By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Sekondi, July 11, GNA – Mr Frank Ofosu-Asante, the Western Regional Director for the National Population Council (NPC), says pervasive injustice against women and girls continued to keep them out of school, workforce and leadership positions.
The same also limited their ability to make decisions concerning their health, sexuality and thus heightening their vulnerability to violence and harmful practices and in some cases preventable maternal death.
Mr Ofosu-Asante in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, during the 2023 World Population Day, indicated that females constituted a higher proportion of the population, and this has implications for Ghana’s socio-economic development.
“Until the high population figures are contained within acceptable levels, the nation’s development efforts will be frustrated,” he added.
The celebration is on the theme: “Unleashing the Power of Gender Equality to Spur Development”, which called for a review of the concept of population growth and size and to focus more on the opportunities associated with the increase in population.
He lamented that although women were in the majority their desired lives, family size and careers were often not placed on the discussion table, adding that, “at the root of these problem lies gender inequality.”
Mr Ofosu-Asante said currently, the Region’s population was 2.05 million, noting that accurate estimates of population trends and forecasts on the size, age, sex and geographical location by disaggregation was required for policy planning and implementation.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s population had currently increased more than four-fold compared to that of the 1960.
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC, 2021), Ghana’s population is 30.8 million and counting as against 6.7 million in 1960.
This year’s celebration of the WPD is expected to help sustain the gains made by creating a platform for women and girls to seek the change they desired.
Mr Ofosu-Asante said this could be achieved by engaging relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, academia, youth groups, CSOs, Development Partners, private sector and the media.
In the Region, between July and September of this year, the NPC has put in place three months post WPD campaign dubbed, “Population Awareness Months” with media activities and stakeholder’s engagement to raise awareness of population issues and the critical roles population variables played in national development.
Mr Ofosu-Asante therefore called on all to make the awareness campaign a reality.
GNA