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.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
WOMEN ON THE MOVE ...Training women in employable skills (GRAPHIC, JULY 26, PAGE 11)
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.
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.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Free medical care for pregnant women- A welcome support
Article: Salome Donkor
BEING pregnant could be exciting for every child-bearing woman. But some cannot forget the traumatic experience they go through either before childbirth, during labour, or soon after delivery.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than half a million women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth every year - that's one death every minute and in Africa, this means one woman in 16 dies.
In Ghana when a woman delivers safely, we wish her well and in Akan, we say “wo tri nkwa” to her which literally means "well done you have survived". Women who have gone through childbirth will agree that this is because childbirth is a matter of life or death for women in Ghana and other developing countries.
Although maternal deaths are rare in the West, yet countries like Ghana records 500 deaths per 100,000 live births each year due to maternal related causes.
Some of the mothers die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth, not because there are no health facilities, but simply because they could not afford the cost of health care.
Even though the country operates a health insurance scheme, most of the women have not registered with the scheme, while delay to reach the service delivery centre, due to poor roads, delay at the service delivery centre due to shortage of personnel as a result of mass exodus of qualified health personnel and lack of materials, have compounded the problem.
Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health and eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, by 2015 are some of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which form a blueprint agreed on by all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions at the United Nations Conference in New York in 2000.
Other goals are achieving universal primary education, to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.
Working towards the attainment of these goals has necessitated calls on various governments to take practical steps such as equipping hospitals, providing maternal health services, training more health personnel and educating our men and women to make informed choices in relation to reproductive health, to reduce maternal deaths .
It is for this reason that a number of women from all walks of life comprising women’s groups drawn from the financial sector, educational institutions, security services, as well as health services and religious and civil service groups from all parts of the country, led by the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, thronged the Castle recently to express their gratitude to President J.A Kufuor.
This was as a result of the President’s role of securing a grant from the British Government for the operation of a free medical policy for pregnant women in the country.
The policy was supported by a pledge from the British Government to donate £42.5 million to support the health sector.
The pledge was made following bilateral talks held by the President with the British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, about the country’s high maternal mortality rates, during an international conference on public and private sector co-operation for the attainment of the MDGs in London, attended by President Kufuor.
The Press Secretary to the President Mr Andrew Awuni, who briefed newsmen on behalf of President Kufuor, shortly after his arrival in Accra was reported to have said that the free medical care for pregnant women represented part of the government’s effort to reduce maternal mortality and achieve targets set by the MDGs.
Consequently, President J.A. Kufuor has directed the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to work out the modalities for the effective implementation of the programme.
When contacted to elaborate on the policy, the Government Spokesperson on Social Service, Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako said although a free medical care for pregnant women and children below age five had been in operation over the years, lack of funds constrained the implementation of the policy.
He said the system, which was initially operated in the three northern regions and the Central Region and then extended to all parts of the country, had not been very effective, adding that the British grant will enable health facilities to provide free medical care for pregnant women for 14 years.
Mr Amponsah Bediako indicated that the money would be disbursed to primary and secondary health institutions in the country under the Ghana Health Service (GHS), as well as the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals.
He said the GHS would design modalities for the implementation of the policy to pregnant women who went to these health facilities, enjoy free anti-natal, post-natal and delivery care.
The Convenor of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said although the British grant for free medical care for pregnant women is laudable, it is necessary to critically examine the government’s current policy on reproductive health.
She said there is the need for an effective reproductive health policy for all women, especially, the most poor in the rural areas who have difficulty accessing health care in the rural areas and to also cater for the special needs of disabled women.
Dr Mensah-Kutin said there were many components of women’s reproductive health and called for a comprehensive and accessible health care delivery system that will address issues of safe motherhood, adolescent reproductive health and maternal and infant health.
A Community Health Nurse in a Rural community in the Eastern Region, Madam Nora Kwapong, said maternal deaths can be prevented if women were able to plan well for their pregnancy - to get physically fit and have medical check-ups in advance.
She said expectant women must be educated on their health, nutrition, hygiene, family planning and birth control to enable them space their children to allow them to regain their strength after each childbirth.
Speaking at the celebrated this year’s International Nurses Day of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association in Accra recently, the President of the association, Mrs Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey rightly acknowledged that the health care sector had been bedevilled with challenges.
She mentioned such some of the challenges as poverty, increased globalization, climate change, food shortage and political unrest all of which affected health and service planning.
She further touched on critical challenges such as rising cost of health care, increasing consumer expectations and demands, changing demographic and ageing populations, the surge in chronic diseases and shortage of nurses and other health workers.
While providing free health care for expectant mothers, there is the need to educate women to ensure that they make informed decisions on when to seek help without waiting endlessly for the man to come back from work before the woman is taken to the hospital.
Secondly, services like good roads, clean hospitals and trained hospital staff can also help. Health care providers also need to critically re-examine their ways and forge new partnerships and methods for meeting the challenges of building their professional capacities for the improvement of the health sector.
BEING pregnant could be exciting for every child-bearing woman. But some cannot forget the traumatic experience they go through either before childbirth, during labour, or soon after delivery.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than half a million women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth every year - that's one death every minute and in Africa, this means one woman in 16 dies.
In Ghana when a woman delivers safely, we wish her well and in Akan, we say “wo tri nkwa” to her which literally means "well done you have survived". Women who have gone through childbirth will agree that this is because childbirth is a matter of life or death for women in Ghana and other developing countries.
Although maternal deaths are rare in the West, yet countries like Ghana records 500 deaths per 100,000 live births each year due to maternal related causes.
Some of the mothers die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth, not because there are no health facilities, but simply because they could not afford the cost of health care.
Even though the country operates a health insurance scheme, most of the women have not registered with the scheme, while delay to reach the service delivery centre, due to poor roads, delay at the service delivery centre due to shortage of personnel as a result of mass exodus of qualified health personnel and lack of materials, have compounded the problem.
Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health and eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, by 2015 are some of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which form a blueprint agreed on by all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions at the United Nations Conference in New York in 2000.
Other goals are achieving universal primary education, to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.
Working towards the attainment of these goals has necessitated calls on various governments to take practical steps such as equipping hospitals, providing maternal health services, training more health personnel and educating our men and women to make informed choices in relation to reproductive health, to reduce maternal deaths .
It is for this reason that a number of women from all walks of life comprising women’s groups drawn from the financial sector, educational institutions, security services, as well as health services and religious and civil service groups from all parts of the country, led by the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, thronged the Castle recently to express their gratitude to President J.A Kufuor.
This was as a result of the President’s role of securing a grant from the British Government for the operation of a free medical policy for pregnant women in the country.
The policy was supported by a pledge from the British Government to donate £42.5 million to support the health sector.
The pledge was made following bilateral talks held by the President with the British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, about the country’s high maternal mortality rates, during an international conference on public and private sector co-operation for the attainment of the MDGs in London, attended by President Kufuor.
The Press Secretary to the President Mr Andrew Awuni, who briefed newsmen on behalf of President Kufuor, shortly after his arrival in Accra was reported to have said that the free medical care for pregnant women represented part of the government’s effort to reduce maternal mortality and achieve targets set by the MDGs.
Consequently, President J.A. Kufuor has directed the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to work out the modalities for the effective implementation of the programme.
When contacted to elaborate on the policy, the Government Spokesperson on Social Service, Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako said although a free medical care for pregnant women and children below age five had been in operation over the years, lack of funds constrained the implementation of the policy.
He said the system, which was initially operated in the three northern regions and the Central Region and then extended to all parts of the country, had not been very effective, adding that the British grant will enable health facilities to provide free medical care for pregnant women for 14 years.
Mr Amponsah Bediako indicated that the money would be disbursed to primary and secondary health institutions in the country under the Ghana Health Service (GHS), as well as the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals.
He said the GHS would design modalities for the implementation of the policy to pregnant women who went to these health facilities, enjoy free anti-natal, post-natal and delivery care.
The Convenor of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said although the British grant for free medical care for pregnant women is laudable, it is necessary to critically examine the government’s current policy on reproductive health.
She said there is the need for an effective reproductive health policy for all women, especially, the most poor in the rural areas who have difficulty accessing health care in the rural areas and to also cater for the special needs of disabled women.
Dr Mensah-Kutin said there were many components of women’s reproductive health and called for a comprehensive and accessible health care delivery system that will address issues of safe motherhood, adolescent reproductive health and maternal and infant health.
A Community Health Nurse in a Rural community in the Eastern Region, Madam Nora Kwapong, said maternal deaths can be prevented if women were able to plan well for their pregnancy - to get physically fit and have medical check-ups in advance.
She said expectant women must be educated on their health, nutrition, hygiene, family planning and birth control to enable them space their children to allow them to regain their strength after each childbirth.
Speaking at the celebrated this year’s International Nurses Day of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association in Accra recently, the President of the association, Mrs Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey rightly acknowledged that the health care sector had been bedevilled with challenges.
She mentioned such some of the challenges as poverty, increased globalization, climate change, food shortage and political unrest all of which affected health and service planning.
She further touched on critical challenges such as rising cost of health care, increasing consumer expectations and demands, changing demographic and ageing populations, the surge in chronic diseases and shortage of nurses and other health workers.
While providing free health care for expectant mothers, there is the need to educate women to ensure that they make informed decisions on when to seek help without waiting endlessly for the man to come back from work before the woman is taken to the hospital.
Secondly, services like good roads, clean hospitals and trained hospital staff can also help. Health care providers also need to critically re-examine their ways and forge new partnerships and methods for meeting the challenges of building their professional capacities for the improvement of the health sector.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hostel facilities for female porters
Story: Salome Donkor
RAMPANT fire outbreaks in some slum dwellings in Accra often result in the destruction of property, and the loss of lives.
In January this year, a female porter and her child and another, perished in a fire outbreak that happened at ‘Sodom and Gomorah’, a slum at Old Fadama in Accra.
Over the years similar incidents had occured in the area, which is the largest slum and informal settlement in the country, as well as slums like “Abuja” at the Cocoa Board Station and the slum along the railway line at Odawna.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the slums are crowded with wooden structures occupied by mostly young girls and children, which are exposed to naked fire due to cooking and other domestic activities by the residents.
Despite repeated public concerns raised on the activities of squatters and slum dwellers, the uncontrolled exodus of female porters, popularly known as “Kayayei” from the three northern regions and other rural communities, to Accra,affect the growth of these slums.
Some of these porters who have no accommodation sleep at lorry parks and in front of shops in the central business district of the city.
In order to find solutions to the problems confronting slum dwellers at Old and new Fadama following eviction notices to them from the government, the residents formed the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor in 2003.
The federation works in collaboration with the People’s Dialogue on Human Settlements to establish savings and build a federation of urban poor communities in Ghana that would be linked to Slum\Shack Dwellers International (SDI).
The People’s Dialogue on Human Settlements is a community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is registered with the Department of Social Welfare and works with the urban poor in Ghana to alleviate poverty and improve their living conditions, as well as explore alternative solutions to forced evictions.
The federation, is a network of community-based organisations participating in community-led savings and loans schemes for housing infrastructure development and livelihood improvement. It operates in about 100 communities in the country in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Western, Volta and Eastern regions.
The federation is working as one of the partner organisations that is collecting data, mobilising information and undertaking community-led mappings, to collate needs assessment of the settlers of Sodom and Gomorrah following eviction notices to the residents by the government.
It is also studying the means and affordability capacities of the people to come out with a comprehensive information, as well as technical and professional advise on resettlement programmes for the people.
Pending the take-off of the resettlement programme the Peoples Dialogue on Human Settlements supervised the design and construction of two hostels at a cost of GH¢20,000 put up by the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor.
The hostel has five rooms and each room can accommodate between 10 and 15 people.
Mr Haruna Abu, the co-ordinator of the federation said the fire outbreak in the area in January is a major consideration for putting up the hostel to offer decent accommodation for some of the head porters.
He said the facility with a bathhouse, which is manned by a warden also offers a safe place for the head porters who pay 10 GP per day per head and provides them a place to keep their belongings.
He said the federation started a survey in the area to find out the number of residents in the area and their needs assessment and had so far covered almost 7,000 households.
He described the project as very successful and said head porters who make use of the facility have been educated on how to properly maintain the place.
Mr Faro R. Braimah, Executive Director of People’s Dialogue Human Settlement said it was the commitment of the organisation to find solutions to housing, which was a basic necessity in urban and peri-urban communities, and also tackle the issue of poverty.
He said this would be done in co-operation with governmental and non-governmental organisations, using dialogue and negotiations.
RAMPANT fire outbreaks in some slum dwellings in Accra often result in the destruction of property, and the loss of lives.
In January this year, a female porter and her child and another, perished in a fire outbreak that happened at ‘Sodom and Gomorah’, a slum at Old Fadama in Accra.
Over the years similar incidents had occured in the area, which is the largest slum and informal settlement in the country, as well as slums like “Abuja” at the Cocoa Board Station and the slum along the railway line at Odawna.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the slums are crowded with wooden structures occupied by mostly young girls and children, which are exposed to naked fire due to cooking and other domestic activities by the residents.
Despite repeated public concerns raised on the activities of squatters and slum dwellers, the uncontrolled exodus of female porters, popularly known as “Kayayei” from the three northern regions and other rural communities, to Accra,affect the growth of these slums.
Some of these porters who have no accommodation sleep at lorry parks and in front of shops in the central business district of the city.
In order to find solutions to the problems confronting slum dwellers at Old and new Fadama following eviction notices to them from the government, the residents formed the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor in 2003.
The federation works in collaboration with the People’s Dialogue on Human Settlements to establish savings and build a federation of urban poor communities in Ghana that would be linked to Slum\Shack Dwellers International (SDI).
The People’s Dialogue on Human Settlements is a community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is registered with the Department of Social Welfare and works with the urban poor in Ghana to alleviate poverty and improve their living conditions, as well as explore alternative solutions to forced evictions.
The federation, is a network of community-based organisations participating in community-led savings and loans schemes for housing infrastructure development and livelihood improvement. It operates in about 100 communities in the country in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Western, Volta and Eastern regions.
The federation is working as one of the partner organisations that is collecting data, mobilising information and undertaking community-led mappings, to collate needs assessment of the settlers of Sodom and Gomorrah following eviction notices to the residents by the government.
It is also studying the means and affordability capacities of the people to come out with a comprehensive information, as well as technical and professional advise on resettlement programmes for the people.
Pending the take-off of the resettlement programme the Peoples Dialogue on Human Settlements supervised the design and construction of two hostels at a cost of GH¢20,000 put up by the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor.
The hostel has five rooms and each room can accommodate between 10 and 15 people.
Mr Haruna Abu, the co-ordinator of the federation said the fire outbreak in the area in January is a major consideration for putting up the hostel to offer decent accommodation for some of the head porters.
He said the facility with a bathhouse, which is manned by a warden also offers a safe place for the head porters who pay 10 GP per day per head and provides them a place to keep their belongings.
He said the federation started a survey in the area to find out the number of residents in the area and their needs assessment and had so far covered almost 7,000 households.
He described the project as very successful and said head porters who make use of the facility have been educated on how to properly maintain the place.
Mr Faro R. Braimah, Executive Director of People’s Dialogue Human Settlement said it was the commitment of the organisation to find solutions to housing, which was a basic necessity in urban and peri-urban communities, and also tackle the issue of poverty.
He said this would be done in co-operation with governmental and non-governmental organisations, using dialogue and negotiations.
Responsibilities, challenges of Fathers and families
Article: Salome Donkor
Families all over the world have been undergoing significant changes. Among these changes are shifts from the extended family to the nuclear family; increased participation of women, including mothers, in the labour force; smaller family sizes; and increased instances of divorce and remarriage after divorce.
Other changes to families include increases in births outside marriage, female-headed households and non-residential fatherhood.
The presentations of various speakers at a seminar in Accra, as well as contributions from the dignitaries who attended the seminar to mark this year’s International Day of Families, which fell on Thursday, May 15, highlighted the effects of these changes. The theme for the celebration was “Fathers and families, responsibilities and challenges”.
The seminar brought together some members of the clergy, chiefs and queens, representatives from Curious Minds, a children’s rights organisation, and the security services.
It offered the participants a platform for the exchange of ideas, resulting in frank and open discussions about who should take the blame for the seeming breakdown of the family system.
While men were criticised for neglecting their responsibilities as fathers, mothers were also admonished for failing in the performance of important responsibilities and special duties, with children receiving the knock for exhibiting disobedience.
The family, the core of society, has been identified as the basic and most fundamental unit of society which is crucial to the survival and progress of society. It is also an important vehicle for transmitting the education and culture of society from one generation to another.
Today, the hustle and bustle of life in urban areas has overwhelmed most parents who are unable to discharge their responsibilities and maintain a viable family. This has resulted in numerous social problems such as child neglect, streetism, teenage pregnancy, early marriages and divorce, child delinquency and child labour.
Being the head of the family, the responsibilities that rest on fathers are enormous and they need to exhibit a strong presence in family life, and to buttress this point, the theme for this year’s International Day of Families was chosen to focus on the important role fathers play in the lives of families and children. In resolution 47/237 of September 20, 1993, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that May 15 of every year shall be observed as the International Day of Families.
In many families and cultures, the roles and responsibilities of fathers with respect to their children has changed over time. In many societies, the traditional responsibilities and role of the father were that of moral teacher, disciplinarian, male role model and breadwinner. Fathers exhibited a strong presence in family life, though not necessarily through direct or heavy involvement in child-rearing.
A message from the United Nations Secretary-General, read by the Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, acknowledged that recent research has affirmed the positive impact of the active involvement by fathers in the development of their children.
It, however, said too many men have difficulty assuming the responsibilities of fatherhood, often with damaging consequences to families and inevitably society at large.
It said some fathers indulge in domestic violence or even sexual abuse, devastating families and creating profound physical and emotional scars in children, while others abandon their families outright and fail to provide support.
For her part, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, indicated that building the capacity and resilience of families to avoid the break-up of the family system would be an important contribution to the development of the country.
She said over the years, Ghana had committed itself to promoting the interest of its young ones, adding that this manifested in her being the first country to ratify the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, while another national strategic plan of action, which identifies the various sectoral interventions required for sustainable child welfare in the areas of education, health, water and sanitation and poverty reduction strategies, have been put in place.
She said all these policies and interventions of government are geared towards ensuring a strong and viable family and that fathers live up to their responsibilities to promote the survival of families.
Mr Ian McFarlane, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said in planning good family values, families need to think of the number of children to have, and use modern methods of contraceptives to protect themselves, space births and produce the number of children they can effectively cater for.
Speaking from the perspective of the church, Reverend Dei Awuku of the Atomic Hills Estate Presbyterian Church said the family was one of God’s institutions and it behoved all those who cherish peace to hold the family dear to their hearts and avoid things that impede the progress of the family.
He acknowledged that various research by some social scientists had shown that fathers had challenges in the performance of their duties but advised them to continually reach out to God for wisdom to accomplish their tasks.
Mrs Jane Adu of Women Refuge and Child Survival Africa, a non-governmental organisation, dwelt on the fallen moral standards among the youth and questioned what had happened to the families where these children were expected to be trained.
She said it was obvious that most of the adults who were to teach the children lacked the knowledge to do so and the children were disillusioned.
She called for good relationships between children and their parents and also advised mothers to give their children sex and family life education, stressing that much as children need to obey adults, both fathers and mothers had the onerous responsibility to show love and protection to children to provide them with holistic training and give them hope and empowerment.
During an open forum, most of the participants who blamed fathers for neglecting their responsibilities called for the institution of child support schemes as pertained in the developed countries to compel fathers who neglect their responsibilities to pay an amount from their incomes towards the upkeep of their families.
It is obvious that these challenges all highlight the deep and universal need for positive father figures in families. As our understanding of fatherhood grows, there is an opportunity for men to re-envision imaginatively what it means to be a father and to see opportunities to make a difference in the family.
The church, government and the society at large all have respective roles to play to create a conducive environment for fathers to perform their roles responsibly.
Families all over the world have been undergoing significant changes. Among these changes are shifts from the extended family to the nuclear family; increased participation of women, including mothers, in the labour force; smaller family sizes; and increased instances of divorce and remarriage after divorce.
Other changes to families include increases in births outside marriage, female-headed households and non-residential fatherhood.
The presentations of various speakers at a seminar in Accra, as well as contributions from the dignitaries who attended the seminar to mark this year’s International Day of Families, which fell on Thursday, May 15, highlighted the effects of these changes. The theme for the celebration was “Fathers and families, responsibilities and challenges”.
The seminar brought together some members of the clergy, chiefs and queens, representatives from Curious Minds, a children’s rights organisation, and the security services.
It offered the participants a platform for the exchange of ideas, resulting in frank and open discussions about who should take the blame for the seeming breakdown of the family system.
While men were criticised for neglecting their responsibilities as fathers, mothers were also admonished for failing in the performance of important responsibilities and special duties, with children receiving the knock for exhibiting disobedience.
The family, the core of society, has been identified as the basic and most fundamental unit of society which is crucial to the survival and progress of society. It is also an important vehicle for transmitting the education and culture of society from one generation to another.
Today, the hustle and bustle of life in urban areas has overwhelmed most parents who are unable to discharge their responsibilities and maintain a viable family. This has resulted in numerous social problems such as child neglect, streetism, teenage pregnancy, early marriages and divorce, child delinquency and child labour.
Being the head of the family, the responsibilities that rest on fathers are enormous and they need to exhibit a strong presence in family life, and to buttress this point, the theme for this year’s International Day of Families was chosen to focus on the important role fathers play in the lives of families and children. In resolution 47/237 of September 20, 1993, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that May 15 of every year shall be observed as the International Day of Families.
In many families and cultures, the roles and responsibilities of fathers with respect to their children has changed over time. In many societies, the traditional responsibilities and role of the father were that of moral teacher, disciplinarian, male role model and breadwinner. Fathers exhibited a strong presence in family life, though not necessarily through direct or heavy involvement in child-rearing.
A message from the United Nations Secretary-General, read by the Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, acknowledged that recent research has affirmed the positive impact of the active involvement by fathers in the development of their children.
It, however, said too many men have difficulty assuming the responsibilities of fatherhood, often with damaging consequences to families and inevitably society at large.
It said some fathers indulge in domestic violence or even sexual abuse, devastating families and creating profound physical and emotional scars in children, while others abandon their families outright and fail to provide support.
For her part, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, indicated that building the capacity and resilience of families to avoid the break-up of the family system would be an important contribution to the development of the country.
She said over the years, Ghana had committed itself to promoting the interest of its young ones, adding that this manifested in her being the first country to ratify the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, while another national strategic plan of action, which identifies the various sectoral interventions required for sustainable child welfare in the areas of education, health, water and sanitation and poverty reduction strategies, have been put in place.
She said all these policies and interventions of government are geared towards ensuring a strong and viable family and that fathers live up to their responsibilities to promote the survival of families.
Mr Ian McFarlane, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said in planning good family values, families need to think of the number of children to have, and use modern methods of contraceptives to protect themselves, space births and produce the number of children they can effectively cater for.
Speaking from the perspective of the church, Reverend Dei Awuku of the Atomic Hills Estate Presbyterian Church said the family was one of God’s institutions and it behoved all those who cherish peace to hold the family dear to their hearts and avoid things that impede the progress of the family.
He acknowledged that various research by some social scientists had shown that fathers had challenges in the performance of their duties but advised them to continually reach out to God for wisdom to accomplish their tasks.
Mrs Jane Adu of Women Refuge and Child Survival Africa, a non-governmental organisation, dwelt on the fallen moral standards among the youth and questioned what had happened to the families where these children were expected to be trained.
She said it was obvious that most of the adults who were to teach the children lacked the knowledge to do so and the children were disillusioned.
She called for good relationships between children and their parents and also advised mothers to give their children sex and family life education, stressing that much as children need to obey adults, both fathers and mothers had the onerous responsibility to show love and protection to children to provide them with holistic training and give them hope and empowerment.
During an open forum, most of the participants who blamed fathers for neglecting their responsibilities called for the institution of child support schemes as pertained in the developed countries to compel fathers who neglect their responsibilities to pay an amount from their incomes towards the upkeep of their families.
It is obvious that these challenges all highlight the deep and universal need for positive father figures in families. As our understanding of fatherhood grows, there is an opportunity for men to re-envision imaginatively what it means to be a father and to see opportunities to make a difference in the family.
The church, government and the society at large all have respective roles to play to create a conducive environment for fathers to perform their roles responsibly.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happy Mothers’ Day, sharing love with mothers
05/10/08
Story: Salome Donkor
"Sweet mother I no go forget you
for the suffer wey you suffer for me.
Sweet mother I no go forget you
for the suffer wey you suffer for me.
When I dey cry, my mother go carry me--she go say, my pikin wetin you dey cry ye, ye,
stop stop, stop stop make you no cry again oh...."
The message of this song, titled "Sweet Mother", which is a popular Nigerian song composed in Pidgin English by Prince Nico Mbarga, in 1976, extolling the virtues of motherhood is just as valid today as it was three decades ago.
Motherhood is an honoured and exalted state in life, and most countries all over the world have their own customs in celebrating motherhood to show appreciation to mothers as those who bring forth children and nurtures them to life.
A number of people interviewed in Accra have expressed their gratitude to their mothers for their commitment, love and encouragement for making a difference in their lives and communities and for making them realise their dreams.
A Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Henry Amoako, who lost his mother recently, still recollects with nostalgia, the sacrifices his mother made to educate him and his siblings and pointed out that he owed a lot to her late mother.
He said his father was a cocoa farmer and his mother, affectionately called Mama Abena Tettebea, prepared kenkey to supplement the upkeep of the home.
He said through that effort her mother supported his father to educate the five of them, to attain various levels of education and he and another brother were educated to the university level.
Asked to comment on the behaviour of some people who brand their mothers as witches, he said although he did not dispute their suspicion he did not believe in that.
He said mothers, like all parents, had their faults, mostly caused by too much or too little concern for their children.
He however pointed out that older people, especially women become very emotional, inquisitive and ask a lot of questions and talk a lot, but medical experts have attributed that charecter to "menopause" and indicated that "when they get to that stage, we should know how to deal with them."
One lady in the Daily Graphic Newsroom, Ms Hawa Adama, recounted how the relationship between her mother and her children had grown from a mother and a child to a mother and a friend.
She was grateful to her mother for helping to build the foundation for the progress of her children and nurturing them as they grow and explore the great promise of our Nation.
Kwaku Asamani, an electrical technician, said through her mother's examples, he and his siblings had grown to understand the virtue of kindness, the blessing of compassion, and the importance of principle, adding that a mother's support encouraged children to make right choices, set high goals, and become good citizens.
Another woman also in the Newsroom, Auntie Mary, however said her mother never liked her and discriminated against her and her other siblings, and that made her think that there was a difference between her and the others.
Ms Gloria Ofori-Boadu, a Barrister-at-Law and Human Rights Advocate, said the Mothers' Day should also focus on women empowerment to help them rise up to the occasion and become agents of transformation and development.
Ms Ofori-Boadu, who is contesting the Abuakwa South seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, said women needed to be empowered financially to make the attainment of the goal of increasing women's participation in politics and decision-making a reality.
As we honour our mother's on this day, let's use the occasion to mark a new beginning to continue to share our love with mothers and all others every day. Let’s make it a point to start telling our mothers or the people who have contributed significantly to our lives that "we love them."
Story: Salome Donkor
"Sweet mother I no go forget you
for the suffer wey you suffer for me.
Sweet mother I no go forget you
for the suffer wey you suffer for me.
When I dey cry, my mother go carry me--she go say, my pikin wetin you dey cry ye, ye,
stop stop, stop stop make you no cry again oh...."
The message of this song, titled "Sweet Mother", which is a popular Nigerian song composed in Pidgin English by Prince Nico Mbarga, in 1976, extolling the virtues of motherhood is just as valid today as it was three decades ago.
Motherhood is an honoured and exalted state in life, and most countries all over the world have their own customs in celebrating motherhood to show appreciation to mothers as those who bring forth children and nurtures them to life.
A number of people interviewed in Accra have expressed their gratitude to their mothers for their commitment, love and encouragement for making a difference in their lives and communities and for making them realise their dreams.
A Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Henry Amoako, who lost his mother recently, still recollects with nostalgia, the sacrifices his mother made to educate him and his siblings and pointed out that he owed a lot to her late mother.
He said his father was a cocoa farmer and his mother, affectionately called Mama Abena Tettebea, prepared kenkey to supplement the upkeep of the home.
He said through that effort her mother supported his father to educate the five of them, to attain various levels of education and he and another brother were educated to the university level.
Asked to comment on the behaviour of some people who brand their mothers as witches, he said although he did not dispute their suspicion he did not believe in that.
He said mothers, like all parents, had their faults, mostly caused by too much or too little concern for their children.
He however pointed out that older people, especially women become very emotional, inquisitive and ask a lot of questions and talk a lot, but medical experts have attributed that charecter to "menopause" and indicated that "when they get to that stage, we should know how to deal with them."
One lady in the Daily Graphic Newsroom, Ms Hawa Adama, recounted how the relationship between her mother and her children had grown from a mother and a child to a mother and a friend.
She was grateful to her mother for helping to build the foundation for the progress of her children and nurturing them as they grow and explore the great promise of our Nation.
Kwaku Asamani, an electrical technician, said through her mother's examples, he and his siblings had grown to understand the virtue of kindness, the blessing of compassion, and the importance of principle, adding that a mother's support encouraged children to make right choices, set high goals, and become good citizens.
Another woman also in the Newsroom, Auntie Mary, however said her mother never liked her and discriminated against her and her other siblings, and that made her think that there was a difference between her and the others.
Ms Gloria Ofori-Boadu, a Barrister-at-Law and Human Rights Advocate, said the Mothers' Day should also focus on women empowerment to help them rise up to the occasion and become agents of transformation and development.
Ms Ofori-Boadu, who is contesting the Abuakwa South seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, said women needed to be empowered financially to make the attainment of the goal of increasing women's participation in politics and decision-making a reality.
As we honour our mother's on this day, let's use the occasion to mark a new beginning to continue to share our love with mothers and all others every day. Let’s make it a point to start telling our mothers or the people who have contributed significantly to our lives that "we love them."
Assis North Assembly honours blood donor
05/08/08
Story: Salome Donkor
For the past three decades, Mr Jonny de-Graft Baiden, 49, has consistently donated blood every quarter to various hospitals in the country.
Mr Baiden who works at the Statistics Department of the St Francis Xavier District Hospital at Assin Fosu, started donating blood in 1977, when he was in secondary school.
In recognition of his immense contribution to saving people’s lives, especially that of expectant mothers, the Assin North District Assembly has honoured him to show appreciation for his donations.
A citation signed by the District Chief Executive, Mr K. Karikari Apau, presented to him read in part “Your willingness to donate blood any time you are requested to do so is unparalleled and highly commendable.”
It said “your dedication and commitment to fighting maternal death puts you on a high pedestal as a noble individual contributor to the development of the district and to show our appreciation, we honour you on the occasion of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee celebration”.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Baiden said he began voluntary blood donation when he visited his mother at the former Food Production Unit in Accra and heard that the Korle Bu Blood Bank had run short of blood.
“I went to donate blood voluntarily and since then I have donated blood over 100 times” he said, adding that he does that every quarter.
He said he had a national award in 2003 and that apart from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, he had also donated blood to the Cape Coast Regional Hospital, Fynnba Clinic at Mankesim, as well as hospitals in Assin Fosu and Axim.
He said he belonged to the “O Negative” blood group and is consulted regularly to donate blood whenever there is an emergency.
He said the last time he donated blood was on March 15, this year after which health officials advised him to stop donating blood because of his age.
Story: Salome Donkor
For the past three decades, Mr Jonny de-Graft Baiden, 49, has consistently donated blood every quarter to various hospitals in the country.
Mr Baiden who works at the Statistics Department of the St Francis Xavier District Hospital at Assin Fosu, started donating blood in 1977, when he was in secondary school.
In recognition of his immense contribution to saving people’s lives, especially that of expectant mothers, the Assin North District Assembly has honoured him to show appreciation for his donations.
A citation signed by the District Chief Executive, Mr K. Karikari Apau, presented to him read in part “Your willingness to donate blood any time you are requested to do so is unparalleled and highly commendable.”
It said “your dedication and commitment to fighting maternal death puts you on a high pedestal as a noble individual contributor to the development of the district and to show our appreciation, we honour you on the occasion of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee celebration”.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Baiden said he began voluntary blood donation when he visited his mother at the former Food Production Unit in Accra and heard that the Korle Bu Blood Bank had run short of blood.
“I went to donate blood voluntarily and since then I have donated blood over 100 times” he said, adding that he does that every quarter.
He said he had a national award in 2003 and that apart from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, he had also donated blood to the Cape Coast Regional Hospital, Fynnba Clinic at Mankesim, as well as hospitals in Assin Fosu and Axim.
He said he belonged to the “O Negative” blood group and is consulted regularly to donate blood whenever there is an emergency.
He said the last time he donated blood was on March 15, this year after which health officials advised him to stop donating blood because of his age.
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