Women Empowerment: A recipe for national development

Women and girls all over the African continent and the world at large are subjected to unfair and discriminatory treatment of one kind or the other, the consequences are grievous and long-term impact.

It is unfortunate that females are virtually regarded as "second class citizens" and thus, not given equal recognition as their male counterparts.

The culture of African societies has made it commonplace for women to be tagged with domestic work such as cooking, caring for the family and washing, amongst others. Unfortunately, these services are paid for when rendered outside the home but regarded as the duty of the woman when rendered internally. Even in some churches, women are not allowed to lead the congregation aside their ascribed role of singing.

In some communities, for instance, education for the girl child is considered a privilege and not a right, with the popular belief that she would end up in a man's house and would be cared for by her husband. Others too believe that if she is educated, it would be a waste of resources by the parents since her wealth would remain in her husband's house.

A girl who narrated her ordeal, which led to her early marriage, said she had to get married to the man because she wanted to attain tertiary education but her family was not ready to sponsor her. According to her, they said she was not going to stay in the family forever, but the man was willing to pay the fees only if she would agree to marry him.

Also, girls are subjected to work which are deleterious to the lives, education, psychological and physical well-being of the girl child.  In rural settings, for instance, girls are made to carry fuel-wood and charcoal, among others from a long distance to the market to sell and take care of herself and to support their families. This kind of treatment is more rampant in the Northern part of Ghana because poverty is considerably high in that area.

The worst form is that girls are traded at a tender age to men as a means of poverty alleviation mechanism. Not too long ago, two men in Jirapa in the Upper West Region were arrested by the police for abetting the marriage of two basic school girls

What about the sixteen-year-old basic school girl who was forcefully married off to a man in his thirties after she was impregnated by him?

As part of efforts by the international community to fight discrimination against women, the United Nations General Assembly established the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and adopted it in 1979, which Ghana, along with other  countries, ratified on July 17, 1980.

The Convention describes discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the purpose of impairing the recognition, and fair treatment of women on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

In spite of all these efforts to get women to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and equal opportunities without any form of segregation, cultural beliefs, customs and traditions are also in opposition thwarting those efforts.

In the 21^st century, this notion of women for homes and kitchens must be eschewed and nipped in the bud if real development must be the priority of every nation.

It is, therefore, high time state parties and their agencies and institutions both private and public  got on their feet and fought for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls.

To achieve the objective of fighting discrimination against women, state parties, government and private sector institutions and agencies must institute a quota system to get a good representation of women into the leadership of the states. This would also bolster the voices of women who are considered the vulnerable group in society.

Girl child education is also a major tool for empowering women to rise against discrimination. Education for the girl child is a source of wealth for their personal development and the development of the nation as a whole.

In view of this, governments must increase their financial commitments towards programmes, policies and activities to build the capacity of girls and women to adequately compete with their male counterparts in all fields of human endeavor.

Moving further, individuals, groups of persons  or organisations that discriminate against any person or group of persons based on sex must be allowed to face the full rigors of the law to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to tread on similar grounds.

The course and welfare of women must also be considered a priority and be given more preference if we are to satisfy our quest to remove all forms of discrimination against them.

Women and girls will forever remain an enviable asset for peace and national development without whom all efforts of men would be in vain.

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Human trafficking is deadly, the marginalized are mostly the victims

Worldwide, human trafficking is a canker that eats into the fabrics of every nation and impedes its development.

The indigenous and the marginalised people who suffer abject poverty, and are politically and economically disadvantaged are the most affected in this quagmire of inhumane treatment.

The victims are vulnerable to commercial sex.

These unexpected victims who, most at times, suffer from lack of access to education and their basic human rights, fall prey to their masters through false promises of greener pastures.

People who engage in trafficking for sexual exploitation are usually an organised cross country groups or gangs who operate under the pretense of job providers but in actual fact work to certify the services of cross-country dating industries.

They could be intra-country or cross-country and the vulnerable victims are persuaded out of their communities or countries as caretakers, stage performers and any other lucrative jobs and are rather sold to commercial sex industries.

The 2016 United States Department of State report on human trafficking identified Ghana as a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sexual exploitation.

It also said women and girls voluntarily migrate from Vietnam, China, and neighbouring West African countries and are subjected to sexual exploitation in Ghana.

Victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation suffer from bonded labour where they are required by their traffickers to work and settle cost incurred through their transportation, recruitment, up-keeping among others.

It is disheartening that Ghana could be accorded as the host and centre for the wicked and abominable act of human trafficking and its worse forms of sexual exploitation trafficking and forced labour.

This is a lukewarm attitude on the part of the authorities responsible for combating human trafficking in the country.

The 2016 United Nations Global Report on Trafficking in Persons indicated that among all detected cases worldwide, trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation was more frequent than trafficking for forced labour.

Statistics from the report showed that trafficking for sexual exploitation made up of 54 per cent of trafficking in person while 38 per cent were for forced labour.

The report identified trafficking for sexual exploitation to be rampant in the Central and Southern Europe and the Western and Southern Europe with 65 per cent and 66 per cent cases recorded from 2012 to 2014.

It is, however, prudent to note that children, women and girls are the most vulnerable groups in the business of human trafficking who do not only suffer from sexual exploitation, but also sham marriages, fraud and production of pornography among others.

The report also revealed that globally, women formed 51 per cent of all forms of trafficking in person while 20 per cent were girls, 21 per cent men and eight per cent boys.

Target 8.7 of the Agenda 2030 requires all nations to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking in all its forms and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.

It however requires all hands on deck to meet the target by the stipulated time period to achieve global unification and development to make the planet a better place for the future generation.

It is worth noting that human trafficking in any form is harmful to the development of the victims, it mars their personal dignity, denies them of their basic fundamental human rights and impedes their ability to diligently serve their communities, nations and the world at large as expected of every patriot.

We must also bear in mind that we owe it a responsibility, to safeguard, the unalienable rights of women and children as they are the most vulnerable group in the game of sex trafficking.

As Urmila Bhoola, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Form of Slavery stated: “We must do more to remove children from slavery, address the root causes that push them into slavery, ensure their effective rehabilitation, reintegration and psycho-social wellbeing and involve them as equal partners in creating a sustainable and inclusive society premised on development and social justice.”

It is therefore an obligatory on governments and the appropriate stakeholders to put in stringent measures to curb the menace if not completely but to the barest minimum if the welfare and dignity of the people must be protected.

In respect of this, the governments and benevolent organisations as well as the international community must increase their financial commitment towards the fight against human trafficking in all its forms including sex trafficking.

Every government must effectively implement her laws, acts and other legal frameworks regarding the eradication of human trafficking.

International organisations such as the United Nations, African Union, and Commonwealth among others must equally play their part and to implement treaties and agreements geared towards combating human trafficking in all forms globally.

The law enforcement bodies must note that it is not enough to investigate and arrest perpetrators of human trafficking without prosecuting and punishing them.

Culprits must be brought to book and must be allowed to face the full sentence and any other punitive measures therein.

Victims of human trafficking in any form including sex trafficking must be rendered the maximum protection, rehabilitation and reintegration into the society and be provided with the necessary support to help them live a fruitful and successful life.

The Department of Social Welfare for instance must adequately equip the government supported shelters and rehabilitation centres in Ghana with the necessary logistics and finances to effectively ensure psychological, physical and emotional wellbeing and transformation of recued trafficked victims.

In efforts to prevent human trafficking, state governments must provide the basic life necessities to improve the living condition of the people which is a major factor that influences the potential victims to caecum to promises of nonexistent jobs by potential traffickers.

Published on the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on June 7, 2017.

YALI Participants Donate to Orphanage

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) cohort two participants at the Nigeria campus of the Accra Regional Learning Center have donated assorted items to the Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home for the Mentally Challenged in Badagry, Lagos.

The donation which included bags of rice and some cartons of soft drinks among others were contributions from the participants which forms part of the cooperate activities of the team to impact societies for the benefit of the future generation.

Dr. Funmilayo Bolaji who presented the items on behalf of the YALI team expressed commitment to supporting socially disadvantage children to help make life comfortable for them and to develop their potentials.

She said as young African leaders it was their responsibility to contribute effectively to the development of their societies and countries.

Mrs Elsie Rose Akerele, the founder of the Home expressed gratitude to the team for the gesture and urged the people to continue their good works for the benefit of the society.

She also encouraged them not to only render financial and material support alone to the Home but also with their time and talents. 

Mrs Akerele also encouraged mothers and prospective mothers to be wary of symptoms of diseases such as autism and down syndrome which had dire consequences on the development of the child.

She urged well wishers and donors to assist the home in refurbishment of the home, with a bus as well as financially among others.

The YALI participants are young leaders from eight African countries, Nigeria, Liberia, Siera Leon, Ghana, Togo, La Côte D'Ivoire, the Gambia and Cameroon.

A Voice from the Voiceless

Dear uncle Baba, I meet you with diplomatic pleasantries from the camp of the mothers of this noble nation. It has been a while since their faintly echoed voices reached your desk. You seem not to have present memories about them as the years pass by. You seem to have forgotten of the famous Yaa Asantewa, a woman who led men to war.

It is a quick reminder to you that the moon had gone to bed while the ring of modern bells had called the sun to dance to the tune of contemporary demands, the demand of women to be recognized and empowered.

Uncle Baba, I pen with regret that over decades of advocacy and policy appropriation for gender empowerment, the country’s development is still lagging behind as its “big brains” remained untapped. 
At your desk is a secretary, perhaps a cleaner as well, are they males or females? Take a minute to answer these questions before you move ahead: who is your director, a male or female? And how many women Directors or Chief Executive Officers do you know?

It is worth bowing with regret and in shame that, in my own description, our bent discrimination against women has left this country in its present condition, until the gap is bridged, this country will remain as it is until Christ returns.

As Margaret Mead, a cultural anthropologist admonishes, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Pondering over this call, I strongly trust that if you believe in your thoughts and commitment to seeing women as the drivers of the nation’s development, it will change the status quo through your actions towards those believes and commitments. Did you see status quo? Yes I said status quo. What is the status quo? It is that society defined women as inferior to men. Men are regarded as leaders and women as subordinates.

Yes, uncle Baba, spin your swivel chair towards the law making body of the land, how many women are there to have the views of women in this country adequately represented? Thirty-five  female Law Makers out of two hundred and seventy-five members of parliament is too small a number for description.

Rightly noted by Eleanor Roosevelt, “one’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” Eleanor is calling on all not to only believe in the philosophy of women empowerment but to express it in the choice they make through, perhaps, elections.

In spite of the campaign launched by United Nations agencies and organization alongside the laudable policies of the country to elevate women to their rightful status in decision making, the situation still remains a challenge. 
Taking a glimpse of the  Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for example, is she not capable enough in her leadership endeavor? 
Uncle, my question still remains that, what prevents Ghana from having a female leader?

In my own perspective, the answer is not too far-fetched. It is our African mentality of perceiving women as inferior and not capable of playing any good, effective and efficient leadership roles. In some parts of Africa, it is an abomination for a woman to lead the male rather, she should be led whether or not she is more intelligent, smart and capable than the man.

This unwarranted and disdain believe has let Ghana and Africa in general to wallow in leadership crises day-in-day-out.

As you read through this letter, think through with me as to the best possible ways of rethinking female leadership in Africa in general and Ghana in specific.

The hand shivers with astonishment running through the veins as I pen down these single opines of my. 
Having grown up in a community where the youngest man is seen as superior to the oldest female and where women recognition is at its barest level, I do not hesitate a moment to be  believe that the nation’s development challenges is as a result of that.

The light is dawn and the darkness is overcome. Step out from wherever you are, suspend whatever you are doing and join the few brave women who have chosen to distinguish themselves and are ready to exploit their knowledge for the growth of this humble nation of ours. 
Help raise the flag of these courageous women who are ready to break the bounds and to take their rightful places in their societies in spite of the accompanying humiliating treatment.

Uncle Baba, as you relax on your swivel chair in front of your coffee table, think of your role in getting these ambassadors of development in peace and unity to their deserving levels after every sip of your cup.