Support women who run for leadership positions
Tangasie, (U/W), June 20, GNA – Mr Prosper Kpankyaano, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Director of Social Welfare has called for support for women who gather the courage to run for leadership positions to serve their people.
He said leadership in Ghana was a male-dominated area and that to break the norm, there must be a conscious effort to support women who boldly offered themselves to be elected to occupy these positions.
Mr Kpankyaano made the call during the Tangasie community forum on Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Girls (EROP) project organised by the Project Support Team under the guidance of the African Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD).
“If we don’t support these few bold women to succeed, it will discourage others from coming out and this will continue to deepen the existing low women participation in leadership roles and decision making”, he said.
The Social Welfare Officer pointed out that women understand the impact of development challenges such as lack of potable water, sanitation facilities, and economic opportunities among others than men.
“Therefore, if women are well represented at the decision-making level especially at the District Assembly, they will be able to push for these issues to be addressed to ease the suffering of women”, said Mr Kpankyaano.
He appealed to the community members to do away with some cultural practices that degrade the dignity of women and embrace those that promoted their wellbeing and development.
Mr Umar Yakubu Yaarun, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) disclosed that child marriage was a real problem in the Tangasie area and appealed to parents to double their parental responsibility to help reduce the canker.
On domestic violence, Mr Yaarun said it was a crime punishable by law and encouraged the people not to shield perpetrators but endeavour to report them to the law enforcement agencies for them to get punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
Mr David Ganye, AfCHuRSD Regional Coordinator, advised the community people to work together with the Community Support Teams to end these challenges and promote the welfare of women and girls in their communities.
Madam Ernestina Bainnimaayen, one of the Community Women urged parents to be more responsible towards their children and that girls especially have so many needs, and when parents fail to provide them, they turn to disrespect them by not listening to their advice.
“You can’t control your child when you don’t provide for her and she has to depend on men for her needs – we need to relook at how we respond to the needs of our girls and they will listen to us when we advise them”, she said.
Madam Martha Naamwinbie, another community woman identified the market centre as one of the places the boys deliberately come in to worry girls sent to buy things in the market and appealed to community leaders to find a solution to that.
EROP Project is being implemented by AfCHuRSD in collaboration with GH Alliance and WOMEN IN NEED (WIN) with funding support from the Dutch Embassy in Ghana.
The project seeks to ensure that women and girls in Ghana realized their human rights and utilized opportunities to better their lot.
