International Women’s Day is annually marked on March 8 to recognize the achievements of women in society in social, economic, cultural and political areas. In recent times, many women as much as they keep their roles as the homemaker, have also taken up career roles in the corporate and entrepreneurial world.

The global theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Press for Progress’.

Speaking on the subject “Building my Career through Effective Communication and Packaging”, Mrs. Sunkwa-Mills said “It is important for us as ladies to pay some attention to how we look because our appearance, which is entirely our brand, says a lot about us before we communicate with words. It doesn’t mean you should look all expensive, but rather presentable wherever you find yourself”.

Speaking on the global theme for this year’s celebration, Mrs. Sunkwa-Mills further encouraged women to utilize their talents and skills in building their personal brands.

According to her “building your brand is not all about how you look but also how to communicate, connect and utilize your talent and skills”. She added, “It is important to set personal values and principles buttressed with your talents and skills, and in consistency so as not to confuse people’s perception about you”.

Mrs. Mills who is also the Founder and Manager of Jane’M Salon and Spa further urged women present to be confident in who they are and what they do.

A Director at GMA, Ms. Emma Wenani, stated that “the theme for this year’s celebration of International Women’s Day is inspiring enough for us as women to pursue our ambitions to the very end. Women are unique in their contributions and in their roles in society”.

She also encouraged her female colleagues to demonstrate their skills with determination to be able to achieve their dreams while remaining particularly true to their personal brands.

Many organizations across the globe organize and execute various activities including workshops, donations, seminars and fora among others to appreciate the work of women and also show their support to them.

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Source: GMA

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The beneficiaries received drugs for diabetes, hypertension, cataract and other medical conditions associated with old age.

Those diagnosed with complicated health problems were referred to the Yendi government hospital at the expense of the supporting NGOs including ActionAid Ghana, the UNFPA and Ma Yurlim Foundation.

The exercise was under the auspices of women and children’s rights Non-Governmental Organization known as Songtaba.

The Executive Director of Songtaba, Hajia Lamnatu Adam, in an interview reiterated calls for the reintegration and restoration of the dignity of these ostracized women camped in isolated places in the Northern Region.

She condemned the continuous banishing of defenseless women in the name of witchcraft.

Hajia Lamnatu tasked the youth of communities where such cases are prevalent to rather coexist and protect the rights of women accused of witchcraft.

“I urge the youth of Northern Ghana especially those in communities where there are rampant incidents of witchcraft accusations to desist from banishing such victims from their communities but rather learn to coexist peacefully with them.”

She underscored the need for authorities of the four district assemblies where the alleged witches’ camps are located to cater for the needs of the inmates.

“The assemblies should factor into their medium-term development plans the needs of the women in order to alleviate their sufferings and hardships which include lack of food, shelter, water and clothes.”

Programme Specialist and Head of the UNFPA Tamale Office, Mammah Tenii, said the strange behaviour of some women in their menopause, has often misconstrued to be witchcraft.

He urged NGOs promoting women’s rights to sensitize residents of communities where witchcraft accusations are widespread on the bases of behavioural changes associated with menopause.

“Non-Governmental Organisations advocating the rights and safety of victims of witchcraft accusations ought to understand how menopause is largely contributing to the strange behaviour of many women thereby leading to them being accused of witchcraft by family members or communities.”

The event, which was in commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day on the them “Press for Progress; a push for gender equality worldwide,” was localized by Songtaba and its partners, and titled “Press for Progress; Let the Reintegration and Security of Alleged Witches Be Our Priority.”

There are five alleged witches’ camps dotted across remote and poor communities in the Northern Region.

These are the Gnani and Kpatinga camps in the Yendi Municipality, Kukuo in Nanumba North, Gambaga in East Mamprusi and Nabuli in the Gushegu districts.

Over 300 old women alleged to be witches are living in these camps, with the Gnani camp having the largest number of inmates.

Between 2010 and 2017, about 200 women have been liberated by the Alleged Witches Reintegration Committee.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Moderated by Journalist and Television News Anchor, Nana Aba Anamoah, the panel discussion was led by the CEO for AirtelTigo, Roshi Motman and High-Performance Coach and CEO of Allure Africa Limited, Dzibordi Kwaku Dosoo.

Opening the session, some of the Women in AirtelTigo shared their thoughts on the theme ‘Press for Progress’ and also shared their journey – both professional and personal experiences.

Roshi Motman thanked the women for their commitment to AirtelTigo and their patience in managing the changes that are currently on-going in the business following the merger between former Tigo and Airtel.

Sharing her own personal example and observation she said women often undervalue their talents and asked employees to be bold and step forward for leadership roles.

She pledged that AirtelTigo is committed to diversity and inclusion and as the company harmonizes its policies and processes, it will adopt only best practices from either former Tigo or Airtel.

Dzibordi Kwaku Dosoo, encouraged women to bring their partners into the conversation so they can find a good balance between life at work, home and beyond. “It is important for us to bring the men into the conversation, they are married to working women and play a big role in pressing for progress.

She encouraged Women in AirtelTigo to consistently improve on their competencies so they can take up leadership roles across the business and elsewhere.

As part of International Women’s Month, the engagement team in AirtelTigo is also doing a series of profiles celebrating women in the business. This forms part of the bigger change management programme following the merger between Airtel and Tigo in November 2017.

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Source: AirtelTigo

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“On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Wednesday, March 8, 2018, the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) celebrates women for their immeasurable contribution to the social, economic, cultural, and political development of Ghana”

The theme for this year’s celebration, “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives,” provides an opportunity to reflect on the efforts and struggles of women activists to change positively, the overall status and circumstance of women and girls in Ghana.

While  CDD-Ghana commends the significant strides made in the fight for women’s rights, justice, and equality, and the various other attempts at bridging the gender gap in Ghana, CDD-Ghana notes, with concern, that progress towards gender parity remains slow.

According to them, inequality is very prevalent in women’s participation in politics, in spite of the policies introduced to increase women representation in key government offices.

A recent Afrobarometer survey indicates that a large majority (72%) of Ghanaians “agree” or “agree very strongly” that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men. However, women are rarely encouraged to compete for such positions.

“This was evident in the 2016 elections where there was only one female presidential candidate and only one female running mate, representing 14.3% as opposed to 85.7% male. Though there was an uptick in women representation in Parliament in the elections (37, compared to 29 in 2012) –  the highest in the country’s history –  this is still very low, compared to 238 elected male parliamentarians. “

CDD-Ghana also noted that Ghanaian women, both in the rural and urban settings are confronted with peculiar challenges which threaten their socio-economic and political development.

In spite of the contributions of rural women to agricultural production and the economy, most agricultural and economic policies are not women-inclusive.

Women continue to face diverse challenges, such as limited access to land, lack of access to credit, poor access to healthcare, particularly maternal healthcare.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Index, indicates that it will take an estimated 102 years for Sub-Saharan Africa to close its overall gender gap.

CDD-Ghana hopes that the nationally-adopted theme for this year’s celebration, “#WomenToo: Press to Progress as Game Changers,” will aptly motivate women and all stakeholders to strive for the much-desired change anticipated in the lives of women.

The Center wants the government to apply the appropriate policies and measures must to accelerate the realization of gender equality in Ghana.

Paramount among these is the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill, which will ensure 50:50 representations of women in key public appointments.

The center also calls for gender-responsive provisions in key government programs such as the Planting for Food and Jobs Program which has the potential to positively impact lives of millions of Ghanaian women, and the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program.

According to the Center such efforts will enable women to overcome existing barriers to economic emancipation while realizing socio-economic potentials.

CDD-Ghana has also called upon women-interest stakeholders, particularly the Government of Ghana, the Parliament of Ghana, the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection, civil society organizations, the media, and the public to intensify efforts at addressing challenges confronting women in Ghana.

They also urge and encourage women to participate actively in politics, at all levels of government, and demand the adoption and implementation of policies and programmes that will unburden and transform the lives of women.

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Commission in a statement to mark this year’s international women’s day, said Ghanaian women continue to face a number challenges including Female Genital Mutilation, Child and forced marriages, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment at work places which prevents them from reaching their full potentials in their respective fields.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9BL15UXP4lXEOjmXEDTs0RDESSwH2HzK”]“There is no gainsaying the fact that Ghanaian women continue to face a myriad of challenges which hold them back from reaching their full potential including opportunities in the world of work. Challenges such as obnoxious cultural practices including Female Genital Mutilation, Child, Early and forced marriages, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment at the work place which regrettably continue to be practices in some of our communities and work places even though our Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender as well as harmful traditional practices whiles the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 Act 29 and the Children’s Act have both criminalized genital mutilation and child marriage.”

The statement, signed by the Commission’s head, Joseph Whittal, expressed regret that the previous Parliament could not pass the Affirmative Action bill that sought to address gender inequality in the country.

It thus urged the Government to liaise with the new Parliament to have the bill quickly passed.

“It is regrettable that the Affirmative Action Bill, intended to rectify discrimination on the basis of sex or gender by redressing social, economic and educational gender imbalances- was not passed into law by the previous Parliament. CHRAJ, therefore, urges the current Government to liaise with Parliament to get the Bill passed as quickly as possible to address the intended mischief that law seeks to rectify.”

“Additionally, there should be a Legislative Instrument to set out the modalities for implementation so that the law does not become dysfunctional,” the statement said.

It also called for the implementation of the National Gender Policy in order to mainstream gender equality into the national development processes.

It added that, “progress across the globe will not be possible if women continue to be denied their full human rights and opportunities. CHRAJ, therefore calls on all stakeholders to work together to ensure women and girls enjoy equal access to quality education, economic resources and political participation, as well as equal opportunities for employment, leadership and decision-making at all levels.”

Wednesday, March 8, 2017, was marked globally as International Women’s Day. The theme for this year’s celebration in Ghana is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 20130’.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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This she says would help in mainstreaming gender issues whilst promoting women rightd and equality.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Women’s day celebration, the First Lady bemoaned the low numbers of women involved in policy making, thus her resolve to use her influence to champion increased participation.

“The world economic forum predicts the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2186. But we cannot wait that long. That is why the idea of being bold for change is so important. We need more female voices in politics and policy making. We need more female voices in academia, industry, business, finance, agriculture, the arts and many more areas. It’s going to be an arduous battle, but I believe we are up to it.”

Mrs Akufo-Addo also urged women who have succeeded in their various fields of work to help support other less privileged women in the society.

“We should be the shoulders that other women stand on. We should be the voice for those who have no voice. We should be the army that fights to save other women. Achieving gender parity and giving other women the dignity of economic independence is our responsibility.”

On her part, a former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, blamed the setback in the fight for women empowerment on successive leaders of the country.

She recounted how successive governments have failed to implement the affirmative action bill to address the anomaly.

“You may have a leader who comes into power and helps to propagate the gender balance issue, and so women’s issues start moving forward. Then you have another one who doesn’t really care and think a few women dotted around as ministers are enough and so we can move forward and backwards in a way that creates its own problems. I think we have to look at things differently. Since 1998-2000, we have been talking about affirmative action. It will help us address all imbalances in our society.”

The ceremony which was held at the office of the first lady in Accra, was attended by the second lady of the republic, Samira Bawumia, Ghana’s Chief Justice Georgina Wood, former second lady Hajia Aliu Mahama, chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Madama Charlotte Osei and many other dignitaries.

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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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In a statement to mark the day, she said, skills training must also be adopted to address the issue of gender parity.

“On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I salute all women of Ghana and congratulate you for your hard work, dedication, commitment and often unrecognized but hugely significant contribution towards the development of Ghana.  Today is our Day. It belongs to the sister who spun the cotton yarn, the woman who tilled the soil, the one who defied the scorching sun to earn a living for her family, and that woman who nursed the sick baby back to health,” she said.

The statement added that, “I applaud the achiever who has left that sterling mark of excellence and professionalism in our hospitals, our classrooms, at the pulpit, in the mosque, parliament, our courts, security services, and all other places of work.  I pay homage to that multi-tasker who aside from looking after our homes and our young ones, diligently work in our markets, on our farms and at the beaches in order to cater for the needs of the family.”

She commended women for their roles in ensuring socio-economic and political development in various societies adding that the world must recognize women as a competent partner with their male counterparts.

“The world owes it a duty to offer the woman all the support she needs to fully exploit her potential and creativity.”

“Despite our changing roles and increased number of women who enter the Ghanaian workforce each year, we are still able to multitask and care for the family. I am excited, that the Supreme Court of Ghana has legally recognized our unpaid work. This is an important victory.”

“In line with the theme of ‘women in a changing world of work’, I acknowledge efforts by women who work for a living in Ghana. Most of our working women are parents who work in the informal sector and many work under dire conditions, yet are striving and dedicated to make a world of difference in the lives of their families.”

She also expressed optimism in the prospects of the Ghanaian woman and the ability of society to eliminate regressive cultural practices.

“The future is bright; we will work hard together to eliminate cultural practices like child marriage, and gender based violence, so that we create the right environment and opportunities for women to do decent work in Ghana.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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