By Comfort Sena Fetrie-Akagbor
Tamale, Oct 21, GNA – Mr Mohammed Amidu Alhassan, Senior Programmes Officer at Songtaba, a non-governmental organisation, has urged stakeholders in the education sector to sensitise the public towards safeguarding girls’ rights to education.
He emphasized the need for safe spaces to be created for girls in their communities to protect them from abuse.
He said, “For the past decade, there has been increased attention on issues that matter to girls amongst governments, policymakers and the general public, and more opportunities for girls to be part of decision-making in their communities, yet investments in girls’ rights remain limited and girls continue to be confronted with myriad of challenges in fulfilling their potentials.”
Mr Alhassan made the call in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Tamale.
He said due to some gender stereotypes, the girl-child has been relegated or limited to domestic work only, instead of promoting the rights of the girl-child to education to become good leaders in future in the society.
He emphasised that “It is time we empowered girls with the needed skills and opportunities and the relevant spaces created for them to make their future brighter.”
He called on parents, government, civil society organisations, chiefs, and religious leaders to collaborate to invest more in girls’ education for them to be good leaders in society.
He stated that Plan International Ghana with Songtaba had built the capacities of some girls in the areas of leadership and public speaking and creating safe spaces for girls to reach their full potentials as part of the She Lead Programme, implemented last year.
The project was an initiative of a consortium made up of Plan International Netherlands, Defence for Children International, African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) and Terre des Hommes in the Netherlands.
The project was to increase sustained influence of girls and young women on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions.
GNA