Dignitaries and participants at the launch of the media campaign
The Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Gifty Twum Ampofo, has pledged government’s support to end gender discrimination against women and girls.
She said this during the launch of a media campaign to end discriminatory religious and traditional practices against women and girls in Ghana, led by the Rayuwa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with the support of the Carter Centre, an international NGO.
Madam Ampofo lauded the initiative and pledged government’s support, adding that “this initiative will go a long way to create awareness about some of the key challenges confronting women and girls in their daily quest to contribute to Ghana’s development.
The campaign is aimed at complementing government’s efforts at ending the various forms of discriminatory practices, including child marriage, female genital mutilation, widowhood rites, denial of access to formal education, among others.
According to Ms Ampofo, even though government is willing to fight the injustice, no policies or interventions can totally erase what culture has built for centuries.
“However, these discriminatory religious and traditional practices could only be eliminated when the people of Ghana, the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, religious organizations join hands in addressing the issue of discrimination and violence against women and girls,” she said.
Ms Ampofo also encouraged religious leaders to use their platforms to motivate women to aim high and work to achieve their goals.
“When these are done, discrimination in all its forms will be a thing of the past,” she stated.
Executive Director of Rayawu Foundation, Asmau Bint Ayub, said despite the relentless efforts by various stakeholders to end these practices, women and girls continue to be victimized.
According to her, “There is, therefore, the need to create awareness and knowledge about how discrimination against women and girls affect the development and wellbeing of society.”
Ms Ayub urged the media and key stakeholders to garner the required support for actions that promote a Ghanaian community in which men, women, boys and girls enjoy same rights and privileges for sharing a common space and most of all, for being humans.
Danielle Taylor, a human rights associate of Carter Centre, said that the media campaign would provide an enabling environment to successfully achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 5, which relates to promoting gender equality.
By Bridget T. Boateng and Abigail Owiredu-Boateng