By PhilipTengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Aug. 02, GNA – The Upper West Regional chapter of the She Leads Social Movement, a network of girls and young women groups and organisations with a common interest in advancing the advocacy for equal opportunities for them has been launched in Wa.
The network is to contribute to enhancing collective action and activism by girls and young women to help address systematic barriers that hindered their effective participation in the leadership and decision-making process in the country.
The initiative was by the Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD-Ghana) as part of its She Leads project being implemented in the Upper West Region in partnership with the Plan International Ghana.
Speaking at the launch, Madam Charity Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Gender, stressed the need for gender representation in the decision-making process at all levels to ensure issues of gender were considered in all facets of social discourse.
“The physical representation of women in decision-making is important, but in the same vein we need gender itself to be seen on the table so that if the women are speaking the gender voices, other members on the table will see the need to discuss issues with a gender lens”, she explained.
She said issues of gender representation should be of interest to every person not only women as that would facilitate social transformation and inclusive national development.
Madam Batuure urged parents and guardians to nurture the inherent leadership potentials of girls in their early ages to enable them to build their leadership qualities to become better leaders in future.
“We have been socialized to feel that this is an area for women and that is an area for men, but if you keep relying on these zones, that is where you will continue to be.
“Challenge yourself to do what you know is difficult, learn from it and you will survive and be a better person,” she said.
Madam Anna Nabere, the She Leads Project Manager at Plan International Ghana, said the Social Movement was part of efforts to enable them to mobilise girls and young women and other gender advocates and build their capacities towards achieving the project objectives.
She explained that the Project was aimed to increase sustained influence of girls and young women in decision-making and to transform gender norms that militated against their leadership and decision-making in both formal and informal sectors.
“We are encouraging girls to take up leadership roles, especially roles that are known to be the preserve of boys”, she indicated.
Madam Nancy Dery, the Executive Director, and Founder of Women Powering Possibilities, encouraged girls and young women to acquire extra-curricular skills in addition to their school certificates to enable them to participate actively in the fast-evolving technological world.
Miss Felicia Baganiah, the President of the She Leads Social Movement, said the group would establish mentorship and other advocacy activities to empower and develop the leadership skills of girls and young women.
Representatives of the She Leads project communities, traditional leaders and other stakeholders attended the event.
GNA