Accra, July 7, GNA- Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Caretaker Minister, Gender, Children and Social Protection, says education and mentorship remain key to girls’ empowerment and the country’s sustainable development.
She said educating girls would save lives, build stronger families, communities, increase the country’s productivity and fuel economic growth.
Mrs Dapaah said this at this year’s National Gender Equality Clinic for adolescents organised by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection through the Department of Gender with support from the United Nations Population Fund.
The Clinic was to educate adolescent girls and boys on gender equality, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights.
Participants were drawn from all the 16 regions of the country.
Gender equality is the absence of discrimination, on the basis of a person’s sex, in the allocation of resources, benefits, and in access to services.
Mrs Dapaah said adolescents would be denied the opportunity to develop their full potential and play productive roles in their families, societies, country, and the world at large without education.
However, she said, supporting girls’ pathway from education to employment required more than learning opportunities in the classroom because gender inequality and SGBV were greatly undermining the health, dignity, security and autonomy of victims, mostly women and girls.
The Caretaker Minister underscored the need to provide guidance and leadership skills for adolescents to boost their assertiveness, positive decision making and positive peer influencing in their communities.
She stressed on the Ministry’s commitment to continuously coordinate gender-related issues to provide adolescents with the right information, knowledge, skills and services to protect them from all forms of harm.
The Caretaker Minister said it would also empower them to make choices, expand their skills and knowledge for national development.
The Government, Mrs Dapaah said, through the Ministry of Gender, had developed several policies and enacted laws, including the Children’s Act to protect girls and ensure that they grew up to attain their full potential and contribute meaningfully to national development.
“To my dear adolescent girls and boys, I want to encourage you to take your studies seriously and unleash your full potentials. I urge you to strive to become leaders and agents of change in your homes, communities, and the country as a whole,” she said.
Mr Niyi Ojuolape, Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in a speech read on his behalf, said gender equality was not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
He said gender discrimination based on stereotypes affected women and girls, depriving them of their fundamental rights, privileges, and opportunities in society.
“To achieve a more equal society, we believe that gender socialisation should begin very early in the life cycle of an individual,” Mr Ojuolape said.
The Country Representative said UNFPA was working to promote gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment and ensuring that every young person’s potential was fulfilled.
The girls at the Gender Equality Clinic were presented with sanitary pads to support their menstrual health and hygiene.
GNA