Accra, Oct. 27, GNA—Madam Vera Karikari Bediako, Principal Programmes Officer, Department of Gender of the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry, says Ghana can get the best out of the youth if it involves them in policy formulation.
She said they should also be brought to the decision-making table and interacted with more often to appreciate their challenges.
Madam Bediako said this on Wednesday during the launch of the five-year Dutch sponsored Power to You(th) Programme in Ghana, organised by Norsaac in Accra.
The programme was to engage stakeholders in building the agency of Adolescent Girls and Young Women around key issues such as harmful practices, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and unintended pregnancies.
She said digital transformation provided new avenues for the empowerment of the youth, particularly women and girls to contribute to greater gender equality.
As such, the Principal Programmes Officer said concrete policy actions were needed to foster adolescent girls and young women’s full participation and inclusion in the digital economy.
Madam Bediako said negative practices perpetuated against girls caused profound and lasting trauma, robbing them of their right to reach their potential in life.
“In this part of our world, young girls compared to their male counterparts are more likely to drop out of school, to marry at an early age, and to bear the consequences of poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes.”
“Adolescents Girls are disproportionately vulnerable to violations of their human rights, inadequate reproductive health services, education and also subjected to child marriage – all limiting the realisation of their full human capabilities,” she noted.
The Programmes Officer said discriminatory mindsets were difficult to change, however, progress could be made by investing in approaches that had been proven to work to bring long-lasting changes in parental and community behaviour.
She said the Ministry of Gender would continue to coordinate gender-related issues and work hand in hand with all stakeholders to provide adolescents with the right information, knowledge, skills, and adolescent-friendly services.
Mr Mohammed Awal Alhassan, Executive Director, Norsaac said merely condemning discrimination, harmful practices, sexual and gender-based violence against women was not enough, adding that, a collective action was needed to free girls from the obnoxious practices.
He said the power to youth Programme in Ghana under the leadership of Norsaac had already launched Agenda 40 community campaigns.
Mr Alhassan said they expected to have zero unintended pregnancies, zero child marriages, and transform traditional practices that would allow girls and young women to be free from all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.
“We would strengthen girls’ groups to create safe spaces for themselves and others for a freer environment for all, especially girls and young women.”
“By the end of the power to youth programme in Ghana, we expect to have a strengthened civil society in Ghana consistently engaging our governments for improved condition of girls and young women, The civic space should be safer to promote the rights of all Ghanaians,” he said.
Mr Theophilus Ayugane, Policy Advisor, Netherlands Embassy, said advocacy against gender inequality and violence against girls was paramount to the Dutch Government for, which reason it was supporting CSOs in the campaign across the world.
