By Francis Ntow/ Jibril Abdul Mumuni
Accra, Dec 1, GNA – Hilde Opoku, Programme Manager, United Nations Habitat, Ghana Smart Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Cities, says leveraging and advancing existing technologies is key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana.
She said leveraging technologies to achieve SDG goals involved using technology to assess how the goals could be achieved and the impact the failure to achieve the SDG could cause.
She said the use of technology was particularly relevant in achieving SDG goals 5 on gender equality and 13 on climate action.
Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to promote gender equality by eliminating all types of discrimination, violence, and harmful practices directed at women.
Sustainable Development Goal 13 aims to take urgent steps to combat climate change and its impact.
She made the remarks in an interview with the media on the sidelines of the African Youth Gender and Climate Conference, which was held at the Accra Digital Centre.
“There are a lot of technologies that are used to measure climate change and achieve the SDGs; some of them we need to advance, and some of them we still need to research more to make sure that the tools we are using are climate and environmentally friendly. We have
to make sure that they are designed in such a way that they can be used to further the objectives of the SDGs,’’ she said.
She added, “There is also the need to develop a technology that will help the public do their services, particularly women, in a convenient way. Ghana has really gone ahead in terms of mobile money, which has helped women in rural areas do businesses in Accra.”
She called for coordinated efforts from relevant agencies, which are in charge of actualizing SDG goals 5 and 13 by creating the enabling environment through the provision of relevant technologies needed to achieve these goals.
Mrs. Naomi Birago Opoku-Agyemang, Senior Youth Coordinator for Gender and Health at the National Youth Authority, said in her address, that the gender gap in climate action needed a reality check to unravel the complexities surrounding gender disparities in climate initiatives.
She asked the relevant agencies in the SDG ecosystem to explore tangible solutions and actionable steps on how to engage women to achieve the SDGs in Ghana.
The new Gender Snapshot study from the UN’s gender equality organisation warns that if current trends continue, over 340 million women and girls will be living in poverty by 2030, which equates to 8% of the female population worldwide.
Nearly one in every four people will be food insecure, and at the current rate of progress, the next generation of women will still spend 2.3 hours per day on unpaid care and household chores compared to males.
Nana Adjoa Annan, co-founder of Enijie Global Foundation, said her outfit intends to organise more programmes such as these to create awareness about the relevance of women in achieving the SDGs.
She noted that the gender gap between men and women in the attainment of SDGs raises concern, as she asked for more support for women to enable them to identify and advance their roles in achieving SDG goals.
GNA