The award-winning actress, who is the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) Maternal Health Ambassador for West and Central Africa said African governments must take the leading steps in reversing the negative trends of maternal mortality and other health challenges affecting women.

She made the call during a special interactive session with the press in Accra.

While committing to intensify advocacy and education efforts on issues affecting women’s health and their rights, she said there is the need for the media to take keen interest in such developments and impress upon the government to address the existing challenges.

She said media organizations must use their platforms to hold government accountable for their promises and commitments to maternal health issues.

While admitting that the continent had made significant progress to reduce the incidents of maternal mortality, obstetric fistula among others, there is still much more to be done.

She said African countries must work towards completely eliminating barriers that hinder the development of women in society.

Stephanie Okereke noted that lack of access to health care, illiteracy among women, cultural barriers were among the challenges militating against of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She described as shameful the high incident of obstetric fistula in some parts of the continent although the condition is preventable.

About 1,300 women are affected by obstetric fistula yearly in Ghana.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The cause of his death is yet to be known. Born on February 6, 1949, he attended Igbobi College from 1966 to 1971 and then proceeded to the University of Ibadan.

He pursued a doctorate in medicine from the University of Birmingham in 1979. He was appointed the UNFPA Executive Director in November 2010 for a four-year term, which was renewed in 2014.

Until his death, he was an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Babatunde was a renowned global public health leader who promoted public health, especially sexual and reproductive health for women and girls.

He led efforts to advance a 1994 action plan adopted by 179 countries that recognized for the first time that women have the right to control their reproductive and sexual health and to choose whether to become pregnant.

Babatunde Osotimehin is survived by his wife, Olufunke Osotimehin, five children and several grandchildren.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The program was launched on the theme, “Promoting Community Development: The Role of the Muslim Clerics.”

It seeks to communicate ideas that will inspire, inform and motivate Muslim Clerics to join forces with development partners to transform their communities.

The spiritual leader of Masjid Qudwa who doubles as Chief Executive Officer of the Bamba Islamic Institute Ghana (BII-Ghana), Sheikh Amin Bamba decried the alarming rate of illiteracy in Muslim communities and called for a paradigm shift.

He maintained that illiteracy remained the cause of Muslim communities’ underdevelopment which required a multifaceted approach to overturn the situation.

“The key factor that has slowed down the pace of development of Ghanaian Muslims is high rate of illiteracy. Illiteracy has denied and continues to deny majority of our people critical information that they require to make informed economic, social and political decisions to improve their livelihood.”

“It is, therefore, logical to suggest that the appropriate strategy to address the illiteracy challenge is to use the United Nations’ concept of ‘partnership for the goals to package either relevant information or educational programs that can be delivered to the people through their religious and traditional representatives,” he stressed.

The renowned Muslim Cleric, Sheikh Bamba appreciated the role of the Christian Council of Ghana and the Catholic Bishops Conference contribution to nation building.

“The Muslim leadership, on the other hand, has not as a group made that much contribution largely due to inadequate capacity.”

He reaffirmed the BII-Ghana’s commitment to initiate capacity building workshops that will empower traditional and religious leaders to actively partake in decision-making processes.

Head of the UNFPA decentralised office in Tamale, Mammah Tenii underscored the need to bridge the development gap between northern and southern Ghana.

“There is no doubt that there is development gap between the Savannah zone and the remaining portions of the country. All indices of development point to this fact. Per the core principle of the SDGs, Northern Ghana cannot afford to be left behind.”

According to him, the 2010 Population and Housing Census report indicated that Muslims constituted 17.6 percent of Ghana’s total population and that Northern Region recorded a chunk of it.

“The UNFPA is convinced that actively engaging community leaders including religious and traditional authority will pave the way for increased support for reproductive health and family planning,” Mr. Tenii noted.

He appealed to other development partners to augment the UNFPA’s Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

The event brought together Muslim Clerics from all the sects in the Northern Region.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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