By Erica Apeatua Addo
Tarkwa (W/R), July 21, GNA –Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF- Ghana), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has organised a workshop aimed at address inequalities in the value chains of the mining, petroleum, and cocoa sectors, to enhance industry accountability and address regulatory gaps.
The capacity building workshop which was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Oxfam-Ghana, formed one of WiLDAF-Ghana’s key activities under the “Fair4All project”.
There would discuss the Affirmative Action and Gender Equity Act 2024, (Act 1121) and the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (UNWEPs), which are the United Nation Guiding Principles (UNGPs).
Participants included thirty community leaders, company representatives, women action groups, Civil Society Organisations, and State Access to Justice Agencies.
Mr Billal Mallam Saani, the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Manager of WiLDAF-Ghana, said over the past four years, they had engaged stakeholders and beneficiaries under the project to explore ways to bridge the gaps in the extractive industry.
He said they decided to engage them in a learning and sharing approach; to help identify some best practices and innovative solutions they were implementing in their respective communities to tackle gender inequalities in the industry.
“The turnout at the workshop has been fantastic, with more women participating than men which aligns with our organisations values. The workshop has achieved its intended outcomes,” he added.
Mr Saani entreated the participants to share the knowledge they have gained with their colleagues and communities, while those who represented their companies should brief their management on the relevant UN principles.
He said through this, companies could adopt similar practices, fostering an environment where women would be fully empowered and engaged in the extractive industry.
Dr Emefa Priscilla Amenyah Kove, a lecturer at the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, applauded WiLDAF for the initiative to bring the key stakeholders together to share their concerns and collectively developed solutions that could benefit everyone.
She was optimistic that the workshop would have a significant impact, not just on themselves but the institutions they represented.
Facilitators at the workshop examined provisions that promoted women’s empowerment, bridged inequality gaps, and outlined consequences for companies and State institutions that failed to comply with the objectives of the Act.
They said the Act had set specific targets, aiming for 30 per cent women representation in all fields by 2026 and increasing to 50 per cent by 2030.
Again, they touched on the UN guiding principles on women and empowerment, an international treaty Ghana had signed on to promote women’s economic empowerment in the extractive industry.
GNA
Edited Justina Paaga/ Christabel Addo