clean-up exercise in her constituency and also held meetings with various community groups and leaders to brief them on what could be done to advance the cause of development in the area, with their support.
She added that a lot could be done with her share of MPs Common Fund, the District Assemblies Common Fund, as well as working in co-operation with district assemblies.
She advised the people to keep their environment clean and organised regular clean-up exercises to curb the spread of disease.
The MP said one of her priorities was to identify young boys and girls who dropped out of school and encourage them to learn a trade so that they could go back to their various communities as responsible people.
She expressed her profound gratitude to the President and the people for the confidence reposed in her and resolved to work to justify the trust.
Hajia Dubie, whose maiden name was Rita N. Nandzo, was trained as a midwife and had pursued Women in Management Training, Town Community Interactive and Country Planning courses, as well as Integrated Management of Childhood Illness and Integrated Management of HIV and AIDS Anti-retroviral Therapy programmes in Tamale, Wa and Kumasi respectively.
She is also a member of the Sissala District Health Committee and a board member of the Tumu Teacher Training College. She had also served as a member of the Tumu Credit Union, Chairperson of Tumu Education Sub-Committee and as a member of the Mother and Child Care Committee.
Hajia Dubie is married with five children.

Let’s protect the rights of children

2009-02-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Article :Salome Donkor
The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child, which was referred to as the 1979 Declaration. The declaration called upon countries, local authorities, civil society organisations and parents to recognise and strive for the protection of the rights of children.
The declaration also influenced the passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in November 1989 and Ghana responded positively to the initiatives of the United Nations in being the first country to ratify the convention.
The adoption of the CRC provides a clear statement prohibiting all forms of violence against children, reaffirming previous human rights instruments. It further spells out measures that must be taken to ensure that crime prevention and criminal justice practices are themselves not contributing to the re-victimisation of children, whether the children are victims or perpetrators.
Apart from ratifying the CRC, Ghana has a lot to talk about in relation to the enactment of laws and the establishment of rules and procedures for enforcing rights of the child and parental obligations, care and protection of children, as well as the adjudication of judicial and quasi-judicial matters affecting children.
In 1998, Parliament passed the Children's Act (ACT 560) which provided a list of enforceable children's rights and obligations of parents towards their wards.
With the passage of the Children's Act, the Ghana National Commission on Children (now the Department of Children) and other public and private stakeholders have the legal backing to fight for the cause of children in Ghana.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty which has been ratified by nearly every country in the world, states that children deserve a better environment and the highest standard of living possible.
However, the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy asserts that millions of children throughout the world are victims of violence. They continue to be abused, exploited and trafficked under different categories of violence to children, from abuse in the family and in institutions, to organised sexual abuse, including child prostitution, sex tourism and child pornography.
Proper child care requires that children are taken care of by family members to enable them to benefit from the love and warmth of their families. This is particularly important because children are the first and the most vulnerable to fall prey to environmental hazards.
In the urban poor, children are most disadvantaged and in Ghana, it is a common scene to see children, as young as eight years or sometimes even younger, selling ‘pure water’, lime, plantain chips, pawpaw, and confectioneries at the various traffic intersections, while some of them also aid physically challenged persons to beg for alms.
The risk confronting children who have become street hawkers at the Kasoa, Ayi Mensah and Afienya tolls booth, as well as other traffic intersections in the city, surpasses understanding. It is pathetic to see a number of children running dangerously on the streets and engaging in hazardous work such as hawking and carrying loads to earn income to fend for themselves. Some parents also engage in child trafficking, despite legislation banning the practice while some cultural practices are inimical to the rights and protection of children.
Reports of child rights abuse in the media over the last few weeks serve as a test case in the enforcement of laws and regulations protecting children.
Apart from the alleged incident of child abuse that occurred at the Peace and Love Orphanage in Accra recently, sources from the Department of Social Welfare indicate that three other orphanages have been earmarked for closure in the first quarter of this year for operating below standard.
Another incident of child abuse at an orphanage has been uncovered at Apowa in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region, according to a report in the February 13, 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic.
Social Welfare officials in the region allege that the Orphan Cray Home had become a centre from where the proprietor and her accomplices recruited children and gave them out as domestic servants and child labourers.
They said before they were given out, the inmates often went to school without food and were given 20Gp for feeding until they returned home late afternoon and sometimes were made to fast and pray for the whole day “to seek the face of God”.
This has warranted an investigation by the Western Regional Command of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) into the operations of the orphanage.
A report in the February 13, 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic about the conviction of a 58-year-old farmer, who lured a nine-year-old girl to a nearby cocoa farm and defiled her is heart-breaking. No wonder the presiding judge, Mr Kofi Akrowiah of the Akim Swedru Circuit Court who sentenced the accused to 12 years imprisonment with hard labour, described the incident as a nasty and a cruel act perpetrated by a man.
It was reported that the convict, Job Arthur jokingly called the girl ‘my wife’ and occasionally gave her coins but succeeded in defiling her on two occasions.
Yet another incident of child abuse was carried in the Daily Graphic of February 7. The story said several children at Atimpoku in the Eastern Region are engaged in the risky business of ferrying tourists across the Volta River in canoes that are not equipped with any safety gadgets.
Most of them operate the canoe services on the Volta River on Saturdays, Sundays, and during holidays, when tourists turn up in high numbers. They charge GH¢2 per person, which is far cheaper than the GH¢30 charged by the cruise boats operated by some of the hotels in the area. Some of the children said they had been doing the business for between three and five years.
Reacting to the alleged incidence of child abuse in some orphanages in the country, the Executive Director of Challenging Heights a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Mr James Kofi Annan reportedly called for proper investigations into the incidence that took place at the Peace and Love Orphanage.
He said what took place at the Peace and Love orphanage should be an eye opener to the Department of Social Welfare and the government to take a second look at the operations of all other NGOs, particularly those who claim to be for the welfare of the child, and ensure that those whose operations do not conform to the appropriate standard are closed down.
He urged the government to prosecute parents who neglected their basic parental duties.He said because parents and governments had neglected the responsibility of providing for needy children in the country, individuals had formed various NGOs, some of which are operated to the disadvantage of these unfortunate children.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mr Bright Appiah, has called for a thorough look into the operations of orphanages in the country.
He said information available to the organisation indicates that about 90 per cent of the orphanages in the country are operating far below standard. Also, only a few are registered with the Department of Social Welfare.
Mr Appiah said it was sad that most of the orphanages were sub-standard and that the focus should be on how to improve them.
That, he said, was to ensure that they met the increasing needs of the children sent to such facilities, adding that children in orphanages needed counsellors, among other support services, to be well-developed.
He noted that once orphanages operating below standards were identified they could be supported to do the right thing, and indicated that it would not be right to close down all such facilities.
The issues enumerated above and others that constitute abuse on the rights of the child deserve urgent attention, because the child cannot wait and it behoves the new Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, to honour her promise during the swearing-in of new ministers by the President, to work in collaboration with the relevant agencies and institutions, as well as ministries, to uphold the rights of women and children.
The minister reportedly said she would work in partnership with the Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning, Youth, Employment and Social Welfare, Education and relevant bodies to overhaul her ministry and turn the fortunes of women and children around.
This really is a herculean task but not insurmountable, when tackled with commitment, dedication and steadfastness.
Parents also need to be empowered to enable them play their parental roles meaningfully to ensure that children have the opportunity to live in families with a loving caregiver for life and not in institutions that have mushroomed in parts of the country.

Importance of cervical cancer screening

2009-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The cervix of women which can be found in the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens into the vagina, performs three main significant functions. It is necessary for conception, serves as a gatekeeper and produces mucus which serves as lubricant that provides a physical barrier and prevents infections in women.
Despite these important roles of the cervix, there are times when abnormal cervical cell changes may occur, rarely presenting symptoms. The symptoms become visible if those cells develop into cervical cancer.
The disease develops as a result of persistent infection into a cancer-causing virus, known as human papilloma virus (HPV). The virus is extremely common and easily transmitted from skin-to-skin contact in the genital area.
Addressing a training seminar for a group of journalists in Accra, Dr Linda Decker of Franklyn Medical Services, said although there are about 100 types of HPV, not all of them cause cervical cancer, adding that some of them cause genital warts, but other types may not present any symptoms.
She explained that 15 out of the 100 types of the HPV can cause cancer and out of this, only two have a high association with cervical cancer.
She said symptoms of cervical cancer may include bleeding from the vagina that is not normal or a change in menstrual cycle that cannot be explained, bleeding when something comes in contact with one’s cervix, such as during sex, pain during sex and vaginal discharge that is tinged with blood.
Medical experts say globally, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women under age 45 and it is the third leading cause of cancer death among women globally, after breast and lung cancers.
Approximately 270,000 deaths per year result from cervical cancer worldwide, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, cervical cancer is the dominant cancer and leading cause of cancer mortality in the region, causing slow and painful death among patients due to late diagnosis and lack of access to cancer treatment.
In Ghana, cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancer types that affect women and the leading cause of cancer mortality. It is estimated that each year approximately 2,000 women will develop cervical cancer and 80 per cent will die from the disease.
Looking at the above statistics not merely as numbers but relating them to the suffering encountered by someone’s wife, mother, sister, daughter or friend helps to put the issue in a better perspective.
As a result of a public service initiative to equip journalists and make them ambassadors in the fight for women against cervical cancer, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSG), in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Ghana, organised the training programme for media practitioners drawn from both the electronic and print media in Accra.
Elaborating on women who were at risk of contracting the disease, she said sexually active women were at risk and that the risk began with a sexual debut, worsening with the early onset of sex and lasted throughout a woman’s lifetime.
She explained that using condoms did not offer full protection against HPV because penetrative intercourse was not the only means of transmitting HPV.
She indicated that the number of lifetime sex partners, age at sexual debut and current smokers were the risk factors.
Dr Decker said screening was important and should be done once a year but that was inadequate, hence the need to look at vaccination to eliminate the primary causes of the disease.
She also said because the spread of the disease is largely related to the relationship between sexual activity, abstinence is the best preventive measure.
Dr Decker asserted that in developing countries where adequate screening programmes were lacking, there was the need to work out sustainable screening programmes, adding that the disease was a major health burden for women in developing countries.
She said as part of a regular pelvic examination, every woman should have a Pap test during which the doctor scrapes a small sample of cells from the surface of the cervix to examine for cell changes.
She said if the Pap test showed abnormal cell changes, the doctor may do other tests to look for pre-cancerous or cancer cells and indicated that it was important to follow up to see the doctor after any abnormal Pap test result to treat abnormal cell changes and that may help prevent cervical cancer.
According to Dr Decker, in Ghana, screening is done at the major hospitals, namely, Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching hospitals in Accra and Kumasi, respectively, as well as the Tema General Hospital and the Ridge Hospital in Accra.
Mr Emmanuel Acquah of GlaxoSmithKline Ghana said the disease developed at various stages and depending on the stage of its development, it was either reversible or irreversible.
He said like other diseases, early diagnosis and treatment was the best answer.

NETRIGHT report establishes discrimination against women

2009-02-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Last year, Ghana launched the 3rd, 4th and 5th Combined Reports on Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in Accra.
The ceremony provided a forum for the enumeration of measures taken over the years to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the country.
The reports covered the period 1993 to 2003 and highlighted progress made over the decade in achieving gender equality, as well as challenges and efforts being made by the government towards the realisation of women’s empowerment, equality, equity and sustainable development.
The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) submitted the combined report, which was considered by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in August 2006.
State parties are enjoined under provisions of CEDAW to submit periodic reports to the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women and the three reports provided additional information on questions and issues raised in the report and offers a lot of issues for discussion.
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.
The Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of organisations and individuals advocating for gender equity, which made an assessment on issues of concern to women in Africa in 2008 has established that discriminatory practices against women in the name of culture still prevail in Africa with increasing efforts being made to address them.
A paper presented by Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, the NETRIGHT Convenor, during the organisation’s end-of-year event in Accra, indicated that an estimated three million girls a year are said to be at risk from the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and many of them are in Africa.
She said a major campaign was launched by 10 UN agencies who want a major reduction in the practice by 2015, adding that villages and communities in West Africa had joined together to make pledges to abandon the practice.
She indicated that within the Ghanaian context Ghana, stories published on women during the period featured a range of themes and more than half of all the stories were on women, politics and decision-making with a specific focus on the 2008 elections.
According to Dr Mensah-Kutin, other stories can be located within the general themes of violence against women, women's health, beauty and entertainment, women and the economy, as well as discriminatory practices against women.
She recalled that stories of violence against women included murders, rape and battering, featured in the Ghanaian media, as well as some stories of incest including one in which a 65-year-old catechist was alleged to have defiled his five-year-old granddaughter.
She said it was gratifying to note that the National Secretariat of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) wrote a rejoinder to correct the false impression that was created by a story published in the Ghanaian Times of September 3, 2008 that the number of husbands suffering physical abuse in the hands of their wives was getting higher than the reverse.
She said the real situation according to the rejoinder was that only records of the Ministries offices of the unit had been cited and that the explanation for that particular case was that many more men were willing to report cases of abuse against them by women.
On discriminatory practices against women often undertaken in the name of culture, the NETRIGHT Convenor made reference to the classic case in 2008 of three widows of the late Nana Kwaku Dimpo II, chief of New Longolo in the Kintampo North District in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The widows — Madam Yaa Nsia, 80, Madam Afua Nkume, 75, and Madam Ama Sumaa 69 — had performed widowhood rites for more than nine years in the name of culture and tradition as they could only be freed after the funeral rites of their late husband had been performed.
With reference to women's maternal health, it said public discussion about the causes and extent of maternal deaths also intensified after the government launched the free pregnancy care policy in a bid to reduce maternal deaths.
It said the launch had seen an upsurge of the numbers of pregnant women registering at health facilities. The British government had made funds available to support free care for pregnant women.
According to the report, many of the stories on HIV and AIDS were advisory in nature and generally called on the public to be sensitive to HIV and AIDS sufferers and to avoid stigmatisation.
The report said one major issue that was widely covered in all the newspapers around women and the economy was the Paris Declaration and its Aid Effectiveness High Level Forum III Conference, held in Accra from September 2 to 4, 2008.
Civil Society activities started early in the year and culminated in the organisation of the International Women's Forum and the Civil Society Parallel Event on August 31-September 1, 2008 and the Ministerial High Level Forum 3. NETRIGHT worked with other international women's groups to amplify the voices of women and the dissatisfaction with the current aid architecture and the need for an alternative that is responsive to women.
The report said there was also very little discussion about households, and the dynamics of social, economic and work relationships that occur and their implications for democracy, women's rights and gender equality, adding that this was a huge gap and women needed to pay attention if they were genuinely committed to promoting gender equality and equity.

Christian Children’s Fund leads fight against poverty

2009-02-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Over the past 45 years, the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an international charity organisation, has led the fight against poverty, by instituting pragmatic measures to break its cycle.
The CCFC, which is a member of ChildFund Alliance, has reached out to children in need and supported families and communities of all faith, demonstrating Christ’s love.
The CCFC is a child-centred international development organisation, which was established in Canada in 1961 and it has since its establishment used experiences to address not only the symptoms, but the root causes of poverty facing developing countries like Ghana.
A write-up on the activities of the organisation quoted Mr Bruce G. Herzog, Chief Executive Officer of the CCFC, as saying that the organisation currently had 8,192 children enrolled with 56 programmes in Ghana.
He said the CCFC believed that its role was to work with communities and other local partners to help lay the necessary groundwork for the attainment of its goals.
He said their experience and focus on meaningful results had shown that fighting poverty required a systematic approach and sustainable programmes to attain long-lasting solutions.
To make the most effective use of its resources and to maximise the impact of its activities in the communities it operates, the CCFC developed a strategic approach that is structured around five priority programme community development sectors.
These are education, health and nutrition, water and sanitation, micro-enterprise development and strengthening institutional and organisational capacities.
He said the CCFC recognised that improvements in these areas had a ripple effect on the success, sustainability and quality of life for not only a child but for an entire community.
A literature on the activities of the CCFC maintains that investing in health and nutrition programmes in a community means better health for children before birth and throughout their lifetimes. Healthy children and families mean a healthy and productive workforce, and an active and dynamic community.
The health and nutrition programmes run by the CCFC are designed to reduce malnutrition and strengthen children’s bodies and minds. The organisation’s nutrition programmes provide children the necessary nutrients to ensure proper development, teach families about proper nutrition and find solutions to food scarcity within communities.
The organisation’s health programmes include preventive and curative measures, with focus on prenatal care, vaccination and medical treatment for children, as well as HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment.
In the field of education CCFC and its partners are committed to providing children with the education they need to become productive members of a community.
In addition to supporting school-based programmes, the organisation works with community members and families to develop solutions to obstacles that stand in the way of basic education for all children, like gender discrimination and the need to do away with child labour.
It also acknowledges that adult literacy is fundamental and that a child’s education begins at home. It also recognises that parents have a major role to play in their children’s education.
In order to create a long-term self-reliance, families need sustainable ways to generate income. As a result the CCFC has helped to launch 7,000 small businesses and helped parents earn enough money to feed, clothe, educate and provide for the health needs of families.

Hail Ghana’s female Speaker

2009-01-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

Article:Salome Donkor

"This is a historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal.........".
(Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi, first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives).
Ghana made history together with states like the United States of America (USA), Pakistan and Rwanda, with the appointment of the first female Speaker of Parliament.
Mrs Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, a retired Supreme Court Judge succeeds Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes as the fourth Speaker of the Fourth Republican Parliament.
By the rules of the House, the Speaker presides over Parliament and enforces observance of all rules that govern its conduct. After a general election, the majority party in Parliament, in consultation with other parties, nominates a Speaker. The Speaker cannot be a Member of Parliament though he/she must possess the qualifications to stand for elections as a Member of Parliament.
The country has had two other male Speakers of Parliament since the inception of the Fourth Republican Parliament in 1992.
They are the late Mr Daniel Francis Annan and the late Mr Peter Ala Adjetey.
A retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo was the first Supreme Court Judge to voluntarily retire in the Kufuor Administration in July 2003 in the wake of the controversy that greeted the appointment of Justice George Kingsley Acquah, after Justice Edward Wiredu had left on health grounds.
She was born on March 26, 1937 and called to the English Bar in London in 1961.
She was the first female Supreme Court Judge and was the first woman to be the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Attorney-General’s Office.
Mrs Bamford-Addo was a member of the Legal Aid Board and member of Legal Class Board, and was also Ghana’s Representative on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
She has attended many conferences, including the Conference on Status of Women in Tunis in 1983 and the 34th and 35th UN Sessions on Commission on the Status of Women in 1990 and 1991.
She was in 2000 elected as “Woman of the Year” by the American Biographical Institute.
The nomination of Mrs Bamford-Addo (described as a woman of intellect and principle) for the third highest position of the land seems to fulfil earlier remarks made by the Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Nadowli, Mr Alban Bagbin, after the delivery of the President’s State of the Nation Address, that a woman was favoured by the party for the job.
The current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi. With her election as Speaker in 2007, she is the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. On January 3, Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio with 233 votes compared to his 202 votes in the election for Speaker of the House.
Before being elected Speaker in the 110th Congress, Pelosi, born March 26, 1940 was the House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007, holding the post during the 108th, and 109th Congresses.
On March 25, 2008, Dr Fehmida Mirza, a member of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party was elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's General Assembly.
On October 6, 2008, Rwanda's newly-elected Members of Parliament voted in the first woman Speaker, setting a record as the first female-majority parliament in the whole world.
Ms Mukantabama Rose, a representative of Kigali city, beat Mr Mukama Abbas, the only male contesting for the same post with 70 votes to become the leader of Rwanda's Chamber of Deputies.
Fourteen years after the genocide, Rwanda's established constitution, adopted after a referendum held in 2003, guarantees 30 per cent quota of the 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, for women.
In the 2008 elections, an unprecedented 20 of the 53 seats went to women after the party of the ruling government headed by President Kagame endorsed 35 female candidates in an inter-party coalition. The country, therefore, became the first nation in the world to elect a majority of women to its legislative assembly.
One of two seats reserved for youth also went to a woman.
This was interpreted by Rwanda's National Electoral Commission (NEC) to mean that 98 per cent of Rwandan voters opted for a 56 per cent representation of women in parliament, making it the largest number of female MPs in a single legislative assembly.
South Africa’s former Speaker of the National Assembly who occupied the position from 2004 to 2008 was appointed the country's deputy president in September, 2008.
Mbete replaced Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who resigned together with 10 other cabinet ministers out of loyalty to Thabo Mbeki, who stepped down as president of South Africa last year.
Before the December 7 polls in Ghana, there were intensive campaigns to encourage the electorate to vote for female parliamentary aspirants.
The Hunger Project (THP) as part of the “We Know Politics” project, initiated a campaign by a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including, Gender Centre, Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA Ghana), CoWIG and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana with the aim of addressing challenges that women face in governance and to increase their participation in politics.
Certified election results from the Electoral Commission, however, showed that out of the 103 women who contested the parliamentary elections, only 20 were voted into parliament. The former parliament had 25 women.
The Convenor of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT). Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin described the appointment of Mrs Bamford-Addo as Ghana’s first female Speaker of Parliament, as a positive step.
She said with no woman emerging as a Vice-President and with the reduction in the number of female MPs in the current parliament, the appointment of the first female Speaker, will bridge the gap.
By her nomination, two of the three arms of government, that is the Judiciary and the Legislature, are headed by women. The Judiciary is headed by Chief Justice (Mrs) Georgina Theodora Wood.
Dr Mensah-Kutin said her appointment also gives credence to the fact that democracy is about inclusiveness and equality and women need to work hard to develop their capabilities to support national development.

Hopes of having more women in Parliament dim

2008-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Gender and policy advocacy organisations recognise that improving the lives of women and other members of society require a balanced gender representation in government structures by promoting greater responsiveness to women in politics and decision-making.
Women would also have improved chances of being elected to political office to promote gender-balance in decision-making at all levels so that their interests and basic needs will continue to be met by influencing policies from a gender perspective and addressing inequalities and injustices in social relationships.
Results so far recorded after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, however seem to dim hopes of increasing the representation of women in the next Parliament.
In 2004, 104 women contested the parliamentary election out of which 25, comprising 20 females from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and five from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were elected into the current 230-member legislature. The number of female parliamentary candidates reduced to 103 this year.
So far, five new female parliamentary candidates have emerged victorious from the results declared — four of them on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the other on the ticket of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP).
The government’s spokesperson on infrastructure, Ms Catherine Abelema Afeku of the NPP, polled 11,641 votes to unseat the incumbent MP, Mr Kojo Armah of the CPP, who got 2,314 votes, to win the Evalue Gwira Parliamentary seat.
The rest are Madam Beatrice Bernice Boateng (New Juaben South); Madam Gifty Klenam (Lower West Akyem), and Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo (Tema-West)
Ms Samia Yaba Christiana Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, won the Jomoro seat for the Convention People’s Party (CPP) after beating the incumbent MP Mr Lee Ocran.
Some of the incumbent female MPs who retained their seats are Ms Akua Sena Dansua of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Second Deputy Minority Whip, who retained the North Dayi seat for the third time with 26,734 votes, Madam Mary Salifu Boforo, who polled 17,506 votes to retain the Savelugu seat for the NDC for the fourth time, and Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, who retained the Tarkwa Nsuaem seat for the third time with 30,631 votes, as against 19,596 votes obtained by Mrs Christiana Kobina of the NDC.
Other incumbent female MPs who have retained their seats are Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, NPP, Bantama, Mrs Elizabeth Agyeman, NPP, Oforikrom, Shirley Ayorkor Botwey, Weija and the Deputy Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, who retained the Ayawaso West Wuogon seat for the NPP.
Despite these the Deputy Minister for Education and Sports, Angelina Baiden Ammisah, lost her Shama seat to the NDC, while the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Gladys Norley Ashietey, respectively surrendered the Nalerigu and the Ledzokuku seats to the NDC.
Fears that the number of women in the current legislature is likely to reduce have been deepened by the fact that six women out of the 25 who are currently in Parliament did not contest in the parliamentary elections.
Female MPs such Ms Anna Nyamekye (Jaman South) and Ms Hilda Josephine Addo (Kwadaso) lost their seats to males, during the primaries, while Mrs Gladys Asmah (Takoradi), Ms Christine Churcher (Cape Coast), Ms Theresah Amaley Tagoe (Ablekuma South) and Mrs Grace Coleman, who did not contest during the primaries, had their slots filled by males.
Only one out of the 23 female candidates fielded by the CPP has so far won the election.
Gender and policy advocacy organisations need to do more through sensitisation and empowerment programmes to increase social awareness as well as provision of financial assistance to female candidates.
That is necessary to increase the number of women who vote in order to increase the number of women who are elected to promote gender equality and women's participation in public life.
Until that is done, Ghana will still have a long way to go to attain 30 per cent of women representation in parliament.
Across Africa, improvements have been made in some countries such as Rwanda and South Africa. However, the 30 per cent representation of women in politics and decision making as a provision for the ultimate goal of 50 per cent representation as spelt out in the Beijing Platform for Action is yet to be achieved by majority of the countries that have ratified or signed onto the document. Currently Rwanda is the only country in the world where women make up the majority in parliament. Women secured 48 out of the 80 seats or 56.25 per cent. The Constitution of Rwanda provides for 30 per cent minimum quota for women in Parliament or 23 seats.

Dealing with challenges of HIV

2008-11-18T04:06:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE fact that HIV and AIDS continues to pose a major challenge to the economic development of Africa because its infection rate is about 70 per cent , is well- known by many people.
It is also common knowledgethat HIV continues to pose a developmental challenge to most countries in Sub-saharan Africa where 22.5 million out of the 33.2 million people are infected with the disease.
Furthermore, the fact that in Ghana the national response programme has made significant impact to the extent that the national prevalence rate is now 1.9 per cent and various interventions are working ;leading to a very high level of awareness creation, is also not new. Majority of the infections in the country, nearly 90 per cent are within the age group of 15-49 years ,with 58 per cent of infected people being women and girls.
According to the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), currently, awareness creation in the country is almost universal and 110 sites have been established to offer anti- retroviral treatment (ART), while prevention of mother to child transmission centres (PMTCT) have been established in most hospitals to cater for pregnant women.
Condom usage has also increased from 28 to 33.4 per cent in women and from 44 to 52 per cent in men.
Despite these significant achievements, the Director General of the GAC Prof Sakyi Awuku-Amoah, contends that the nation is still confronted with many challenges that call for effective media involvement in the fight against the HIV pandemic.
He mentioned some of these challenges in his opening remarks at a workshop for journalists in Accra as the need to disseminate information to reduce high risk behaviour and personal risk exposures, stigma reduction, increasing ART therapy, since a large number of persons living with HIV (PLWAs) are not going for the anti- retroviral therapy, to help them manage the disease and prolong their life span.
He therefore charged the media to change their ‘sit-and-look attitude’ and assume a proactive role to addressing HIV and AIDS and help to showcase HIV and AIDS prevention interventions at all levels.
The workshop was organised by the GAC to build the capacity of participants in the ethics in order to give accurate reporting on HIV and AIDS, as part of this year’s World AIDS Day celebration, which falls on December 3. This year’s celebration is under the theme “Leadership: Reducing stigma and Discrimination.
Stigma and discrimination have greatly affected the fight against HIV and AIDS. This is because while only 10 per cent of the global population knew their HIV status, in Ghana, it was eight per cent.
This means that a lot of people do not know their status, while a large number of those who know their status and are in need of anti-retroviral treatment have refused to go for the treatment because of the fear of stigmatisation and discrimination. Consequently, only about 17,000 out of 71,000 PLWAs who need ART, go for medication. The question being asked is that why do we continue to stigmatise PLWAs to the extent that they refuse to go for their medication.
The opening remarks by the Prof Awuku-Amoah, and the presentations by Mr Cosmos Ohene-Adjei, a Sub-project Manager at the GAC and Mr Ato Amoaning of the League of HIV reporters set the tone for discussions.
Apart from the issue of PLWAs not accessing treatment as a result of stigmatisation, one of the issues that came up for discussion was whether prostitution should be legalised in view of the risk faced by commercial sex workers as a result of the HIV pandemic. Available reports indicate that a number of commercial sex workers are HIV-positive.
Conceding that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world which involves men, women, adults, children, the rich and the poor some participants indicated that some people engage in the business because of poverty, while other factors also make people to engage in prostitution, or seek the services of prostitutes.
Those who looked at the issue from the moral point of view contended that prostitution is a sin against God, since it involved the use of ones body, which is the temple of the Lord, for commercial sex purposes.
Others also said that the legalisation of prostitution would do more harm than good to the nation since it would encourage the youth to be promiscuous.
Some also debunked the argument that measures would be put in place to conduct a test on licensed prostitutes when it was legalised to ensure they operated without being infected with the virus, because nobody could be forced to undertake the HIV test since the test was voluntary.
In the light of these complexities and insecure formalities, they said legalisation of prostitution, which was a criminal act under the criminal Code 1960 (Act 29), had proved to be incapable of solving the HIV pandemic.
On the contrary, those in favour of the legalisation of prostitution maintained that, that action would provide structures to make sure that men and women or boys and girls who wanted to offer their bodies for sex for payment obtained license from an approved body and these prostitute shall be subjected to periodic HIV tests to make sure that none of them practised prostitution while infected.
T deal with low risk perception especially among the youth due to misconception and lack of adequate in-depth knowledge about HIV.
HIV is adevelopmental and social issue and all must come together to fight stigma and discrimination to deal with the spread of HIV by strengthening counselling services and intensifyig education to address the nagative thought that HIV is contracted through promiscuity.

Let’s identify exploitative child labour

2008-11-13T04:17:00.000-08:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Over the past few years the issue of what constitutes child labour in the cocoa production chain has generated arguments in some quarters.
There is one school of thought that maintains that the issue of child labour does not arise when a child accompanies his or her parents/guardians to the farm, while another asserts that children who do this at the expense of their education or health face some form of exploitative child labour.
There is another group that also questions the stage at which child labour occurs in the 28 steps involved in the cocoa production chain.
To find answers to these questions and in response to concerns and negative reports in the international media on Ghana in respect of the existence of the worst forms of child labour within the cocoa production sector, the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa (NPECLC) was instituted.
The primary goal of the programme is to encourage more organisations to fit their activities into the framework of the programme to ensure that Ghana meets its medium-term target of eliminating the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector by 2011.
Since its inception in 2006, the NPECLC has consciously worked towards the attainment of its strategic objectives with the institution of plans and programmes to propel the nation to achieve its goals.
These include promotion of universal basic education, enhancement of the knowledge base of the Worst Form of Child Labour (WFCL) in cocoa production, strengthening of the legal framework for dealing with WFCL and community mobilisation for action against WFCL.
The programme is also geared towards the development and implementation of interventions to eliminate WFCL in cocoa and the development of measures to reduce the need for child labour in cocoa.
The programme was established with initial funds and technical support from the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the World Cocoa Foundation. Donor agencies, including the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Danish Embassy, provided assistance.
Ghana has a lot to talk about in relation to the enactment of laws, ratification of international treaties and the establishment of rules and procedures for enforcing rights of the child and parental obligations, care and protection of children.
Chapter 5 of the country’s constitution deals with fundamental human rights and freedoms which conform to the international human rights framework. In addition, to the rights accorded to all persons, various articles deal specifically with children’s rights.
In 1998, Parliament passed the Children's Act (Act 560) which provided a list of enforceable children's rights and the obligations of parents towards their wards.
The Children’s Act is an embodiment of all the various conventions and policies that protect children’s rights in Ghana and to ensure that every child of school-going age enrols in school, the government instituted the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (F-CUBE) Programme.
In addition to this, the School Feeding Programme, free bus rides for children to and from school and district-based interventions were also put in place to encourage the education of the Ghanaian child.
Training programmes such as the Skills Training and Employment Programme (STEP), which has been transformed into the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), and several other initiatives have been introduced. These are targeted at ensuring a safe future for Ghanaian children.
Some children are, however, not benefiting from many of these interventions because they are busily engaged in the worst forms of child labour in the mining sector, while others are forced to work in the fishing industry at tender ages; engaged in farming activities and do other jobs which are hazardous and exploitative to their welfare.
Even though initially, the Worst Form of Child Labour (WFCL) in Ghana’s cocoa sector was not recognised, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the West Africa Cocoa/Commercial Agriculture Project (WACAP) that run from 2003 to 2006 revealed that the phenomenon did exist in the country on a smaller scale.
Speaking at the sixth Partners’ Forum organised by NPECLC for partners to develop a framework for co-ordination of activities towards elimination of worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector, Mrs Rita Owusu-Amankwah, the National Programme Manager of NPECLC, said this year, the programme undertook the second survey on child labour practices in the cocoa sector.
She said the pilot survey was completed in April 2007 and covered six districts in three cocoa growing regions of the country, while the scale-up survey, which covered 15 districts was completed in June 2008, adding that the two surveys were funded by the World Cocoa Foundation, and supported by COCOBOD.
According to the programme manager, findings of the pilot survey led to a better understanding of the nature and extent of the occurrence of WFCL in the cocoa sector, including the complications of child labour with child socialisation or upbringing by parents.
She said the scale-up survey also led to the discovery of the fact that children generally take part in cocoa farm activities and work alongside their parents or guardians mainly on weekends and holidays and that work is allotted to children, based on their age.
It revealed that majority of children (99 per cent) who were engaged in work within the cocoa sector actually lived with their parents or close relations and 91 per cent were enrolled in school, while 71 per cent attend school regularly and they did not work for wages.
Mrs Owusu-Amankwah stated that the survey report that was made public in June, this year revealed that 29.4 per cent of the respondents were involved in hazardous work, while 20.9 per cent of children work without adequate protective clothing and the majority of injuries happen at home and school, not on the farm.
She said implications of some of the key findings call for intensive efforts to ensure 100 per cent school enrolment of children in cocoa-growing areas, while children of school-going age need more support to participate fully in school. Also, more attention needs to be given to the improvement of the quality of education in cocoa-growing communities.
Ms Patience Dapaah, Programme Communication Officer of the NEPCLC, who briefed the forum on the outcome of a meeting organised by the International Cocoa Initiative hosted by child labour experts in London, in April, this year, called for the co-ordination of activities among partners to ensure that the varied interventions taking place in cocoa-growing areas meet the national goal.
In his contribution, a participant, Mr Tony Dogbe of Participatory Development Associates, said there was the need to clearly define the context within which child labour occurs in the cocoa-growing areas and that must be clearly supported with facts to enhance a better understanding of the issue.
There is the need for us as a nation to gain the understanding and acceptance of partners on the issue, fight the root causes of exploitative child labour, and help children gain access to education and opportunities for development. Denying the extent of the problem means postponing the right to protect vulnerable children.

Female teachers make women proud (Daily Graphic, Gender & Children’s Page 16/10/08)

2008-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor & George Earnest Asare
The enviable feat accomplished by Ms Charlotte Azurago, the then 28-year old teacher at Lwanga in Zebilla in the Upper East Region, who was adjudged the first female overall National Best Teacher at the 2004 World Teachers’ Day in Wa, seems to have opened a new chapter in the lives of some female teachers.
Madam Doris Naana Marfo, an English Language teacher and Assistant Headmistress of the Sunyani Senior High School (SHS) in the Brong Ahafo Region and Faustina Gyeketey, a teacher of the Obokrom-Kumasi District Assembly (D/A) Junior High School (JHS) in the Gomoa West District in the Central Region, won the enviable prize in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
This achievement was repeated this year with two female teachers being adjudged the first and second runners-up to the 2008 best teacher award at the 14th edition of the National Best Teacher Award Ceremony held in Sunyani, the Brongh Ahafo Regional capital recently.
They are Mrs Magdalene Mensah,a teacher of French at the Opoku Ware Senior High School (SHC) in Kumasi and Mrs Alice Dzifa Gligui-Denueme, Head of Department of Home Economics at the Awudome SHC at Tsito, who emerged the first and second runners-up of the 2008 best teacher award respectively.
Sharing their joy and excitement with the Daily Graphic in separate interviews in Kumasi and Accra, Mrs Mensah said she felt elated for the honour bestowed on her by the state in recognition of her hard work for consistently teaching for over two decades in the country, while Mrs Gligui-Denueme attributed her success to discipline and hard work.
Mrs Mensah described the award as timely, stressing that it would further motivate her to work harder than before, in order to serve as a role model for the youth, especially the girl child.
She said “I am very happy for my chosen career. This is because over the years I have been able to help develop the knowledge of students who knew next to nothing about the French language when they entered school, but left school very much enlightened, contributing in diverse ways to sustainable socio-economic development”.
Mrs Mensah said she won the award when she participated in prestigious teacher award scheme for the first time, adding that she was encouraged by her headmaster, fellow teachers, past and present students who had benefited from her quality scheme of work, as well as members from her immediate community.
The award winner, who holds a Masters Degree in French, said her encouragement stemmed from the fact that she did not only spend adequate time in preparing her notes after conducting in-depth research, but also took much time in her presentation, assigning and accessing students to give them the confidence they needed to pass their examination very well.
On how she went through the series of interviews at the district, regional and national levels, Mrs Mensah said as a teacher, she had gone through promotion interviews before " so I knew what was expected of me, but at the national level of the teachers award, I knew that I was going to face a tougher panel, so I got myself prepared very well and it paid off".
" I made sure that my notes were standard, dummy teaching was masterful, answered all their questions with confidence and left an impression on them, so I was sure that I would win something but not to this magnitude. " She explained further.
She said that after meeting the panel at the national level, a special field team followed up to Opoku ware School, where they checked on her style of teachings, supervision, mode of assignments and some extra curricula activities as well as her contribution to the immediate community. She said she later got a message from the regional co-ordinator informing her that she had been nominated for a national award, but she did not know the category of award and that put her in a state of suspense until the 11th hour.
She said the reception accorded her moments after she returned from Sunyani with her prizes was overwhelming and expressed her gratitude to God for the spiritual guidance and also to the headmaster of Opoku Ware SHS and the staff for their support.
Mrs Mensah, who is a mother of two, advised the youth, especially the girl-child, to be serious with their academic work to be able to achieve their heart desires, adding that "The sky is our limit, and we should also not be discouraged in our activities but persevere to make it.
Fo her part, the second runner-up, started receiving honours at the OLA Senior Secondary School where she was the schools prefect. The school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and management honoured her for being the well-behaved and a serious student.
From there she won the 1996 District Best Teacher Award for Gushiegu-Karaga when she was teaching at the Gushiegu-Karaga Local Authority Junior Secondary School and then the Northern Regional Best Teacher in 2001.
The award winner said she then proceeded to the University of Education, Wineba to study Home Economics and was posted to Tamale Islamic SSS after she graduated in 2005. She was transferred to Taviese-Deme Roman Catholic JSS in 2007, where she taught Science and then was posted to Awudome Tsito SSS early this year where she teaches Home Economics and also serves as head of that department.
She said she had remained committed to her work and performed her duties with dedication and pointed out that she had projected her school with the honour, and expressed optimism that it would greatly impact positively on her personal life, as well as that of her students and the community in which she lived.
Mrs Gligui-Denueme, who is married to Dr Saviour Denueme, a Vertinary Surgeon, with three children, advised the girl child to study hard and serve as role models in their respective areas.
She advised students to disabuse their minds of the notion that Home Economics is for those who do not do well, adding that all subjects are equally important in the national development programme.
She appealed to the government to provide schools with the needed materials and create the conducive atmosphere for effective teaching and learning. She also said there was the need to improve the conditions of service of teachers and motivate them to give their best.
To her, discipline, determination and hard work form the basis of everything, adding that she is from a disciplined home and that accounts for her academic exploits.

Rural Women’s Day marked in Azizanya (Daily Graphic, 18/10/08. Gender and Childre’s Page)

2008-10-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Wednesday, October 15, was observed as World Rural Women’s Day. The idea of the event, which is devoted each year to honour rural women, began at the United Nations Conference for Women in Beijing in September 1995.
The theme for this year’s celebration was, “Climate Change: Rural Women Are Part of the Solution”, while that for 2007 was “The right to food: Rural women produce and provide”
The International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), Network of African Rural Women Associations (NARWA) and the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) were the main proponents of the day.
Online information indicate that rural women, mainly farmers, are at least 1.6 billion and represent more than a quarter of the total world population. Women produce on average more than half of all the food that is grown: Up to 8O per cent in Africa, 6O per cent in Asia, between 3O and 4O per cent in Latin America and Western countries.
Despite these women own only two per cent of the land, and receive only one per cent of all agricultural credit, while only five per cent of all agricultural extension resources are directed to women.
In Ghana, records at the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that women constitute 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force and produce 70 per cent of subsistence crops and play major roles in production and distribution.
The event was therefore considered a practical way of obtaining recognition and support for the multiple roles of rural women who are mostly farmers and small entrepreneurs.
Because of their key role in food production and food security, it was decided that the World Rural Women's Day fall on the October 15 - the day before World Food Day.
The purpose of the day is to provide rural women and their organisations with a focal point to raise the profile of rural women, sensitise both governments and the public to their crucial, yet largely unrecognised roles, and promote action in their support.
As part of this year’s celebration in Ghana, the Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP), a non-profit making organisation, organised a programme with women in Azizanya in Ada to discuss how best to address the issue of coastal erosion confronting the community. During the meeting, the women resolved to initiate a programme that will harness their efforts to support each other during critical times of the coastal erosion.
They also appealed to the government to engage with the traditional authorities to give them a parcel of land which they will collectively develop as a long term means of providing sustainable and affordable housing.
The women noted that their communities, environment, industries, services and workplaces were facing rapid changes. Drought, climate change, and water issues have increased the cost of doing business. The prices of imputs such as fuel and fishing nets are challenging their very livelihoods.
The women in Azizanya also affirmed that vast distances and lack of infrastructure did not only isolate them, but also stifled growth, innovation, entrepreneurship and adaptive capacity, which threatens Ghana's economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability and prosperity.
In a welcome address, the Executive Director of FFP, Ms Mardey Ohui Ofoe, said this year's theme was crucial because over the past years, rural women had played significant roles in communities affected by drought, coastal land erosion and ongoing climate change. In these circumstances women in rural communities take on critical roles spanning family, business and the community development.
The rural women and climate change initiative is about local women working together and exploring partnerships that improve their family situations and community's well-being.
In a goodwill message read on his behalf, the Chief of Azizanya, Nene Akrofi Kabu, expressed his profound gratitude to the FFP for the programme and expressed the hope that the conversation would produce lessons that would help the people of Azizanya to address their own climatic change problems.
The chairperson for the programme, Madam Ghananye, admonished the women to take seriously the issues discussed to mobilise themselves to ensure that they maximised the knowledge gained to the benefit of all. She said when the sea eroded the land, women lost property, got displaced, thereby exposing them to diseases and severe poverty.
The Assembly Member of the Azizanya Electoral Area, Hon. Paul T. Amegavie, said women and children were the major victims of the Ada sea erosion because it took over their households and properties.

Ministry commends Okyenhene - For supporting fight against FGM

2008-10-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) has stated that it is continuously seeking the support and collaboration of all stakeholders in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM).
It described the call by the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin for the prosecution of traditional rulers found to be promoting the negative cultural practice as very welcome and commended the chief for his support towards the fight against the abolition of the practice.
A statement issued from the Public Relations Unit of MOWAC, dated October 14, 2008 made reference to the Okyenhene’s call made at a durbar organised to mark the ninth anniversary of his enstoolment as Okyenehe and said the chief’s support for women’s empowerment and child education, is laudable.
The statement said under its responsibility for advancing the welfare of women and children, the ministry has taken note of the call and pointed out that the ministry since its establishment has championed the fight against FGM as part of its mandate of protecting the rights of women and children.
It said a lot of activities, including advocacy and sensitisation workshops have been undertaken in areas where FGM is practised to sensitise communities, community leaders and traditional authorities on the dangers of the practice and the fact that it infringes on the human rights if its victims and these interventions, have helped to reduce FGM considerably.
Health experts say FGM is an invasive and painful surgical procedure that is often performed without anaesthetic on girls before puberty.
Various sources estimate that from about 60 to 140 million women in the world have been circumcised. Globally, an average of about four girls a minute continue to suffer from the practice.
The result is that sexual feelings are either inhibited or terminated. Sexual intercourse is often extremely painful for the woman. Childbirth often involves a Caesarian section .
FGM has been a social custom in Northern Africa and is occasionally performed in North America and Europe on girls of families who have immigrated from countries where FGM is common
In Ghana, although some harmful traditional practices, such as widowhood rites and female genital mutilation have been criminalised under the Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), women are still a long way from achieving equality and these practices persist in some communities due to existing stereotyped conceptions of women caused by socio-cultural factors which perpetuate discrimination based on sex.
A BBC news carried in the October 17, edition of the Daily Graphic indicated that a community in eastern Uganda has banned the deeply rooted practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
It quoted an official from the
Kapchorwa District chairman Nelson Chelimo as saying that it was an "outmoded" custom and "not useful" for the community's women.
Some of the side effects of the cultural practice can include, hemorrhage, shock, painful scars, keloid formation, labial adherence, clitoral cysts, chronic urinary infection, and chronic pelvic infections. Later in life, it can cause kidney stones, sterility, sexual dysfunction, depression, and various gynaecological and obstetric problems.
The FGM Education and Networking Project, which maintains a regularly updated list of countries, population groups, and the types of operation performed estimates that 90 per cent or more of the girls in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan (North) have undergone the practice.
The same source indicates that over 50 per cent of the girls in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Togo have also undergone FGM.

Reporting on HIV and AIDS- Highlight concerns of vulnerable groups (Daily Graphic page 11, 04/10/08)

2008-10-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The story told by a 31-year-old HIV positive woman at a three-day workshop on “Effective reporting on women and HIV and AIDS” at Dodowa, touched the hearts of participants.
The woman (name withheld) was infected with the virus by her partner (now deceased), who never disclosed his status to her when he tested positive.
Following persistent illness, the woman was tested for HIV and when she disclosed the results to her partner, he became offended and threw her out of their home.
The woes of the woman were compounded when she lost her job at the time that she was sick and also became homeless, but thanks to the support of public-spirited individuals and organisations, she is now living a positive life and has become an HIV and AIDS advocate.
More pathetic was the story of a 14-year-old orphan who has lost both parents through AIDS and is also living with the virus.
She is being catered for by a relative but things have been very rough for her, and sometimes she is unable to take her antiretroviral therapy because there was no food for her, while money for the payment of her school fees and for the procurement of other educational needs is difficult.
These may just be two examples of the difficulties encountered by thousands of HIV sufferers, who apart from facing personal and societal stigmatisation are confronted with financial constraints and find it difficult to make ends meet to lead positive lives.
The workshop, organised by the Women Media and Change (WOMEC), a non-governmental organisation, with sponsorship from the African Women Development Fund, was attended by female journalists from both the private and state-owned media organisations. It was aimed at sharpening their skills to promote effective use of the media to report on HIV and AIDS.
A presentation by Dr Oliver Commey of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on the topic, “Women’s vulnerability to HIV and AIDS”, gave a number of reasons that buttressed the point that women greatly bear the brunt of HIV and AIDS.
This, he explained, was in view of the fact that women were commonly blamed for bringing the infection home. They are rejected, demonised and stigmatised and also suffer health-related stress, as well as lost time from economic activities.
HIV positive women are also concerned about the issues of marriage, fertility, stigma, disclosure, security in marriage, harassment and access to treatment and care.
Dr Commey said statistics indicated that globally, only 10 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status and in Ghana it was eight per cent.
He said this meant that more people did not know their status, while 77 per cent of the 17.5 million women living with HIV and AIDS were in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said it was necessary for everybody to check his or her HIV status to ensure good health.
He also advised rape victims, who may have been exposed to the HIV infection, to report for treatment within 48 hours. Such victims, he said, could receive a post exposure prophylactics treatment at the 93 HIV counselling and treatment units and regional hospitals to stop the infection.
Mrs Bernice Heloo, International President of the Society of Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), said the organisation, funded in 1988, was operating in 41 African countries to champion the cause of women and children who were affected and infected with the disease.
She said more women were vulnerable to HIV infection due to biological, social, economic, social-cultural practices, wife inheritance, as well as the low level of education of women and the patriarchal nature of society, adding that HIV had worsened the plight of a number of women.
She said women should be concerned and critically look at the factors that fuelled the spread of the virus and “conspire to make women more vulnerable to the disease”, stressing that key players needed to look beyond the current approaches of preaching abstinence, being faithful and condom use to underlying social and cultural factors that made women vulnerable to the virus.
A lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Mr Tim Quashiegah, said reporters should educate themselves on the dynamics of HIV and AIDS and write on the topic with precision and clarity, exhibiting creativity, with a resolve to make a difference in their reportage.
The resource persons urged the media to write stories to address the misconception that HIV was a disease of the poor and write about HIV positive people who had made it in life and also talk about the social needs of people living with the virus, which include shelter, good food and employment.
They said the media needed to educate the public to know that there were facilities accessible in every regional hospital and a lot of other health facilities totalling 93 sites in all parts of the country, where full ART were being offered for people living with the virus at a cost of GH¢5.00 a month.
The public also need to be informed that testing HIV positive is not a death sentence but the ART, in combinations of three or more drugs that do not cure HIV infection, prevent the development of AIDS and prolong the lives of HIV sufferers.
The media also need to gather, analyse and disseminate accurate information on HIV and AIDS and keep authorities on their toes.

Women to march for peaceful elections

2008-09-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Sunday, September 21 would be observed as the International Day of Peace. The day was instituted in September 2001 when the Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence Peace Day. This was after the United Nations General Assembly had passed Resolution 36/67 declaring an International Day of Peace in 1981.
In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new Resolution 55/282 declaring September 21 of each year as the International Day of Peace.
The resolution declares that: “The International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day...”
As part of activities marking the day in Ghana, the Africa Regional Desk of the Women Peacemakers Programme (WPP), in collaboration with Mothers for Active Non-violence (MOFAN-V) will organise a march for peaceful elections in Accra tomorrow (September 19).
The march, dubbed “Women March for Peaceful Elections”, is to be participated by both men and women from identifiable groups and organisations who will commence the event at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra through Ring Road to the International Press Centre, where a peace rally and a news conference would be held.
The overall goal of the march is to support public education on the need for political parties in particular and Ghanaians in general to commit themselves to peaceful elections.
It is also to raise awareness on the need for Ghanaians to stand up for peace during and after the elections and to get women actively involved in public peace education.
Ms Euphemia Akos Dzathor, Africa Regional Co-ordinator of the Africa Regional Desk of the Women Peacemakers Programme, said the organisation was committed to peace and advised women to help promote a peaceful election by talking to their husbands, brothers, uncles and friends to watch out for issues that could trigger conflicts and speak out against violent behaviours.
She advised women not to think that elections were only for men, because invariably, women and children were those who bore the brunt of problems emanating from conflict situations that result from violent elections.
Mrs Becky Adda-Dontoh, a gender advocate and President of Mothers for Active Non-violence, said the march was intended to support public education for peaceful election and get women to stand up in support of that cause.
She said by their God-given talents, women were the nurturers of peace and urged more women to get involved in the peace day event.
The world body invites all Member States, organisations of the United Nations system, and non-governmental organisations and individuals to commemorate the event in an appropriate manner, through education and public awareness, and to co-operate with the United Nations in the establishment of the global ceasefire.
Globally, member countries will hold the International Day of Peace Vigil in every house of worship and place of spiritual practice, by all religious and spiritually based groups and individuals, and by all men, women and children who seek peace in the world to encourage the observation of a worldwide peace and non-violence.
Around the world, people will be planting Peace Poles, re-dedicate their Peace Poles, conducting World Peace Prayer Ceremonies, participating in community service projects, and observing the International Day of Peace in service and prayer for peace.
The World Peace Prayer Society encourages participation by all individuals, organisations and schools to commemorate the day in whatever way they feel appropriate, whether that means organising a large programme with thousands of others, or silently taking a moment for peace by yourself. Remember to include the prayer ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’.

Dealing with conflicts in marriages (Daily Graphic, 09/11/08. Gender & Children’s Page

2008-09-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Marriage is about love, pleasure, commitment, understanding and excitement. Life is a bed of roses at the beginning of married life, irrespective of whether it resulted from a love affair or is an arranged marriage.
One begins to notice the subtle changes when the first baby arrives. Marital satisfaction among some couples hits a new low with the arrival of a baby, but it is necessary for couples to understand that this is a normal development that most couples go through and just hang on till it passes.
It is not as if all successful marriages are perfect marriages. Like all other human institutions, conflicts and disagreements are all part of any marriage. A successful marriage is often an indicator of how correctly the couple have handled their conflicts. Everything hinges on how well these conflicts are handled and how soon one is able to solve issues without allowing them to escalate.
A few examples of some recent media reports demonstrate that misunderstandings in marriages and relationships can degenerate into bloody conflicts if not properly handled with care and compassion.
A report in the August 16 edition of the Ghanaian Times said Saul Kofi Campbell, also known as Kofi Carpenter, a coffin-maker, went to the house of his girlfriend, Serbian Amoh, 32, who decided to end their two-year-old relationship and woke her up from sleep under the pretext of discussing an important issue with her. Sabina, a seamstress, was found dead in a pool of blood at a refuse dump.
On August 29, the Daily Graphic carried another chilling story resulting from a marital feud between a woman and her husband.
Ekua Tawiah, the woman who set herself and family ablaze, killing her husband and seven-year-old son, was reported to have refused food and medicine at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital where she later died after her admission.
The report further indicated that co-tenants revealed that the couple had serious disagreements in the past few months and indeed, just before his death at the hospital, John Mesu, Ekua’s husband, confirmed this to a reporter but said he did not anticipate the action from his wife.
On Saturday August 30, 2008, an Accra Daily published that a man had allegedly killed his wife because he was suspicion of the calls she had been getting on her mobile telephone.
Kofi Mensah, a palm wine tapper, allegedly cut the throat of his wife, Janet Afu, 35, with a cutlass on their farm and then committed suicide by hanging.
The incident happened at Praso, near Tanoodumase in the Atwima-Mponua District of Ashanti Region. The police said the couple had been married for about seven years and had been having some misunderstanding for some time now following Mensah’s suspicion that Janet had been having extra-marital affairs.
One can go on enumerating horrific examples of conflicts in marriages and other relationships that have turned bloody leading to the injury or death of a spouse.
‘Real love in Marriage’, an online journal, identifies the issue of low sex drive verses high sex drive among couples and the tendency of some spouses not to forgive each other, as some of the possible causes of conflicts in marriage.
It also says the root cause of most disagreements leading to a divorce is the desire by a partner in a relationship to show authority, which can cloud a person's judgement so badly that it leads him/her to make irrational decisions which he/she might otherwise not have made.
Conflicts in marriages can result in bitterness that causes pain or grief, such as bitter remarks or the actions of bitter enemies.
Health experts say that most of the problems that cause mental illness in women include depression, anxiety, sexual abuse and abuses that occur in relationships or marriages.
A marriage counsellor and resident Pastor of the Atomic Hills Estate Presbyterian Church, Reverend Dei Awuku, said two issues need to be considered when discussing conflicts in marriages.
He said there are some husbands who for several years stomach a whole lot of problems they encounter in their marriages, because they think that their peers will taunt them when they discuss their marital problems with them.
When they can no longer contain the situation, there is an explosion.
He also said lack of communication among marriage couples also results in conflicts which are difficult to handle.
He stressed the need to make counselling services available to would-be, as well as married couples, who are both in religious marriages and under customary marriage to enhance understanding and peaceful resolution of conflicts in marriages.
Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, Convenor of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), said over the years, because most societies are structured in a patriarchal way, women were trained right from infancy to acquire certain attributes to be a good wife, while husbands were regarded as superior to their wives because they were perceived as the main breadwinners.
She said with education and societal changes, some women are performing roles that used to be performed by their husbands and the notion that men are the sole breadwinner is no longer tenable, consequently, some men feel threatened.
Dr Mensah-Kutin, who is also the African Regional Co-ordinator of ABANTU for Development, said there was the need for married couples to recognise these societal changes and integrate the new things happening in the society into their marriages, while wives also need to help their husbands overcome their chauvinism in order to live in peace.
Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, a Member of the Council of State and the National Prayer Director of Women’s Aglow International, said the rampant conflicts in some marriages indicate that “ the Agape love as enumerated in the Bible is missing in relationships”.
She said First Corinthians Chapter 13 says love is patient and kind and keeps no record of wrongs, “but most of us keep records of the wrongs in our relationships and we don’t forgive one another”.
She also said love protects and trusts and it behoves people in relationships to protect and trust one another.
She advised partners to engage in dialogue and persevere when there are problems and practicalise what God says about love.
Another online journal, ‘The Women’s News’, has some tips on dealing with the situation.
It advises couples never to allow what begins as an argument to become a major disagreement and try to solve the problem when it is still at the first stage.
It is not as if every argument or issue can be amicably solved. In fact, some issues may never be resolved even over a period of time – some of the common ones being in-law problems, money and even issues involving the kids. Learning to live with the differences and adjusting to each other will help bind the marriage.
Simple skills when practised regularly can help to stabilise your marriage. Share whatever you like and appreciate about your partner. Learn to share all your hopes and dreams and make him part of your life in every sense. Discuss any changes in plans and situations and keep him in the loop always.
Never let misunderstandings fester or suspicions linger unnecessarily. Clear up the air as soon as possible. If there is something you don’t like, be open and tell him about how you would like to have it done instead of just criticising him.
Fortunately, the cause of conflict in marriage is not a mystery. Couples all over the world are applying the principles of Real Love and discovering a level of happiness they had never before thought possible.

Looking at the status of women

2008-09-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
Ghana has a lot to talk about in relation to the enactment of laws, ratification of international treaties and the establishment of rules and procedures for enforcing rights of the child and parental obligations, care and protection of children, as well as the adjudication of judicial and quasi-judicial matters affecting children.
In 1998, Parliament passed the Children's Act (ACT 560) which provided a list of enforceable children's rights and obligations of parents towards their wards.
The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child, which was referred to as the 1979 Declaration. The declaration called upon countries, local authorities, civil society organisations and parents to recognise and strive for the protection of the rights of children.
The declaration also influenced the passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Ghana responded positively to the initiatives of the United Nations in being the first country to ratify the UN CRC.
An Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) Decree was passed on August 26, 1979 to establish the Ghana National Commission on Children (which is now known as the Department of Children) and August 31 was declared as the National Children's Day.
The commission is to see to the general welfare and development of children and co-ordinate all essential services for children in the country, with the view to promoting the rights of the child.
The first National Programme of Action dubbed, ‘the Child Cannot Wait’, was developed with set goals that gave a focus to the work by government and civil society organisations to enhance the progress for children in their survival, protection, participation and development.
To protect children against harmful traditional practices the 1992 Constitution included a whole chapter on the rights of a child.
With the passage of the Children's Act, the Ghana National Commission on Children and other public and private stakeholders have the legal backing to fight for the cause of children in Ghana.
Two important events pertaining to the welfare of children were observed in the country at the end of August. Ghana joined the international community to mark the International Day of the Child and the ceremony coincided with the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Children's Act. The 10th anniversary on the Children’s Act is on the theme: "Children at the Centre of the Children's Act (Act 560)."
The National Children's Day has the objective of creating a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on pertinent issues concerning children and strengthening partnership with child-related agencies to address the concerns of children.
Other policies and programmes backed by legislative frameworks that offer strategies for the protection, survival and development of children in the country include, the 1960 Criminal Code (Act 29), Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), Juvenile Justice Act 2003 (Act 653), Education Act 1961 that brought into being the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme and the Human Trafficking Act 2005 (Act 694).
To protect children against the six childhood killer diseases, National Immunisation Days (NID) have been instituted, while free medical care that existed for children under five, has been strengthened by the National Health Insurance Scheme and the free medical care for pregnant women, which took off in July, form part of measures to cater for the health needs of children.
Despite these laudable commitments by various governments to protect the rights and welfare of its children as well as develop its future human resource needs for the country's development, the challenges facing the Ghanaian child are still enormous.
A number of children have no shelter; they live dangerously on the streets and engage in hazardous work such hawking, illegal mining, stone quarrying and carry loads to earn income to fend for themselves. Some parents also engage in child trafficking despite legislations banning the practice while some cultural practices are inimical to the rights and protection of children.
The Director for International Desk (Children) of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOW), Mrs Marilyn Amponsah Annan, says she believes that the government is doing its best to ensure that children’s rights are protected and indicated that parents and guardians need to support the government’s efforts to make these efforts a success.
She said the government has improved infrastructural facilities in schools and also introduced the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme in some schools to lessen the burden of the cost of education to parents and indicated that parents need to play their part by taking their children off the streets and sending them to school stop the children from working to earn income to support the upkeep of the home.
According to Mrs Annan, various programmes have been organised by MOWAC, the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare to sensitise parents and guardians to their rights and responsibilities, while a micro-credit scheme is being provided to support unemployed women to empower them economically.
Mr Bright Appiah, a child’s right activist, looked at four areas when asked to assess the 10 years of the operation of the Children’s Act in four areas.
He said in the area of protection, it is true that the law was enacted to protect children but indicated that a lot had not been done to protect children who come into contact with the law and mentioned in particular, lack of adequate protection for children who are defiled and inadequate measures to rehabilitate them
Mr Appiah said in the area of child mortality, the NID is yielding positive results and pointed out that since 2003, no child has died of polio but pointed out that there was the need to put in place measures to protect children with special needs, as well as orphaned and vulnerable children.
He said in relation to the issue of participation, more needs to be done to make children take part in initiation and implementation of decisions that affected their interest.
Mr Appiah pointed out that in looking at the operation of the Children’s Act after 10 years, “we have to look at actualisation of the law with the adoption of comprehensive institutional and administrative arrangements that facilitate effective sharing of ideas and information aimed at ensuring the total development, growth and protection of children.

Female graduates undergo training

2008-08-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
The story of Florence Adjokatcher, a young female graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), who took to frying yam, while schooling at the GIJ, is quite intriguing.
While schooling at the GIJ, Florence combined her education with frying yams opposite her school, to offer her colleague students, something to bite while on break.
With focus, perseverance and a sense of direction, Florence undertook the business, which did not only make her fulfil her desire to pursue her own ideas, but she also received financial reward for the service being rendered.
The young entrepreneur shared her experience with a group of 20 participants who attended a two-day workshop to equip them with entrepreneurial skills. The workshop, dubbed “Women on the Move”, was organised with support from Vital Voices Global Partnership of the United States of America (USA).
The participants were made up of unemployed graduates who hold Higher National Diploma (HND) from various tertiary institutions.
The programme was the initiative of Ms Hillary Gbedemah, a former legal awareness officer of the Volta Regional Office of the Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF), Ghana.
Taking the participants through ‘introduction to entreprenuership’, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Captain Sam Addae (retd), said entreprenuership is a world-wide phenomenon and is the driving force behind small businesses.
He said while an inventor creates something new, an entrepreneur puts the resources together for the invention and sets up a viable business.
Capt Addae (retd) said entrepreneurs are creative, put useful ideas into practice and are willing to take risks, which he described as “calculated risk”.
He also spoke about the three reasons why people want to become entrepreneurs and mentioned the desire to be their own bosses, pursue their own ideas and financial rewards which, he said, come as a result of services being rendered.
He said entrepreneurs have a responsibility not to themselves but to the society and mentioned passion for business, product customer focus, tenacity despite failure and execution intelligence as the four steps for successful entrepreneur.
Ms Gbedemah said she undertook the programme as a result of her resolve to work in pursuit of promoting gender mainstreaming, which requires total commitment and adherence to policies and programmes that will promote investing in policies and programmes to empower women and promote gender equality.
She said the programme was designed to help unemployed young women aged between 22 and 30 to identify their potential and obstacles to achieving their goals.
Ms Gbedemah, who presently works with the Law Institute, said she had been involved in issues related to women’s rights for many years and had found out that a lot of women were in a ‘tight corner’ because of lack of empowerment.
“I observed that a number of unemployed women only needed to be assisted to develop business plans and ideas to go into small-scale businesses,” she said, adding that “these women want jobs but they lack the ability to do the small things they can do as entrepreneurs”.
She said the training programme was an opportunity for participants to learn how to draw business plans that were feasible and types of businesses that were viable, and acquire start-up capital, as well as get enlightened on the advantages of record keeping.
The participants were also taken through the legal framework of business, business arrangements and registration, purchasing and registration of property, sample tenancy agreements, basic finance and developing business plans.

Making international aid gender-sensitive- The EC/UN Partnership (Daily Graphic, 08/19/08. Page 11)

2008-08-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

Story: Salome Donkor
Between September 2 and 4 this year, ministers from over 100 countries and heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organisations, and civil society organisations from around the world will assemble in Accra for the third High-Level Forum on aid effectiveness.
The conference is being held in recognition of the need to reform the process of development assistance to make it more responsive to the needs of developing countries and marginalised people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.
The move towards a more equitable and gender responsiveness in the aid agenda over the years resulted in a conscious effort by the international community to reform the ways through which aid is delivered and managed.
They recognised that while the volumes of aid and other development resources must increase to achieve these goals, aid effectiveness must increase significantly, as well as support partner country efforts to strengthen governance and improve development performance. This is aimed at increasing the impact of aid in reducing poverty and inequality, increasing growth, building capacity and accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The commitment to achieve improved aid effectiveness and results was concretised in the late 1990s, when donors/aid agencies, in particular, began working with each other, and with partner countries, to harmonise these approaches and requirements.
The movement picked up steam in 2002 at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, and the last five years have been marked by a number of initiatives towards establishing a new aid architecture.
This culminated in a High-Level Forum on Harmonisation in Paris in March 2005, attended by heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions, who resolved to take positive steps to reform ways to aid delivery and management.
The High-Level Forum followed up on the adoption of a Declaration that has come to be known as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The declaration is grounded on five mutually reinforcing principles: Ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability.
As part of a programme to enhance the knowledge of the media in understanding the issues concerned with aid effectiveness, the European Commission (EC), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITC-ILO) have launched the EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace.
The partnership is to support stronger action on gender equality and women’s human rights in national development process and in co-operation programmes supported by the EC.
Consequently, a one-day training workshop was organised for journalists in Accra, to provide the opportunity for participants to interact and share ideas on international aid and development issues and to break down the technical terms of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
The participants, made up of representatives from both the print and electronic media, maintained that no country could attain accelerated development if a segment of the population was not involved in the planning and implementation of the development process.
They said it was necessary to ensure that women, who constitute more than half of the population of a number of countries, were involved in development plans, while aid was implemented to meet the different needs of men, women, children and people with special needs.
Ms Afua B. Ansere, the National Programme Co-ordinator UNIFEM said aid effectiveness would be attained if monies flowing into a country as aid were more co-ordinated and used for the intended purpose, while recipients were more accountable for the aid received.
She said for Ghana to attain a middle-income status by 2015, and to make aid effectiveness more relevance to the country, it was important to link the international aid received by the country to gender equality and women empowerment, while looking at the proportion of money that was channelled into health, education and youth training, as well as reproductive health and maternal health care, water and sanitation and the provision of other social services.
Mrs Charity Binka, a member of the EC/UN Partnership, who made a presentation on the concepts of gender equality and women empowerment, said basically women were seen to perform reproductive roles, while men performed productive roles.
She, however, indicated that gender was not a consequence of sex and did not mean that one group was better than the other, adding that “it involves the roles that we play in our homes, the society, the church and in our communities”.
She said gender equality meant that men and women had the same rights, status and fair treatment regardless of their sex.
The Accra forum will among others review progress in improving aid effectiveness, broaden the dialogue to newer actors and chart a course for continuing international action on aid effectiveness.
The conference will conclude high-level discussions and negotiations around key issues, culminating in the endorsement of a ministerial statement — The Accra Agenda for Action — that aims to deepen implementation of the Paris Declaration.

Free maternal care - matters arising

2008-08-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor (daily Graphic, page 11. 12th August, 2008)
THE recent grant received from the British government to provide free maternal care was hailed from various quarters as a positive step to ensure that all pregnant women in the country would pass through pregnancy and delivery safely.
The grant brought about the introduction of a policy of free medical care for pregnant women under the National Health Insurance Scheme, which started in July, this year.
The policy was announced by President J. A. Kufuor after a trip to the United Kingdom, where the British government pledged £42.5 million to support efforts at reducing maternal mortality as envisaged in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A visit to some health facilities in the Greater Accra Region ,barely 10 days into the implementation of the free access to maternal health services in the country, indicated sharp increase in the number of pregnant women registering with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in some major hospitals.
At the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, a total of 780 women had registered with the scheme, 398 at the Tema General Hospital while 64 at the Prampram Healthcare Centre, when the NHIS team visited these facilities.
At its 4th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Tamale between July 25 and July 27, 2008, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), reportedly added its voice to commend the government for introducing free medical care for pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality.
The maternal mortality ratio indicates the risk of death a woman faces with each pregnancy. In settings with high fertility, such as sub-Saharan Africa, women face this risk many times in their lifetime. In Ghana, the maternal mortality ratio is estimated to be between 214 and 540 per 100,000 live births annually.
As such more women have realised the need to access available health facilities in order to have safe delivery . Health experts enumerate causes of maternal mortality in Ghana as bleeding before and after delivery, hypertension and fits in pregnancy, miscarriage and serious infection, among others.
It is therefore a little wonder that reports from various health facilities across the country indicate that the facilities have been crowded with pregnant women, following the implementation of the free ante-natal care delivery policy.
At his turn at the meet-the-press series organised by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Accra recently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Ras Boateng, was reported to have said that figures received from some of the districts indicated that the Ashanti Region was leading with 12,164 pregnant women who have registered under the scheme, followed by the Greater Accra Region with 8,211; the Central Region, 6, 843; the Eastern Region, 5,870; and the Western Region, 5,012.
The rest are the Upper West Region, 3,608; Northern Region, 2,720; Upper East Region, 2,473; Brong Ahafo Region, 2,434; and the Volta Region, 1,589.
The CEO was reported to have stated that there was the possibility that many of those women would not have gone for ante-natal care if the policy was not introduced. This is quite valid considering the fact that, before the introduction of the policy, some women who could not pay for the costs of their delivery were detained by the hospitals.
Under this programme pregnant women would benefit from the ante-natal period to three months after delivery, while emergencies during delivery and all other medical problems that would arise within this period would be covered.
Reports from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the nation’s premiere hospital indicate that following the implementation of the free ante-natal care, the number of delivery cases each day has increased to about eight times and also there is also 12 to 50 caesarian sections each day.
Inaugurating a second theatre for the hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Prof Enyonam Yao Kwawukume ,was reported to have said that the implementation of the free ante-natal care had increased the attendance of pregnant women to the hospital.
He explained that consequently, hospital staff had to work extra hard to attend to the increased number of patients, some of whom needed emergency obstetric and gynaecological care.
It is obvious that a measure needs to be put in place to address the expected upsurge in the number of maternal cases at hospitals following the introduction of the government’s free delivery services to enable the country to achieve the desired objective.
A statement jointly signed by the President of the Ghana Medical Association , Dr Emmanuel Adom Winful and the General Secretary, Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, spoke about the need for other factors to be considered to making the project meaningful and mentioned some of the factors as inadequate number of health professionals, lack of health facilities and low level motivation for health professionals in the face of increased client-load and responsibilities.
The report by the GMA which called on the government to invest resources both in the training of health professionals and the provision of basic equipment to the maternity units of the country’s health facilities to enable them to deliver efficient services, is quite timely.
Yaa Yaa, a 30-year old woman who delivered recently at the Korlebu Teaching hospital, spoke about inadequate facilities, such as beds and serious congestion at the Maternity Ward. She said the health staff are also overwhelmed by the increasing number of expectant mothers who must be attended to at the wards.
The recent opening of a second theatre for the Obstetric and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital is a step in the right direction since the department used to have only one theatre that was operative.
Realising the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which commits the international community to reducing, by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality rate in all developing countries, is an arduous task.
There is the need for the government and benevolent organisations and individuals to help realise this goal.
We are in the political season and all those who have the interest of women at heart, expect those aspiring for political positions to present their health policies as contained in their manifestos to the people and outline measures they intend to put in place to realise the MDGs with particular reference to reducing maternal mortality.
Men also have equal roles to play to live up to their parental responsibility to support government’s efforts of providing a universal access to reproductive health services.

Enhancing the status of women

2008-08-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor (Daily Graphic, 07/08/08. Page 11)
THE launch of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Combined Reports on Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in Accra, recently provided a forum for the enumeration of measures taken over the years to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the country.
The reports cover the period 1993 to 2003 and highlight progress made over the decade in achieving gender equality, as well as challenges and efforts being made by the government towards the realisation of women’s empowerment, equality, equity and sustainable development.
It is being disseminated to all stakeholders who have a role in the implementation of the Convention.
The first section of the reports provides an update on Ghana’s socio-economic and political environment. It also discusses the position and status of women in Ghana since the submission of the first and second reports in 1991 and 1992, respectively.
The reports further evaluates what was achieved with regards to the implementation of the “ Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for Promoting the Advancement of Women”, and “ The Platform For Action” adopted after the Beijing Conference.
The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) submitted the combined report, which was considered by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in August 2006.
State parties are enjoined under provisions of CEDAW to submit periodic reports to the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women and the three reports provided additional information on questions and issues raised in the report and offers a lot of issues for discussion.
The compilation of the report and other related documents of Ghana’s implementation of CEDAW has been made possible through the support and inputs from ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organisations in conjunction with development partners namely, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which provided financial and administrative support.
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.
Chapter 5 of the constitution deals with fundamental human rights and freedoms which conform to the international human rights framework. In addition, to the rights accorded to all persons, articles 22 and 27 deal specifically with women’s rights.
The Minister for Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Hajia Alima Mahama rightly pointed out during the launch of the reports that Ghana has made giant strides in the fulfilment of its national, regional and international commitment adding that Ghana demonstrated its commitment and political will by not only signing the convention, but also through the implementation of various strategies with the view of empowering women.
She was reported to have observed that the government and the people of Ghana had demonstrated their commitment to the tenets of the convention by ensuring that the Constitution and other policies and legislation were consistent with CEDAW.
She said sections of the 1992 Constitution, which guaranteed the fundamental human rights of every Ghanaian irrespective of race, place of origin, gender and freedom from discrimination, which she said were conformity with provisions of CEDAW.
In addition to these, the setting up of the National Council on Women and Development, now the Department of Women, after the 1975 Conference on Women, as a national machinery for women, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs in 2001 with a cabinet status, the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill and the setting up of the Women and Juvenile Unit, now the Domestic Violence and victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, are all positive steps adopted over the past decade to enhance the status of women.
The report points to progress made in women’s health, education and economic empowerment, covering the period under review during which Ghana has seen three consecutive terms of constitutional rule.
Despite these achievements the reports assert that some challenges remain in the area of politics, administration and medium and large-scale industrial development, while the percentage of illiterate women remains high, as compared to men.
Although some harmful traditional practices, such as widowhood rites and female genital mutilation have been criminalised under the Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), women are still a long way from achieving equality and these practices persist in some communities due to existing stereotyped conceptions of women caused by socio-cultural factors which perpetuate discrimination based on sex.
For instance the reports mention that one of the thorny issues that needs to be dealt with is polygamy, which it said was an entrenched socio-cultural and religious practice that remained a big challenge to legislators and policy makers.
Nana Oye Lithur, the African Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHI) said polygamy was still an issue and explained that sometimes it was difficult to determine who was the wife in a polygamous marriage after the husband with multiple wives, died intestate. She said that also raised a lot of issues in relation to property rights.Nana Oye also said although there had been a lot of interventions since 2006 when the reports were submitted, to address issues of maternal health, mentioning, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the recent introduction of free medical care for pregnant women, the issue of unsafe abortion was still outstanding.
She said people needed to be informed and provided with a comprehensive care to ensure that those who qualified under the law, had safe abortion.
She also mentioned the issue of witch camps in some parts of the country and explained that although it had traditional ramifications, efforts must be made to ensure that women perceived as witches, enjoyed their fundamental human rights, stipulated under the constitution.
Ms Gloria Ofori Boadu, President of the Women Assistance and Business Association (WABA) pointed out that women must be sensitised to encourage and support fellow women who aspire for positions in decision-making.
Ms Ofori Boadu, who contested and lost the Abuakwa South Constituency primaries on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, indicated that although there were no laws in Ghana that bar women from participating in politics or in other areas of economic and social life;the cultural perception of women as inferior to men has been a major hinderance to women in politics and public life.
She said after all these years of advocacy, it was unfortunate for some people to think that women who got to decision-making positions would relegate their traditional roles to the background.
She said there was still the need for increased women’s participation in decision-making at the district level, ministries, department and agencies since they formed about 52 per cent of the country’s population.
The reports also mentioned financial constraints to ensure wide publicity of the convention, for example, translation of articles of the convention into local dialects and incorporation of articles on the convention into the laws of Ghana.
They therefore stressed on the need for all stakeholders, as well as the international community to do more to support the implementation of all articles of the convention to enable the nation achieve the aspirations of gender equality, development and peace.

Fighting child labour- Are we losing the battle?

2008-08-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor (7th June, 2008)
While on my way home one evening around 8.00pm, I spotted two girls around the Airport Traffic Lights. One was selling plantain chips and the other sachet water.
The red light came on so they moved towards the vehicles that had stopped to market their wares. Out of curiosity, I asked of their ages when they got close to my car and both of them were aged 8 years and in primary two.
The conversation ended there because the green light came on and I had to move on, but while driving home I could not stop thinking about my two friends, who I will call Abena and Akosua. I felt scared for the two little girls who were moving on the road, walking close to moving vehicles to sell their wares at that time of the night.
My friends Abena and Akosua are not the only children who are engaged in hawking at the various traffic intersections on the streets of Accra, which puts their lives at risk. There are others who also carry loads at lorry stations for a fee, who are popularly referred to as ‘Kayayee.’
In mining areas like Akwatia and Obuasi, children abandon school to engage in ‘galamsey’, while in some areas, children are engaged in stone quarrying.
Some children also climb tall trees to harvest forest products, mix and handle pesticides without adequate protection, dive into deep oceans to untangle fishing nets, use sharp tools and dangerous machinery.
Children engaged in the agricultural sector operate in poor and dangerous conditions and are harshly exploited with little or no pay. They are deprived of their childhood, adequate education and self-development. A large number of these children are exposed to unsafe and risky working conditions.
Many of the jobs they carry out are hazardous - causing physical and mental injuries and sometimes even costing them their lives. In the worst forms of child labour, children are exploited, abused and denied any education, thus compromising their future livelihood.
The Fourth Republican Constitution and the Children’s Act, 1998, Act 560 have clear provisions that protect children against these hazardous conditions, but the practice persists.
When the United Nations adopted the water-shed Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the ILO was poised to provide direct assistance to countries to tackle child labour.
The results of a Child Labour Survey conducted in 2003 estimates that more than 242,000 children are engaged in hazardous labour, while over one million children under 15 years were estimated to be working in Ghana.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that some 165 million children between the ages of five and 14 are involved in child labour. Many of them work long hours, often in dangerous conditions.
Child labour is closely associated with poverty. Many poor families are unable to afford school fees or other educational expenditure and, therefore, depend on the contribution that a working child makes to the household’s income; they tend to place more importance on that than their education.
In 1998, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work was adopted. It included the elimination of child labour as one of the four fundamental principles which the ILO members pledged to respect, regardless of whether they had ratified the relevant Conventions. In 1999, the ILO’s constituents adopted the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182).
The ILO launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 as a platform for highlighting the global extent of child labour and focusing attention on global action to eliminate child labour. Each year the day is celebrated on June 12, to link governments, employers and workers’ organisations, as well as civil society groups and others such as schools and the media, in the campaign against child labour, through advocacy and solidarity.
This year the World Day against Child Labour will be marked around the world with activities to raise awareness that education is the right response to child labour, on the theme “Education: The right response to Child Labour”.
Consequently, emphasis will be focused on educational policies to address child labour by providing properly resourced education and skills training and to promote awareness on the need to tackle child labour.
Child rights advocate, Mr Bright Appiah, states that in the Ghanaian cultural setting where it is believed that children can do something to support the family, it is really difficult to get people to understand that children who work to contribute economically to the house are engaged in child labour.
He said it was important to look at what labour is and how it pertains in the country’s cultural set-up. He explained that anything a child will do depends on his/her strength, age and health, adding that child labour occurs when any of these factors are negatively affected.
He said it was important to look at which was supreme; the law or culture, and pointed out that although the law was supreme, its implementation was inhibited by the cultural environment. Mr Appiah, however pointed out that situations where children do all kinds of jobs for money under hazardous conditions, are not in consonance with the proper growth and development of children and must be critically looked at.
Recognising the role of the media in the national fight against child labour and to enhance the commitment of journalists to the promotion of the enjoyment of the constitutional rights of children, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organised an interaction attended by a delegation from UNICEF Ghana, led by Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Country Representative, and representatives from the Ghanaian media to explore ways of strengthening collaboration between the UN specialised agency on children and the media in Ghana, on how to promote greater coverage of children issues.
Dr Ali Haque pointed out that the enforcement of the laws that protect children was paramount and the media had a role to play in areas where much had not been done.
She said there was the need for adults to be accountable to children and create forums where children’s voices could be heard and their concerns addressed.
A hand-out that outlined guidelines for reporting children advised the media not to publish stories or images which might put the children, their siblings or peers at risk even when their identities were changed, obscured or not used.
It also advised the media to avoid questions, attitudes or comments that were judgmental or insensitive to cultural values and that put children in danger or expose a child to humiliation, or that reactivates a child’s pain and grief from traumatic events.
It also advised media practitioners to avoid categorisations or descriptions that expose children to negative reprisals, including additional physical or psychological harm, or to lifelong abuse, discrimination or rejection by their local communities.
Children are more prone to exploitation than adults. Some employers actually prefer to employ children because they are easier to control and do not know or demand their rights.
For biological and developmental reasons, children who are exposed to dangerous chemicals, machinery, sharp tools and heavy loads are more susceptible to long-term health problems.
Work situations that interfere with their health, education, and mental and physical growth compromise children’s future and there is the need for a concerted effort by all, parliamentarians, non-governmental organisations, and local authorities, consumers and the public in general, to focus on shaping a world fit for children.

WOMEN ON THE MOVE ...Training women in employable skills (GRAPHIC, JULY 26, PAGE 11)

2008-07-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

Article: Salome Donkor
THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has a positive corporate strategy to integrate women’s empowerment and equality issues into the organisation’s core business. The organisation does this by enhancing opportunities for women in self-employment through gender mainstreaming.
Gender mainstreaming was defined by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1997 as 'a strategy for making women's concerns and experiences and those of men an integral dimension of the policies and programmes in the political, economic and social spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated'.
This means that gender mainstreaming should be everyone's job – not the responsibility of a small number of specialists.
Investing in policies and programmes to empower women and promote gender equality is seen as an important step towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This requires total commitment and adherence to policies and programmes that will promote this objective.
One woman who has resolved to work in pursuit of this strategy is Ms Hillary Gbedemah, a former legal awareness officer of the Volta Regional Office of the Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF), Ghana.
Through her initiative, a programme dubbed “Women on the Move” is to be organised with support from Vital Voices Global Partnership of the United States of America (USA), to equip young women with entrepreneurial skills to empower them economically.
An initial training programme, which is designed to help unemployed young women identify their potential and obstacles to achieving their goals, is scheduled to take place in Accra on August 22 and 23, this year. It seeks to accept applications from women aged 22 to 30 who wish to participate in the upcoming training programme.
Elaborating on the programme, Ms Gbedemah, who presently works with the Law Institute, said she had been involved in issues related to women’s rights for many years and had found out that a lot of women were in a ‘tight corner’ because of lack of empowerment.
“I observed that a number of unemployed women only needed to be assisted to develop business plans and ideas to go into small-scale businesses,” she said, adding that “these women want jobs but they lack the ability to do the small things they can do as entrepreneurs”.
Consequently, she approached Vital Voices Global Partnership of the USA to find out what could be done to help unemployed young women develop their entrepreneurial skills, and that yielded a positive response.
She said the training programme was an opportunity for participants to learn how to draw business plans that were feasible and types of businesses that were viable, and acquire start-up capital, as well as get enlightened on the advantages of record keeping.
She also indicated that their backgrounds would be studied and they would be attached to mentors to mentor and track them for six months, after which a follow-up programme would be organised to monitor their performance.
Asked about other assistance that would be offered the participants apart from training, she said depending on their business plans, those who needed funding would be supported to explore sources of funding currently available, adding that efforts would be made to look elsewhere when these available sources were exhausted.
Ms Gbedemah indicated that another programme would be organised for students in Ho, who have formed business clubs, to inculcate in them the spirit of business initiative for them to go into small-scale businesses like petty trading, while on holidays.
She was optimistic that unemployed young women would take advantage of the programme to sharpen their business skills to enhance their living standards.