By Philip Tengzu
Tizza, (UW/R), March 17, GNA – The Africa Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD) has engaged the chiefs and people of Tizza in the Jirapa Municipality towards addressing the challenges of women leadership in the community and beyond.
The engagement focused on women’s leadership roles, economic empowerment, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) under the AfCHuRSD’s Girls and Women Economic Empowerment, Livelihood and Participation in Leadership (GWEEL) project.
The engagement also sought to expose the community members, especially young women and girls, to leadership opportunities with the effective implementation of the Affirmative Action Law, 2024 (Act 1121).
Speaking at the durbar, Madam Helen Zaato, a former Presiding Member of the Jirapa Municipal Assembly, stressed the importance of financial inclusion and independence for women necessary for their empowerment and participation in decision-making.
“When women are financially stable, they have a stronger voice in decision-making at home and the community,” she stated and called on financial institutions, and government to prioritise interventions to support women’s economic growth.”
Madam Zaato also encouraged parents to prioritise the education of their children, especially females, to empower and prepare them for the future responsibilities of leadership.
Speaking on women’s leadership, Madam Janet Kpan, the Upper West Regional Girls Child Coordinator, Ghana Education Service, urged stakeholders at the community, including traditional leaders to create an enabling environment for women’s participation in decision-making to enable them to contribute to the community’s development.
She emphasised the need for women and girls to enhance their leadership skills through education and mentorship and build their confidence level to overcome self-doubt and societal restrictions that limit their participation in leadership.
Madam Kpan, who is also the Upper West Regional Focal Person for the Affirmative Action Law Coalition, encouraged women and girls to take advantage of that Law to aspire for leadership roles.
On her part, Ms Madina Rahman, the Jirapa Municipal Director, Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), who spoke on GBV, observed that violence against women and girls was rife in society and emphasised the legal and social consequences of that act.
She said acts such as gender-based discrimination, forced and child marriage and rape were against the survivor’s fundamental human rights enshrined in Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution.
Ms Rahman urged survivors or witnesses of SGBV to report such cases to the appropriate agencies, including CHRAJ for the necessary action to be taken.
Pognaa Elizabeth Dakurah, Queen Mother of Tizza, commended AfCHuRSD for the intervention and said it had reignited the community’s consciousness towards issues that affected women and girls.
She expressed hope that the participation of males in the durbar would enable them recognise their role as allies in the fight for gender equality and promote women Empowerment.
The AfCHuRSD is implementing the project in partnership with the Equity, Opportunity and Development Fund (EODF) In Action with funding from the Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF) Ghana, Netherlands.
It is being implemented in 20 communities in four Districts of the Upper West Region – Nadowli-Kaleo, Jirapa, Wa West and Daffiama-Bussie-Issa Districts.
GNA
CAE/CA