By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Kpone, Oct. 12, GNA — Dr Charity Binka, Executive Director, Women, Media, and Change (WOMEC), says girls must be at the forefront of change initiatives to ensure their inclusion in decision-making.
She said while investments in girls continued to be scarce, the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises had negatively affected them, making life harder for them.
She said girls faced unknown challenges, including threats to their physical, and mental well-being, access to safety and life without violence.
Dr Binka stated in a speech read on her behalf by Ms Dulcie Delali Attipoe, WOMEC Programmes Coordinator, at an empowerment programme to commemorate the 2022 International Girl Child Day at Kpone.
The WOMEC International Girl Day commemoration was used to highlight the GTP Turning Point Programme Mentorship and Leadership Forum and adopted the global theme “Our time is now – our rights, our future.” The event was used to equip girls to rise above the status quo.
The beneficiaries were selected from Kpone Methodist Basic School, Casmin International School, Kpone Presby Basic School, and KKMA Basic school.
Dr Binka mentioned that through the interventions of WOMEC over the years, about 500 girls in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality have been empowered to fight for their rights.
She noted that empowerment, however, was a process that must be nurtured by the girls themselves.
Dr Binka urged the girls to share the information with their peers who were not privileged to be part of the activities.
“As we mark the International Day of the Girl Child, WOMEC adds its voice to the call from UNICEF for more resources, and action to support adolescent girls’ leadership,” she said.
Ms Thecla Wricketts, Lawyer and facilitator at the programme, said the girl child was the greatest asset the world had for the progress of tomorrow hence the need to unyoke them to become who God created them to be.
She said it was time parents prioritized the needs of their children and stir them up to achieve their goals.
She urged the girls to rise above all odds to become vital instruments of development in the country.
Ms Josephine Eva Arthur, Zonal Head, Retail Banking, Access Bank, who did a presentation on ” Managing your finances for a better future” urged girls to inculcate the habit of saving to be financially independent.
GNA