Mrs Laariba Zuweira Abudu, the minister-designate for the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to working around the clock to make sure that laws against sexual and gender-based violence are criminalized.
According to her, “when the laws bite more, we will see improvement and reduction in cases of both sexual and gender-based violence in the country.”
The Minister made this statement last Tuesday, December 6, 2022, to climax this year’s 16 days of Activism Campaign and Awards Night held at the Best Western Premier Hotel in Accra.
The event which brought to the capital city, gallant men and women who are champion activists of sexual and gender-based violence, girl child education, forced and child marriages and other violence were awarded for their selfish service towards the upliftment of the women and girl child.
The ministry revealed that government will not relent in its efforts to provide empowerment opportunities for women and girls across the country.
Mrs Abudu said the government is ready to support all structures working in the areas of prevention, prosecution and rehabilitation of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and ending this violence against women and girls is possible.
Describing sexual and gender-based violence as a pandemic, she said violence such as intimate partner, female genital mutilation, harmful widowhood rights, child marriages and forced marriages amongst others must be avoided among the human race.
She added that to better respond to these abuses, the ministry is reviewing its legal frameworks such as the Domestic Violence Act and its Legislative Instrument, the National Domestic Violence Policy and the National Gender Policy amongst others.
As part of the ministry’s vision of empowering communities to speak and act appropriately against the various cases of abuse that affect women and girls adopted the concept of paralegals in 2019, where 80 market executives have been empowered with basic knowledge in our legal frameworks to better respond and assist survivors at the markets and their communities.
She said for the first time the ministry would recognise the contributions of some individuals who have proven to be exceptional in the fight against abuses of women and girls in their communities and regions.
The ministry also appreciated the hard work of both regional directors and staff who work in difficult situations for the vulnerable.
On his part, the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Charles Abani said even though women form the greater number of the population of 50.7% against 49.1 men but when it comes to representation in Parliament only 14% of them are women.
Mr Abani said women are the change agent in policy formation and therefore there is a need for government to pass the Affirmation Action Bill to help get more women’s voices in all aspects of the economy.
He revealed that statistics available revealed that about 60% of HIV AIDS cases in Sub-Saharan Africa are women.
In all, 15 personalities made up of men and women across all the regions received plaques and tabletop fridges for their hard work and contributions towards women and girls’ issues in the last decades.
The Chief Executive Organisation of Songtaba, Mrs Hajia Lamnatu Adam, on behalf of the awardees thanked the ministry for their recognition and encouraged upcoming champions to do more.
