Daily Graphic, pg.11, Tuesday, Nov. 26/08
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
Four years ago, Yaaya was gang-raped by four of her schoolmates in her village, which is not far from Accra, the nation’s capital city.
She was 18 years and was just about to write her Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), now West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but because of the trauma that she went through and the injury she suffered, she could not sit for the examination and became a school dropout.
Today, Yaaya lives in Accra and the end result of the rape was the birth of a beautiful baby girl nine months later.
Although she used every effort possible, both crude and orthodox, to abort when she realised four months later after the sexual assault that she was pregnant, she could not terminate the pregnancy.
Now her daughter, whom she named Nhyiraba, is three years and they are leaving together in one of the densely populated suburbs of Accra.
The irony of Yaaya’s situation is that she wanted to be the first female lawyer in her village and her aim was to help promote gender justice among her people but she could not achieve her dream.
Presently, she does not have any qualification to earn her a decent job and therefore she is a petty trader.
Two of the boys who raped her are presently in the university pursuing various courses, while the other two are outside the country.
Yaaya’s situation is one of the many cases of injustices that women and girls face in the country.
Although her case was sent to the court, she could not stand the agony and ‘shame’ that she had to go through in the open court to testify and to withstand cross-examination by counsel of the accused, so she bowed to pressures from family and friends to settle the case out of court, which never yielded any positive results.
Cases of injustices to women and children are worse, especially in countries affected by armed conflicts and abject poverty, and according to the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms Kathleen Cravero, “the justice system consistently fails women”.
She estimates that in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the genocide in 1994. “Yet, only three women served as judges among the 16 permanent judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for that country. According to her, in Eastern Congo 15,000 women are raped every year.
At a colloquium on Gender Justice in Accra, Ms Cravero said such inequity extended beyond Africa, stressing that only one woman had served as a judge on the International Court of Justice since it was established more than 80 years ago.
She also observed that the 34-member International Law Commission had had no woman throughout its 55-year history until 2001, when two women were finally elected.
Explaining what gender justice was, Ms Cravero, in an address read on her behalf, said it was not only a question of granting women access to formal laws but it was about ensuring protection under the law and securing positions for women to enforce the law.
Also, gender justice, she said, penalises violence against women in all its forms; be it dispossession of their property or inequality in social, economic and political rights or physical and sexual violence.
She further indicated that gender justice also empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law. It also means taking positive measures to educate women and securing them equal representation in all legal professions.
Gender justice, according to her, also means encouraging women to work as public guardians of security and justice, as well as legal professionals, arbitrators of justice and as public figures of highest moral standing in the service of their society.
On how people, especially judges, can help to contribute to gender justice and equality, she says it can be done by listening to women, stressing that the experiences and perspectives of ordinary women are crucial for understanding how to deliver justice in a meaningful way.
She says people can support action at the grass roots and points out that nothing is more important than to be observant and pay attention to efforts in the villages, in camps, municipalities and in the rural areas, and empower grass roots actors to become catalysts for national or even international change.
Also, she suggests that people can support and promote women as actors in both politics and justice institutions, adding that “we can make sure that girls have educational opportunities and remove institutional barriers to the progress in their careers”.
She also proposes that people can insist on legal and constitutional guarantees by ensuring that women’s rights are embedded in constitutions and laws, and demand that these are adhered to in policy-making and the execution of laws in courts.
She further suggests that people can speak out against inequality and injustice, saying that “each of us can ensure that in private and public settings alike we refuse to tolerate inequality and injustice for women”.
She further proposes that “we can display leadership and serve as role models”, adding that lawyers, prosecutors and judges can demonstrate their commitment, serve as an example and be inspiration for societal and attitudinal change.
She finally calls on the judiciary at large to come together to build global and regional partnerships for gender justice, explaining that “we can support partnerships and networks in our region and around the globe to advance justice for women, as equal citizens and as powerful legal professionals”.
According to a concept paper from the Judicial Service, “most often, equality for women is considered a woman’s issue. But more accurately, equality and equal protection of human rights is a societal issue. An independent judiciary that protects the rights of and is accessible to women and includes women in positions of authority is a strong judiciary that serves society as a whole”.
Although many countries, including Ghana, has national constitutions and laws, and have signed international conventions, instruments and protocols, which all seek to protect and promote equality between men and women, the reality, as the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, puts it, “it is a mirage”.
Women such as Yaaya and their children are the ones at the disadvantage as the former UN Secretary General once said, “when women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: Families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, of the whole country”.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Female candidates need financial support
Daily Graphic, Pg 17, Saturday, Nov. 22/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
SOME women parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming general elections have called for the setting up of a fund to support women in politics.
According to them such a fund should be set-up for women who would be contesting for parliamentary seats in future elections.
The women made the call at a day’s forum on ‘the role of the media in enhancing women’s participation in election 2008’ in Accra, organised by ABANTU, a non-governmental organisation, with sponsorship from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).
The women parliamentary aspirants observed that women most often could not compete equally with their male counterparts because they normally lacked financial backing.
They, therefore, called on the government and other international agencies to come to the aid of such aspiring women politicians so as to help increase the number of women in parliament.
According to them although they had the capacity and willingness to be members of parliament to represent their people in their various constituencies, they were normally defeated because they did not have the financial backing that would enable them to mount effective campaigns.
One of the candidates, Ms Zalia Seidu who said she was contesting the Ayawaso Central Constituency seat for the third time on the ticket of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) said her major challenge was lack of funds.
Another aspirant, Ms Zita Okaikoi, who is contesting the Dome Kwabenya Constituency seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also expressed similar concerns and said the establishment of such a fund was the only way by which women’s representation in parliament could be increased.
Ms Sarah Akrofi Quarcoo who was the facilitator of the forum traced women’s participation in politics from the 1960s and said although the number of women in parliament had increased since then, it was not significant considering the fact that women constituted only 10.8 per cent of the current 230-member parliament.
She said although concerns were more about the quality and impact that female parliamentarians had made in parliament, "it is also significant to note that numbers still count given the fact that the idea of ensuring that a critical mass of women are represented in parliament will encourage greater and more effective participation".
Ms Akrofi-Quarcoo said over the years, the media had brought into sharp focus inequalities in the system, saying that particularly, after the Beijing Conference, "the media supported awareness creation of the critical issues of concern in the Platform for action, significant among which is women’s participation in decision making and politics".
She urged the media to continue with its good work by speaking for women, promoting their interest and participation in politics so that the December elections would see an increase in the presence of women in parliament.
She said the media’s support for the forthcoming elections was crucial since fewer women were contesting the elections from the various political parties.
She said, "our work should not end with the elections. Indeed, post-election issues, such as the appointment of women into key ministerial positions have been more challenging", and called on the media to play an advocacy role in that respect.
Ms Jeannette Quarcoopome, Programme Administrator, Media Foundation for Africa, who chaired the forum, observed that women had not made progress in their participation in political process.
She said the media could support women candidates by mounting persistent campaigns to help whip the interest of the electorate to vote for women.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
SOME women parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming general elections have called for the setting up of a fund to support women in politics.
According to them such a fund should be set-up for women who would be contesting for parliamentary seats in future elections.
The women made the call at a day’s forum on ‘the role of the media in enhancing women’s participation in election 2008’ in Accra, organised by ABANTU, a non-governmental organisation, with sponsorship from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).
The women parliamentary aspirants observed that women most often could not compete equally with their male counterparts because they normally lacked financial backing.
They, therefore, called on the government and other international agencies to come to the aid of such aspiring women politicians so as to help increase the number of women in parliament.
According to them although they had the capacity and willingness to be members of parliament to represent their people in their various constituencies, they were normally defeated because they did not have the financial backing that would enable them to mount effective campaigns.
One of the candidates, Ms Zalia Seidu who said she was contesting the Ayawaso Central Constituency seat for the third time on the ticket of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) said her major challenge was lack of funds.
Another aspirant, Ms Zita Okaikoi, who is contesting the Dome Kwabenya Constituency seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also expressed similar concerns and said the establishment of such a fund was the only way by which women’s representation in parliament could be increased.
Ms Sarah Akrofi Quarcoo who was the facilitator of the forum traced women’s participation in politics from the 1960s and said although the number of women in parliament had increased since then, it was not significant considering the fact that women constituted only 10.8 per cent of the current 230-member parliament.
She said although concerns were more about the quality and impact that female parliamentarians had made in parliament, "it is also significant to note that numbers still count given the fact that the idea of ensuring that a critical mass of women are represented in parliament will encourage greater and more effective participation".
Ms Akrofi-Quarcoo said over the years, the media had brought into sharp focus inequalities in the system, saying that particularly, after the Beijing Conference, "the media supported awareness creation of the critical issues of concern in the Platform for action, significant among which is women’s participation in decision making and politics".
She urged the media to continue with its good work by speaking for women, promoting their interest and participation in politics so that the December elections would see an increase in the presence of women in parliament.
She said the media’s support for the forthcoming elections was crucial since fewer women were contesting the elections from the various political parties.
She said, "our work should not end with the elections. Indeed, post-election issues, such as the appointment of women into key ministerial positions have been more challenging", and called on the media to play an advocacy role in that respect.
Ms Jeannette Quarcoopome, Programme Administrator, Media Foundation for Africa, who chaired the forum, observed that women had not made progress in their participation in political process.
She said the media could support women candidates by mounting persistent campaigns to help whip the interest of the electorate to vote for women.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Climate change affects women’s livelihoods
Daily Graphic, pg. 11 Sat. Oct 11/08
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GATHERED around a small pot of boiling maize in a remote village in Ghana is Ruby, a peasant farmer, as well as her four children who are waiting to cook their last cereal.
Life has not been easy for the family and many other farmers in and around their village as their crop yield has been poor due to bad weather.
Ruby and farmers in other parts of the world are among people in the global community who are experiencing the negative impact of climatic change, as a result of human activities.
Those seriously affected by the change are women and children who constitute the most vulnerable group in society and environmentalists say the global community is living on a time bomb that can explode at any time.
According to the preamble of the Women’s Manifesto of the United Kingdom (UK), “climate change is the single greatest environmental threat to life on earth. It not only impacts on our environment physically and economically, it also affects us socially and culturally.”
The issue of climate change has become dicey as the environment has for centuries been polluted and the end result is the numerous natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones, rising sea levels, heat waves and hurricanes which are currently being experienced throughout the world.
However, all is not lost yet as propounders of the manifesto believe that women have a key role to play in tackling the issue of climate change as consumers, educators and ‘change agents’ in homes, by encouraging the adoption of lower carbon lifestyles and passing on green values to the next generation.
According to the originators of the manifesto, women are also far more concerned about environmental issues than men but, “unfortunately, our importance is not matched by our representation. Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making positions on environmental issues, industry and the scientific community. We are also insufficiently empowered in taking action in our own homes to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Globally, women are said to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their different social roles and status. In the developed world, increasing costs for energy, transport, health care, and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change.
The manifesto estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. It states further that 85 per cent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women while 75 per cent of environmental refugees are also women. It adds that women are more likely to be the unseen victims of resource wars and violence as a result of climate change.
Women are believed to be more environmentally aware than men, more likely to be doing something about climate change but also more likely to suffer from its effects. They spend more time shopping than men and make the majority of purchases that have a direct impact on climate change, including food, clothing and household goods. As household managers, women are believed to hold the key to controlling household carbon emissions across the world.
However, due to the feminisation of poverty, other existing gender inequalities, and the gendered roles of men and women in society and in the division of labour, there are gender differences in climate change impacts.
At its 46th session in 2002, the Commission on the Status of Women took up climate change issues when it addressed environmental management and the mitigation of natural disasters. The agreed conclusions adopted by the commission called for action to mainstream a gender perspective into ongoing research by the academic sector on the impact of climate change, including the root causes, and to encourage the application of the results of this research in policies and programmes.
It is widely acknowledged that the negative effects of climate change are likely to hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest. In other words, the poor are most vulnerable to climate change.
Since women form greater part of the population of the poor in developing countries and communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources, women, again, are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Moreover, because of gender differences in property rights, access to information and in cultural, social and economic roles, the effects of climate change are likely to affect men and women differently.
Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) therefore calls for a global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development and it recognises the impact of environmental problems on the lives of women and children.
It also calls for urgent measures to avert the ongoing rapid environmental and economic degradation in developing countries that generally affects the lives of women and children in rural areas suffering drought, desertification and deforestation, armed hostilities, natural disasters, toxic waste and the aftermath of the use of unsuitable agro-chemical products.
The chapter says that in order to reach these goals, women should be fully involved in decision-making and in the implementation of sustainable development activities.
In Ghana, the impact of climate change on women is no different as the global phenomenon puts women's livelihoods at stake.
This is because women constitute about 51 per cent of the nation’s population and about 30 per cent of them are heads of households. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, women also constitute 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force and produce 70 per cent of subsistence crops and play major roles in production and distribution.
Incidentally, a lot of Ghanaian women depend on the natural environment to provide food, energy, water and medicine; and it is this ecosystem that is under threat. Women’s income from their livelihoods and other economic activities has been affected, thus making them poorer.
The low income levels of Ghanaian women can be said to be leading them to compounding the issue of environmental degradation, since most of them do not have the resources to adhere to environmentally sound practices such as the use of gas instead of firewood.
Also due to inadequate resources, most middle class women go in for second-hand electrical gadgets such as fridges and microwaves which is not healthy for the environment because these emit more carbon than necessary.
The harm of global warming which is leading to climate change, according to environmentalists, has already been caused generations ago and the only solution now is for people especially women to change their attitude towards the environment.
Women such as Ruby mentioned in the introduction of this article should be empowered to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to generate and make a living, focusing on the need for sufficient food, water, cooking fuel, a climate-proof asset base to prevent poverty, protection against climate-induced floods, famine, drought and conflict, and the education on climate change.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
GATHERED around a small pot of boiling maize in a remote village in Ghana is Ruby, a peasant farmer, as well as her four children who are waiting to cook their last cereal.
Life has not been easy for the family and many other farmers in and around their village as their crop yield has been poor due to bad weather.
Ruby and farmers in other parts of the world are among people in the global community who are experiencing the negative impact of climatic change, as a result of human activities.
Those seriously affected by the change are women and children who constitute the most vulnerable group in society and environmentalists say the global community is living on a time bomb that can explode at any time.
According to the preamble of the Women’s Manifesto of the United Kingdom (UK), “climate change is the single greatest environmental threat to life on earth. It not only impacts on our environment physically and economically, it also affects us socially and culturally.”
The issue of climate change has become dicey as the environment has for centuries been polluted and the end result is the numerous natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones, rising sea levels, heat waves and hurricanes which are currently being experienced throughout the world.
However, all is not lost yet as propounders of the manifesto believe that women have a key role to play in tackling the issue of climate change as consumers, educators and ‘change agents’ in homes, by encouraging the adoption of lower carbon lifestyles and passing on green values to the next generation.
According to the originators of the manifesto, women are also far more concerned about environmental issues than men but, “unfortunately, our importance is not matched by our representation. Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making positions on environmental issues, industry and the scientific community. We are also insufficiently empowered in taking action in our own homes to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Globally, women are said to be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their different social roles and status. In the developed world, increasing costs for energy, transport, health care, and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change.
The manifesto estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. It states further that 85 per cent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women while 75 per cent of environmental refugees are also women. It adds that women are more likely to be the unseen victims of resource wars and violence as a result of climate change.
Women are believed to be more environmentally aware than men, more likely to be doing something about climate change but also more likely to suffer from its effects. They spend more time shopping than men and make the majority of purchases that have a direct impact on climate change, including food, clothing and household goods. As household managers, women are believed to hold the key to controlling household carbon emissions across the world.
However, due to the feminisation of poverty, other existing gender inequalities, and the gendered roles of men and women in society and in the division of labour, there are gender differences in climate change impacts.
At its 46th session in 2002, the Commission on the Status of Women took up climate change issues when it addressed environmental management and the mitigation of natural disasters. The agreed conclusions adopted by the commission called for action to mainstream a gender perspective into ongoing research by the academic sector on the impact of climate change, including the root causes, and to encourage the application of the results of this research in policies and programmes.
It is widely acknowledged that the negative effects of climate change are likely to hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest. In other words, the poor are most vulnerable to climate change.
Since women form greater part of the population of the poor in developing countries and communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources, women, again, are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Moreover, because of gender differences in property rights, access to information and in cultural, social and economic roles, the effects of climate change are likely to affect men and women differently.
Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) therefore calls for a global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development and it recognises the impact of environmental problems on the lives of women and children.
It also calls for urgent measures to avert the ongoing rapid environmental and economic degradation in developing countries that generally affects the lives of women and children in rural areas suffering drought, desertification and deforestation, armed hostilities, natural disasters, toxic waste and the aftermath of the use of unsuitable agro-chemical products.
The chapter says that in order to reach these goals, women should be fully involved in decision-making and in the implementation of sustainable development activities.
In Ghana, the impact of climate change on women is no different as the global phenomenon puts women's livelihoods at stake.
This is because women constitute about 51 per cent of the nation’s population and about 30 per cent of them are heads of households. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, women also constitute 52 per cent of the agricultural labour force and produce 70 per cent of subsistence crops and play major roles in production and distribution.
Incidentally, a lot of Ghanaian women depend on the natural environment to provide food, energy, water and medicine; and it is this ecosystem that is under threat. Women’s income from their livelihoods and other economic activities has been affected, thus making them poorer.
The low income levels of Ghanaian women can be said to be leading them to compounding the issue of environmental degradation, since most of them do not have the resources to adhere to environmentally sound practices such as the use of gas instead of firewood.
Also due to inadequate resources, most middle class women go in for second-hand electrical gadgets such as fridges and microwaves which is not healthy for the environment because these emit more carbon than necessary.
The harm of global warming which is leading to climate change, according to environmentalists, has already been caused generations ago and the only solution now is for people especially women to change their attitude towards the environment.
Women such as Ruby mentioned in the introduction of this article should be empowered to adopt a more environmentally friendly approach to generate and make a living, focusing on the need for sufficient food, water, cooking fuel, a climate-proof asset base to prevent poverty, protection against climate-induced floods, famine, drought and conflict, and the education on climate change.
Creating wealth from waste -• The Berlin Story
Daily Graphic, Pg 23, Monday, Oct 13/08
By Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
URBAN dwellers the world over are said to generate about 14 to 20 per cent of all world-wide waste. Much of the waste generated, that is 57 to 85 per cent, are primarily disposed off in landfills, including open and engineered sites.
In Africa, a total of 29.3 per cent of waste generated is dumped in landfill sites, 47 per cent dumped openly, 1.4 per cent incinerated, 9.2 burnt openly and 8.4 per cent disposed off in other unhygienic ways.
Africa recycles 3.9 per cent of solid waste generated on the continent as against 8.5 in Asia, 10.7 in Europe, 8.1 in Northern America and 3.2 in Latin America.
The issue of waste management has become complex across the globe as the volume of waste generated keeps increasing due to urbanisation. Also, the waste produced is more sluggish and inorganic, and worse of all, they are dumped together with hazardous materials.
The indiscriminate and improper dumping of solid waste, often mixed with hazardous untreated materials such as medical waste raises several serious environmental concerns, including loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic, glass; loss of potential resources such as compost from organic waste, and energy from burnable waste.
Contamination of land and water bodies due to discharge of chemicals and other hazardous materials, and air pollution due to emissions from burning and release of methane from anaerobic decomposition also remain a concern to environmentalists.
Health concerns such as risks to human health leading to respiratory problems, skin and other diseases, and longer term impacts due to dioxins and spread of diseases by vectors in areas near landfill sites are critical issues which need to be addressed.
With the issue of climate change becoming more prominent, people cannot be less concerned about how their waste is disposed of since the way waste is handled today would determine the level to which our climate can be affected in future.
Handling waste properly can led to a reduction in the discharge of dangerous chemicals into our water bodies, soil and most of all, the atmosphere as this will help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to help cut down on the depletion of the ozone layer.
The Berlin Experience:
With a total population of 3.4 million people, Berlin, the capital city of Germany generates 4,000 tons of waste daily. Half of the waste generated is household waste which is collected and incinerated by a municipal waste collection company known as the Beliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR).
Berlin banned the dumping of solid waste into landfill sites in June 2005 and since then waste generated is disposed of either through incineration or recycling.
The BSR facility, which will today cost one billion euro, was built in 1967 and it is a non-profit public company aiming to collect 50 per cent of Berlin’s household waste with the focus on achieving a balance between economic needs, environmental protection and good health.
The company with a total employment of 200 people at its site and about 2,000 on the field burns 170 tones of waste every hour.
Through the burning process, the plant is designed to eliminate and prevent dangerous gases such as sulphur from polluting the air and converts nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another dangerous substance into nitrogen (N2) which is harmless and dissolves in the environment.
The plant also separates scrap metals and sells it to steel companies while ashes generated are used as fillers at landfill sites or in the construction of roads. Some hazardous components which are difficult to deal with are also dumped underground, especially in mining sites.
The smoke which comes out during the incineration processes is also degassed to ensure that it meets environmental standards with the daily toxicity in the air which is measured to ensure that no oxygen is emitted into the environment.
Heat generated during the burning process is not wasted but sold into the municipal grid to warm households during the winter.
The work of the company is made easy in the first place as people are educated to separate their waste. A typical household in Berlin has about five waste containers performing different functions.
The waste is separated into residuals, papers, green glass, white glass and plastics. BSR’s duty is to collect the residual and this usually comes with cans and bottles as some people do not separate their waste properly. The company, however, does not sort the waste out but puts them in the incinerator which burns at 850 degrees.
Waste management in Accra
Accra, with an estimated population of about four million, generates about 2,000 tones of waste daily and all this waste is dumped in landfill sites. Most of the waste is generated in some major market areas such as Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and Mallam Atta.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), charged with the responsibility of ensuring that waste generated is collected and effectively disposed of, is often overwhelmed as the population of the capital keeps increasing by the day due to uncontrolled urbanisation.
The situation has led to large quantities of waste being generated daily in Accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over-strained solid waste management system.
One major factor that makes it impossible for the AMA to discharge its duty effectively is the unavailability of a high-tech dumping site, the closure of the Oblogo Landfill Site in April 2007 and the subsequent closure of a second site also situated at Oblogo.
Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face difficulties in ensuring that all the waste generated in the city is collected for disposal. Due to the AMA’s impossibility of collecting all the waste effectively, the collection of waste from homes has been limited to some privileged areas in the capital while other areas considered to be inhabited by the poor, especially the slums, are left to contend with the problem on their own. This leads to indiscriminate disposal of waste in surface drains, canals and streams, creating insanitary and unsightly environments in many parts of the city.
The discrimination in the collection of waste is said to have led to an estimated 80 per cent of households in the city not paying for the disposal of their waste and most of them dump their refuse directly at sanitary sites where they pay between a token GH20p and GH¢1 depending on the volume of the garbage.
Waste collection is sub-contracted to private companies such as ZoomLion, Yafuru, Meskworld and ABC wastes and they all charge different rates ranging from GH¢4 to GH¢15 a month depending on the area.
The AMA is said to be spending GH¢600,000 monthly to maintain refuse sites and GH¢240,000 on landfill sites and currently, it is said that 65 per cent of the assembly’s resources are spent on sanitation-related issues alone.
According to a recent Daily Graphic report, an expert on waste management warned that an explosion at the Oblogo site was imminent if the AMA did not take steps to degas the site.
Presently, the AMA is at a fix as to where to dump its waste as the chief of Oblogo has called for the closure of the present landfill site due to the danger posed to the lives of the people living around it.
Although the AMA is preparing a new damping site at Sampa near Weija, the question is will the site help solve the problems of the AMA on the issue of effectively collecting and disposing of solid waste in the capital? One may also want to ask how long the site at Sampa will be able to hold the waste generated in the capital city and what the next step will be when that place is also full.
It is about time that the city authorities and government came out with a more concrete plan on the disposal of solid waste in the capital. It is also time for the government to take steps to introduce modern technologies into the disposal of waste in the country.
This can be started through educating people on waste separation to ensure its easy disposal. The issue of waste separation is a foreign concept to Ghanaians as many people are not used to it. Although ZoomLion has introduced the system, not much education has been given to the populace on where to put particular waste except with the yellow and green colouring on the containers which to an educated person would seem suggestive but is meaningless to an illiterate.
Also although the containers have been designed for easy identification, most people ignore the symbols on them and dump their waste as and when they find them empty.
As a result of the problems associated with the improper disposal of waste in the capital city, there is a clear need for a multi-stakeholder partnership in proper and integrated waste management in all stages — collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, but especially at the source where it is generated, and integration with policies that encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycle.
By Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
URBAN dwellers the world over are said to generate about 14 to 20 per cent of all world-wide waste. Much of the waste generated, that is 57 to 85 per cent, are primarily disposed off in landfills, including open and engineered sites.
In Africa, a total of 29.3 per cent of waste generated is dumped in landfill sites, 47 per cent dumped openly, 1.4 per cent incinerated, 9.2 burnt openly and 8.4 per cent disposed off in other unhygienic ways.
Africa recycles 3.9 per cent of solid waste generated on the continent as against 8.5 in Asia, 10.7 in Europe, 8.1 in Northern America and 3.2 in Latin America.
The issue of waste management has become complex across the globe as the volume of waste generated keeps increasing due to urbanisation. Also, the waste produced is more sluggish and inorganic, and worse of all, they are dumped together with hazardous materials.
The indiscriminate and improper dumping of solid waste, often mixed with hazardous untreated materials such as medical waste raises several serious environmental concerns, including loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic, glass; loss of potential resources such as compost from organic waste, and energy from burnable waste.
Contamination of land and water bodies due to discharge of chemicals and other hazardous materials, and air pollution due to emissions from burning and release of methane from anaerobic decomposition also remain a concern to environmentalists.
Health concerns such as risks to human health leading to respiratory problems, skin and other diseases, and longer term impacts due to dioxins and spread of diseases by vectors in areas near landfill sites are critical issues which need to be addressed.
With the issue of climate change becoming more prominent, people cannot be less concerned about how their waste is disposed of since the way waste is handled today would determine the level to which our climate can be affected in future.
Handling waste properly can led to a reduction in the discharge of dangerous chemicals into our water bodies, soil and most of all, the atmosphere as this will help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to help cut down on the depletion of the ozone layer.
The Berlin Experience:
With a total population of 3.4 million people, Berlin, the capital city of Germany generates 4,000 tons of waste daily. Half of the waste generated is household waste which is collected and incinerated by a municipal waste collection company known as the Beliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR).
Berlin banned the dumping of solid waste into landfill sites in June 2005 and since then waste generated is disposed of either through incineration or recycling.
The BSR facility, which will today cost one billion euro, was built in 1967 and it is a non-profit public company aiming to collect 50 per cent of Berlin’s household waste with the focus on achieving a balance between economic needs, environmental protection and good health.
The company with a total employment of 200 people at its site and about 2,000 on the field burns 170 tones of waste every hour.
Through the burning process, the plant is designed to eliminate and prevent dangerous gases such as sulphur from polluting the air and converts nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another dangerous substance into nitrogen (N2) which is harmless and dissolves in the environment.
The plant also separates scrap metals and sells it to steel companies while ashes generated are used as fillers at landfill sites or in the construction of roads. Some hazardous components which are difficult to deal with are also dumped underground, especially in mining sites.
The smoke which comes out during the incineration processes is also degassed to ensure that it meets environmental standards with the daily toxicity in the air which is measured to ensure that no oxygen is emitted into the environment.
Heat generated during the burning process is not wasted but sold into the municipal grid to warm households during the winter.
The work of the company is made easy in the first place as people are educated to separate their waste. A typical household in Berlin has about five waste containers performing different functions.
The waste is separated into residuals, papers, green glass, white glass and plastics. BSR’s duty is to collect the residual and this usually comes with cans and bottles as some people do not separate their waste properly. The company, however, does not sort the waste out but puts them in the incinerator which burns at 850 degrees.
Waste management in Accra
Accra, with an estimated population of about four million, generates about 2,000 tones of waste daily and all this waste is dumped in landfill sites. Most of the waste is generated in some major market areas such as Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and Mallam Atta.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), charged with the responsibility of ensuring that waste generated is collected and effectively disposed of, is often overwhelmed as the population of the capital keeps increasing by the day due to uncontrolled urbanisation.
The situation has led to large quantities of waste being generated daily in Accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over-strained solid waste management system.
One major factor that makes it impossible for the AMA to discharge its duty effectively is the unavailability of a high-tech dumping site, the closure of the Oblogo Landfill Site in April 2007 and the subsequent closure of a second site also situated at Oblogo.
Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face difficulties in ensuring that all the waste generated in the city is collected for disposal. Due to the AMA’s impossibility of collecting all the waste effectively, the collection of waste from homes has been limited to some privileged areas in the capital while other areas considered to be inhabited by the poor, especially the slums, are left to contend with the problem on their own. This leads to indiscriminate disposal of waste in surface drains, canals and streams, creating insanitary and unsightly environments in many parts of the city.
The discrimination in the collection of waste is said to have led to an estimated 80 per cent of households in the city not paying for the disposal of their waste and most of them dump their refuse directly at sanitary sites where they pay between a token GH20p and GH¢1 depending on the volume of the garbage.
Waste collection is sub-contracted to private companies such as ZoomLion, Yafuru, Meskworld and ABC wastes and they all charge different rates ranging from GH¢4 to GH¢15 a month depending on the area.
The AMA is said to be spending GH¢600,000 monthly to maintain refuse sites and GH¢240,000 on landfill sites and currently, it is said that 65 per cent of the assembly’s resources are spent on sanitation-related issues alone.
According to a recent Daily Graphic report, an expert on waste management warned that an explosion at the Oblogo site was imminent if the AMA did not take steps to degas the site.
Presently, the AMA is at a fix as to where to dump its waste as the chief of Oblogo has called for the closure of the present landfill site due to the danger posed to the lives of the people living around it.
Although the AMA is preparing a new damping site at Sampa near Weija, the question is will the site help solve the problems of the AMA on the issue of effectively collecting and disposing of solid waste in the capital? One may also want to ask how long the site at Sampa will be able to hold the waste generated in the capital city and what the next step will be when that place is also full.
It is about time that the city authorities and government came out with a more concrete plan on the disposal of solid waste in the capital. It is also time for the government to take steps to introduce modern technologies into the disposal of waste in the country.
This can be started through educating people on waste separation to ensure its easy disposal. The issue of waste separation is a foreign concept to Ghanaians as many people are not used to it. Although ZoomLion has introduced the system, not much education has been given to the populace on where to put particular waste except with the yellow and green colouring on the containers which to an educated person would seem suggestive but is meaningless to an illiterate.
Also although the containers have been designed for easy identification, most people ignore the symbols on them and dump their waste as and when they find them empty.
As a result of the problems associated with the improper disposal of waste in the capital city, there is a clear need for a multi-stakeholder partnership in proper and integrated waste management in all stages — collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, but especially at the source where it is generated, and integration with policies that encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycle.
Train children to be assertive, independent
Daily Graphic, pg. 11 Oct. 18/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Dodowa
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, has called on parents and guardians to train their children and wards properly to make them assertive and independent in future.
Making a presentation on “The Effects of Conflict on Children, the Family and the Community”, he said children tended to lose their childhood whenever there was a conflict situation, and that, according to him affected them psychologically and emotionally.
He added that during conflict situations, the routine life of children was disrupted as a result of displacement, destruction, death and separation from their parents and families, and this left them to perform unsafe and unpleasant tasks for survival.
Mr Akyea was speaking at a day’s workshop which was organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop, which was sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), was the fifth in a series of similar programmes that had been held in the Volta, Upper East, West and the Northern regions. It brought together representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), law enforcement agencies, social workers, traditional rulers and child educators.
He called on all to see child protection around the key area of child survival, development, protection and participation.
Mr Akyea said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) offered the highest standards of protection and assistance for children, and that various articles of the Convention dealt with the best interest of the child under name and nationality, preservation of identity, separation from parents and family reunion.
Some of the participants expressed concern about the attitude of some parents who took undue advantage of the operation of orphanages in their communities and dumped their children there under the pretext that they were poor, and therefore could not take care of them.
They said although orphanages were meant to cater for children who had lost either one or both parents and did not have anybody in the extended family to take care of them, some mothers abandoned their children to be fed and clothed at such facilities, a situation which participants agreed was hampering the traditional way of bringing up children in the African society, and also destroying the family system in the country.
A social worker, Ms Patricia Wilkins, Executive Director of Basics International, an NGO, called on the Department of Social Welfare to critically examine the background of people who applied for permits to establish orphanages in the country.
A representative from the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Leonard Agbley, said to ensure that orphanages in the country adhered to proper procedures of sheltering children the department was currently controlling the establishment of such institutions in the country.
He explained that managers of orphanages needed to have permits from the department before they could handle abandoned children in their institutions, adding that they would have to go through procedures such as notifying the police or a social welfare regional office of their plans to undertake such projects.
The Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral Committee on Child Protection (MCCP), Mrs Susanna Mahama, in a welcome address said conflict in homes and society presented situations where children and their mothers ended up suffering the consequence of such situations.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Dodowa
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, has called on parents and guardians to train their children and wards properly to make them assertive and independent in future.
Making a presentation on “The Effects of Conflict on Children, the Family and the Community”, he said children tended to lose their childhood whenever there was a conflict situation, and that, according to him affected them psychologically and emotionally.
He added that during conflict situations, the routine life of children was disrupted as a result of displacement, destruction, death and separation from their parents and families, and this left them to perform unsafe and unpleasant tasks for survival.
Mr Akyea was speaking at a day’s workshop which was organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop, which was sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), was the fifth in a series of similar programmes that had been held in the Volta, Upper East, West and the Northern regions. It brought together representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), law enforcement agencies, social workers, traditional rulers and child educators.
He called on all to see child protection around the key area of child survival, development, protection and participation.
Mr Akyea said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) offered the highest standards of protection and assistance for children, and that various articles of the Convention dealt with the best interest of the child under name and nationality, preservation of identity, separation from parents and family reunion.
Some of the participants expressed concern about the attitude of some parents who took undue advantage of the operation of orphanages in their communities and dumped their children there under the pretext that they were poor, and therefore could not take care of them.
They said although orphanages were meant to cater for children who had lost either one or both parents and did not have anybody in the extended family to take care of them, some mothers abandoned their children to be fed and clothed at such facilities, a situation which participants agreed was hampering the traditional way of bringing up children in the African society, and also destroying the family system in the country.
A social worker, Ms Patricia Wilkins, Executive Director of Basics International, an NGO, called on the Department of Social Welfare to critically examine the background of people who applied for permits to establish orphanages in the country.
A representative from the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Leonard Agbley, said to ensure that orphanages in the country adhered to proper procedures of sheltering children the department was currently controlling the establishment of such institutions in the country.
He explained that managers of orphanages needed to have permits from the department before they could handle abandoned children in their institutions, adding that they would have to go through procedures such as notifying the police or a social welfare regional office of their plans to undertake such projects.
The Chairman of the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral Committee on Child Protection (MCCP), Mrs Susanna Mahama, in a welcome address said conflict in homes and society presented situations where children and their mothers ended up suffering the consequence of such situations.
Edtex promotes use of local fabrics
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Oct. 23/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
A Textile Designer, Ms Edwina Assan of Edtex Design, has lauded the launch of the National Friday Wear programme by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI).
She said the move was a positive step to promote the use of made-in-Ghana prints and revitalise the textiles and garments industry and also project a unique Ghanaian identity through the extensive use of local fabrics and designs as business wear.
Ms Assan who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with textile option made the statement in Accra when she launched an exhibition of an assortment of locally designed fabric and batik designed for soft furnishing for homes.
The programme, which attracted a wide range of customers, including foreigners and tourists, showcased items such as bedspread, curtains, shower curtains, cushion covers, hand towels, chair backs, aprons, pot holders, oven gloves, napkins, tissue box holders, jewellery holders, table cloths and wall hangings.
She said the introduction of Friday wear by most companies had challenged the textile industry to come up with innovative designs, saying that this had helped increase the patronage of locally manufactured fabrics.
Ms Assan, however said the importation of cheap textiles and imitation wax prints into the country was greatly affecting the operations of the local textile industry, and therefore stressed the need for the government to step up efforts to restrict the importation of such goods.
According to her, the government could do this through the imposition of stiffer tariffs on foreign textiles imported into the country to help local industries withstand competition.
Ms Assan said so far she had marketed her products on the international markets such as in the United States of America (USA), Britain and Germany, and export some to Japan and the USA. She has also undertaken contracts to furnish some top hotels, restaurants and organisations in the country, including the Golden Tulip and the Barclays Bank.
She said the textile industry had a huge market on the international market, and pointed out that although it might be expensive to start operating in the sector, one needed to work with determination.
A Friend of Art, Mrs Heidi Amegayibor, who opened the exhibition congratulated Ms Assan for her continuous commitment and support to the textile industry, saying that “it is amazing and just great to see Edwina and her Edtex brand growing and coming up with new fascinating wall pictures and a diverse array of not only tasteful, but well selected colours and other home décor”.
She said Edtex started 20 years ago when the local textile industry was not in vogue but added that the company had managed to stay in fashion.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
A Textile Designer, Ms Edwina Assan of Edtex Design, has lauded the launch of the National Friday Wear programme by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI).
She said the move was a positive step to promote the use of made-in-Ghana prints and revitalise the textiles and garments industry and also project a unique Ghanaian identity through the extensive use of local fabrics and designs as business wear.
Ms Assan who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with textile option made the statement in Accra when she launched an exhibition of an assortment of locally designed fabric and batik designed for soft furnishing for homes.
The programme, which attracted a wide range of customers, including foreigners and tourists, showcased items such as bedspread, curtains, shower curtains, cushion covers, hand towels, chair backs, aprons, pot holders, oven gloves, napkins, tissue box holders, jewellery holders, table cloths and wall hangings.
She said the introduction of Friday wear by most companies had challenged the textile industry to come up with innovative designs, saying that this had helped increase the patronage of locally manufactured fabrics.
Ms Assan, however said the importation of cheap textiles and imitation wax prints into the country was greatly affecting the operations of the local textile industry, and therefore stressed the need for the government to step up efforts to restrict the importation of such goods.
According to her, the government could do this through the imposition of stiffer tariffs on foreign textiles imported into the country to help local industries withstand competition.
Ms Assan said so far she had marketed her products on the international markets such as in the United States of America (USA), Britain and Germany, and export some to Japan and the USA. She has also undertaken contracts to furnish some top hotels, restaurants and organisations in the country, including the Golden Tulip and the Barclays Bank.
She said the textile industry had a huge market on the international market, and pointed out that although it might be expensive to start operating in the sector, one needed to work with determination.
A Friend of Art, Mrs Heidi Amegayibor, who opened the exhibition congratulated Ms Assan for her continuous commitment and support to the textile industry, saying that “it is amazing and just great to see Edwina and her Edtex brand growing and coming up with new fascinating wall pictures and a diverse array of not only tasteful, but well selected colours and other home décor”.
She said Edtex started 20 years ago when the local textile industry was not in vogue but added that the company had managed to stay in fashion.
Let’s support women in politics'
Daily Graphic Pg 11, Oct 28/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
One of the salient issues discussed at the United Nation’s (UN) World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was that of improving women’s active participation in all aspects of development.
That conference agreed that “the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration, and sustainable development in all areas of life”.
Although the status of women across the world has marginally improved after the conference there is still more to be done to address the issue of gender inequality to achieve gender equality, equity, mainstreaming and women empowerment.
In Ghana, although women constitute more than half of the country’s population, their representation in parliament as well as in other decision-making positions is low.
Presently, there are 25 women in the country’s 230-member Legislature. The country has four women cabinet ministers as against 16 men. There is also no female regional minister in the country, while there are only three deputy ministers.
Also, out of the 35 chief directors of ministries, only six are women while there are only three women representations on the Council of State which is composed of a membership of 25. There four women out of the total number of 48 serving as ambassadors and high commissioners, whereas at the district assembly level, out of a total of 138 district chief executives, only 12 are women.
Records of the number of women participating in this year’s parliamentary election indicate that less than 70 will be contesting this year’s election to enter the country’s legislature, as against 100 in 2004.
To sharpen the skills of journalists in writing on the poor representation of women in decision-making, a women’s advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Women Media and Change (WOMEC), in conjunction with ABANTU for Development and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has organised a two-day workshop for selected journalists on increasing women’s participation in politics.
The workshop, which brought together 30 journalists from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Western regions, was aimed among other things, at building the capacity of the participants to be more gender sensitive in their reportage before, during and after the elections. It was also to sensitise the journalists to give adequate coverage to all the female candidates vying for various parliamentary seats, as well as also use the media as an effective tool to solicit votes for them.
A Gender and Development Consultant, Mrs Joana Opare, who took participants through the topics “promoting women’s participation in governance and decision making” and “Understanding gender-concepts and terminologies”, admitted that “gender advocacy cannot be changed within a day; it will take decades or centuries to do it”.
Enumerating some of the barriers that hinder women’s participation in politics, she said that women were generally less interested in politics; both women and men often see politics as a man’s affair; women lacked political capacities; women lacked confidence in their own political capabilities and that they also have lower level of education, professional experience, income and available time, as compared to men.
She stated further that women who wanted to enter into politics often lacked support from their husbands or family at the societal level; they had limited access to leadership, managerial skills and training and also mentioned the lack of female role models and mentors.
She also said there was an aggressive political climate, competitiveness and discrimination or intimidation of women, adding that the working conditions and organisational culture was not adapted to women’s circumstances such as the lack of childcare services, family leave and flexible work schedules.
Mrs Opare further noted that there were no laws in the country on the political rights and participation of women although Article 35 (6) (b) of the 1992 Constitution provides that the state takes appropriate measures to achieve reasonable gender and regional balance in recruitment and appointment to public office.
She said in order to actualise the principles of good governance that takes into account the equal representation of men and women, the process of governance will have to secure the inclusion of those who are marginalised.
According to her, gender equality was a contributor to, as well as an outcome of good governance and that it was essential to look beyond the question of numbers to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of women politicians.
She called on advocates of gender equality to conduct research, particularly on the need for changes at policy levels, encourage the collection, analysis and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data, develop practical tools to support the integration of gender perspectives at both policy and programme levels and also strengthen and disseminate methodologies for gender analysis.
She also called for moral support for women aspiring to enter into politics through the support of interest groups within the political process, or create another system of mentoring for inexperienced women politicians, provide support from a reference group or institution that will act as a support base and as a pressure group for women’s issues
She said women feel continuously marginalised, stereotyped, taken for granted and experience little understanding or support, adding that to attain equal participation of men and women in governance, men need to work together with women and that every effort must be made to bring on board their valuable contributions towards sustainable development at all levels.
Giving an overview of the workshop, Mrs Charity Binka, the Executive Director of WOMEC, said in order for the media to help in scaling up the representation of women in parliament, “it was necessary for a critical mass media professionals to be created and cultivated to promote and give greater visibility to all female parliamentary candidates, irrespective of the political party they are representing”.
She said the workshop, which will also be replicated in the northern sector of the country, will also bring the media personnel together after the elections for a post- election seminar to draw up realistic strategies to sustain the interest generated in the electorate for female candidates to ensure their success in future.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
One of the salient issues discussed at the United Nation’s (UN) World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was that of improving women’s active participation in all aspects of development.
That conference agreed that “the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration, and sustainable development in all areas of life”.
Although the status of women across the world has marginally improved after the conference there is still more to be done to address the issue of gender inequality to achieve gender equality, equity, mainstreaming and women empowerment.
In Ghana, although women constitute more than half of the country’s population, their representation in parliament as well as in other decision-making positions is low.
Presently, there are 25 women in the country’s 230-member Legislature. The country has four women cabinet ministers as against 16 men. There is also no female regional minister in the country, while there are only three deputy ministers.
Also, out of the 35 chief directors of ministries, only six are women while there are only three women representations on the Council of State which is composed of a membership of 25. There four women out of the total number of 48 serving as ambassadors and high commissioners, whereas at the district assembly level, out of a total of 138 district chief executives, only 12 are women.
Records of the number of women participating in this year’s parliamentary election indicate that less than 70 will be contesting this year’s election to enter the country’s legislature, as against 100 in 2004.
To sharpen the skills of journalists in writing on the poor representation of women in decision-making, a women’s advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Women Media and Change (WOMEC), in conjunction with ABANTU for Development and with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has organised a two-day workshop for selected journalists on increasing women’s participation in politics.
The workshop, which brought together 30 journalists from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Western regions, was aimed among other things, at building the capacity of the participants to be more gender sensitive in their reportage before, during and after the elections. It was also to sensitise the journalists to give adequate coverage to all the female candidates vying for various parliamentary seats, as well as also use the media as an effective tool to solicit votes for them.
A Gender and Development Consultant, Mrs Joana Opare, who took participants through the topics “promoting women’s participation in governance and decision making” and “Understanding gender-concepts and terminologies”, admitted that “gender advocacy cannot be changed within a day; it will take decades or centuries to do it”.
Enumerating some of the barriers that hinder women’s participation in politics, she said that women were generally less interested in politics; both women and men often see politics as a man’s affair; women lacked political capacities; women lacked confidence in their own political capabilities and that they also have lower level of education, professional experience, income and available time, as compared to men.
She stated further that women who wanted to enter into politics often lacked support from their husbands or family at the societal level; they had limited access to leadership, managerial skills and training and also mentioned the lack of female role models and mentors.
She also said there was an aggressive political climate, competitiveness and discrimination or intimidation of women, adding that the working conditions and organisational culture was not adapted to women’s circumstances such as the lack of childcare services, family leave and flexible work schedules.
Mrs Opare further noted that there were no laws in the country on the political rights and participation of women although Article 35 (6) (b) of the 1992 Constitution provides that the state takes appropriate measures to achieve reasonable gender and regional balance in recruitment and appointment to public office.
She said in order to actualise the principles of good governance that takes into account the equal representation of men and women, the process of governance will have to secure the inclusion of those who are marginalised.
According to her, gender equality was a contributor to, as well as an outcome of good governance and that it was essential to look beyond the question of numbers to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of women politicians.
She called on advocates of gender equality to conduct research, particularly on the need for changes at policy levels, encourage the collection, analysis and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data, develop practical tools to support the integration of gender perspectives at both policy and programme levels and also strengthen and disseminate methodologies for gender analysis.
She also called for moral support for women aspiring to enter into politics through the support of interest groups within the political process, or create another system of mentoring for inexperienced women politicians, provide support from a reference group or institution that will act as a support base and as a pressure group for women’s issues
She said women feel continuously marginalised, stereotyped, taken for granted and experience little understanding or support, adding that to attain equal participation of men and women in governance, men need to work together with women and that every effort must be made to bring on board their valuable contributions towards sustainable development at all levels.
Giving an overview of the workshop, Mrs Charity Binka, the Executive Director of WOMEC, said in order for the media to help in scaling up the representation of women in parliament, “it was necessary for a critical mass media professionals to be created and cultivated to promote and give greater visibility to all female parliamentary candidates, irrespective of the political party they are representing”.
She said the workshop, which will also be replicated in the northern sector of the country, will also bring the media personnel together after the elections for a post- election seminar to draw up realistic strategies to sustain the interest generated in the electorate for female candidates to ensure their success in future.
'Government is committed to quality education'
Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Oct. 29/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Amasaman
THE government is committed to using quality education to empower the youth to take up the mantle of leadership when their time is due, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ms Theresa Amerley Tagoe, has stated.
She said, knowledge and skilled labour force constituted the greatest assets of a nation, but if a child of school age was compelled by circumstances to go into child labour, that asset was destroyed forever.
Ms Tagoe noted that “Education as a tool empowers and expands the resource base of a nation leading to sustainable economic and social development.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during the Greater Accra Regional celebration of this year’s National Children’s Day, organised by the regional directorate of the Department of Children at Amasaman.
The day was marked with the theme, “Children at the center of the Children’s Act” and it brought together school children, parents, opinion leaders, traditional rulers and stakeholders.
Ms Tagoe urged parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme introduced by the government and send their children to school.
She said parents who failed to take advantage of these programmes among others, introduced by government concerning the welfare of children, were hindering the smooth development and progress of their wards.
The ‘Children’s Act’ recognised children as people who cannot be ignored, she observed, and asked society to help these children attain their full potentials in life.
The ‘Children’s Act’ together with other Legislative Instruments, policies and programmes, such as the Early Childhood Care and Development policy and the Human Trafficking Act, among others have been ratified by Parliament for the survival, development and protection of children, Ms Tagoe noted.
The Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, said the department had undertaken educational programmes in the region through its community sensitisation exercises which according to him had encouraged most parents to send their children to school.
He said his outfit in collaboration with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU,) of the Ghana Police Service, had been able to address a lot of child protection issues which included child abuse and neglect.
On behalf of other school children in the district, a pupil from the Amasaman District Assembly Junior High School, Miss Gifty Nyadudzi, called on the society to help children to enjoy all their rights as enshrined in various policy documents including the Constitution, to help them realise their full potentials.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Amasaman Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Bram Okae said the assembly had contributed in diverse ways to place the child at the centre of development in the municipality.
He said 60 per cent of the assembly’s budget is spent on providing educational infrastructure like school blocks to improve teaching and learning adding that within the past five months, the assembly had spent GH6,000 cedis on dual desks for schools within the municipality.
The assembly is currently feeding 4,523 pupils of six different schools as well as supporting brilliant but needy children to continue their education up to the university level.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Amasaman
THE government is committed to using quality education to empower the youth to take up the mantle of leadership when their time is due, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ms Theresa Amerley Tagoe, has stated.
She said, knowledge and skilled labour force constituted the greatest assets of a nation, but if a child of school age was compelled by circumstances to go into child labour, that asset was destroyed forever.
Ms Tagoe noted that “Education as a tool empowers and expands the resource base of a nation leading to sustainable economic and social development.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during the Greater Accra Regional celebration of this year’s National Children’s Day, organised by the regional directorate of the Department of Children at Amasaman.
The day was marked with the theme, “Children at the center of the Children’s Act” and it brought together school children, parents, opinion leaders, traditional rulers and stakeholders.
Ms Tagoe urged parents to take advantage of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme introduced by the government and send their children to school.
She said parents who failed to take advantage of these programmes among others, introduced by government concerning the welfare of children, were hindering the smooth development and progress of their wards.
The ‘Children’s Act’ recognised children as people who cannot be ignored, she observed, and asked society to help these children attain their full potentials in life.
The ‘Children’s Act’ together with other Legislative Instruments, policies and programmes, such as the Early Childhood Care and Development policy and the Human Trafficking Act, among others have been ratified by Parliament for the survival, development and protection of children, Ms Tagoe noted.
The Regional Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, said the department had undertaken educational programmes in the region through its community sensitisation exercises which according to him had encouraged most parents to send their children to school.
He said his outfit in collaboration with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU,) of the Ghana Police Service, had been able to address a lot of child protection issues which included child abuse and neglect.
On behalf of other school children in the district, a pupil from the Amasaman District Assembly Junior High School, Miss Gifty Nyadudzi, called on the society to help children to enjoy all their rights as enshrined in various policy documents including the Constitution, to help them realise their full potentials.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Amasaman Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Bram Okae said the assembly had contributed in diverse ways to place the child at the centre of development in the municipality.
He said 60 per cent of the assembly’s budget is spent on providing educational infrastructure like school blocks to improve teaching and learning adding that within the past five months, the assembly had spent GH6,000 cedis on dual desks for schools within the municipality.
The assembly is currently feeding 4,523 pupils of six different schools as well as supporting brilliant but needy children to continue their education up to the university level.
AMA gets temporary dump site
Daily Graphic (back page), Friday, Sept. 19/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE AMA has started dumping solid waste at a landfill site at Kwashie Bu in Accra, 24 hours after the call for the closure of the Oblogo landfill site by the Oblogo Mantse, Nii Kwaku Bibini III.
The 15-acre quarry site has for the past nine years been operated by a waste contracting company, Yafuru Waste, and the company has filled about two thirds of the site to reclaim the land.
A source close to the site told the Daily Graphic that the AMA on Wednesday morning fumigated surrounding buildings in the area.
Later, the source said trucks carrying solid waste were seen dumping their waste at the site.
An insider who wanted to remain anonymous gave a brief history of the site to the Daily Graphic, saying that the AMA was given the permit to operate the site in 1993 but they left for a bigger site at Mallam after working at the Kwashie Bu site for two years.
The insider said the land, which belongs to the Mayaku Family of Accra, was then given to Yafuru Waste in 1995, after which an agreement was signed in 1998 between the queen, Naa Adokwei Mamaga II, and officials of the company to refill the place.
So far, part of the land that has been reclaimed by the company has been used for the erection of a school and a church.
When the Daily Graphic visited the site yesterday, it was observed that the AMA had taken charge of the site and was issuing out tickets to trucks that brought their waste for dumping.
An official of the AMA who did not want to be mentioned confirmed that the AMA was going to work there on a temporary basis.
Further enquiries from other sources revealed that a four-member delegation from the waste department of the AMA yesterday morning visited Naa Mamaga II to discuss how best the AMA could partner Yafuru Waste to refill the site.
The source also confirmed that the AMA Chief Executive, Mr Stanley Adjiri Blankson, was also going to meet the queen later in the day to finalise the agreement.
According to the source, the delegation assured the queen that the AMA was only going to be at the site for between three and four weeks, after which they would move to Sampa, near Weija, where it was constructing the roads and also putting in place other social amenities before it starts operations there.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE AMA has started dumping solid waste at a landfill site at Kwashie Bu in Accra, 24 hours after the call for the closure of the Oblogo landfill site by the Oblogo Mantse, Nii Kwaku Bibini III.
The 15-acre quarry site has for the past nine years been operated by a waste contracting company, Yafuru Waste, and the company has filled about two thirds of the site to reclaim the land.
A source close to the site told the Daily Graphic that the AMA on Wednesday morning fumigated surrounding buildings in the area.
Later, the source said trucks carrying solid waste were seen dumping their waste at the site.
An insider who wanted to remain anonymous gave a brief history of the site to the Daily Graphic, saying that the AMA was given the permit to operate the site in 1993 but they left for a bigger site at Mallam after working at the Kwashie Bu site for two years.
The insider said the land, which belongs to the Mayaku Family of Accra, was then given to Yafuru Waste in 1995, after which an agreement was signed in 1998 between the queen, Naa Adokwei Mamaga II, and officials of the company to refill the place.
So far, part of the land that has been reclaimed by the company has been used for the erection of a school and a church.
When the Daily Graphic visited the site yesterday, it was observed that the AMA had taken charge of the site and was issuing out tickets to trucks that brought their waste for dumping.
An official of the AMA who did not want to be mentioned confirmed that the AMA was going to work there on a temporary basis.
Further enquiries from other sources revealed that a four-member delegation from the waste department of the AMA yesterday morning visited Naa Mamaga II to discuss how best the AMA could partner Yafuru Waste to refill the site.
The source also confirmed that the AMA Chief Executive, Mr Stanley Adjiri Blankson, was also going to meet the queen later in the day to finalise the agreement.
According to the source, the delegation assured the queen that the AMA was only going to be at the site for between three and four weeks, after which they would move to Sampa, near Weija, where it was constructing the roads and also putting in place other social amenities before it starts operations there.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Justice systems don't favour women–C. J
Daily Graphic, Spread, Thursday, Nov. 20/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, has noted that the justice systems in many countries, particularly those in Africa, are not kind to women and attributed the African version of the problem to the high illiteracy rate on the continent.
She said this when she opened a two-day colloquium on “The role of the judiciary in promoting justice in Africa”.
It was hosted by the Judicial Service and brought together 60 participants from across Africa.
The colloquium, which is an initiative of the Partners for Gender Justice (PGJ), was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and the Bandies University.
The PGJ, which was launched in 2004, is an informal partnership of interested state actors, non-governmental organisations, United Nation actors, international and regional organisations and academic institutions that are interested in promoting gender justice.
The Chief Justice said, "Laws need to be demystified and made accessible to the public, especially women," adding that the legal maxim that presumed everybody to know the law was fiction and had no place in Africa where majority of the population was illiterate.
Mrs Justice Wood said although on paper national constitutions, laws and international conventions, instruments and protocols seemed to promote equality between men and women, the reality was still a mirage.
She observed that "in most African countries equitable and sustainable development has been stunted because women are marginalised and gender considerations not given the needed attention," adding, "Human development, if not engendered, is endangered."
She said women’s issues were now recognised as human rights issues and were required to receive maximum attention at both national and international levels, adding that "unfortunately, the status of most women is still deplorable, compared to that of men”.
She said the Ghanaian judiciary had taken steps to ensure that the theme for the next couple of years, "Access to Justice", was a reality and not just a sound bite.
The UNDP Country Representative, Mr Daouda Toure, in an address, said Ghana had made modest gains in women’s access to justice since Beijing but added that there were still some barriers that needed to be dealt with.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the UNDP, Ms Kathleen Cravero, said gender justice empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law, adding that it meant taking positive measures to educate women and secure their equal representation in all legal issues.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, has noted that the justice systems in many countries, particularly those in Africa, are not kind to women and attributed the African version of the problem to the high illiteracy rate on the continent.
She said this when she opened a two-day colloquium on “The role of the judiciary in promoting justice in Africa”.
It was hosted by the Judicial Service and brought together 60 participants from across Africa.
The colloquium, which is an initiative of the Partners for Gender Justice (PGJ), was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and the Bandies University.
The PGJ, which was launched in 2004, is an informal partnership of interested state actors, non-governmental organisations, United Nation actors, international and regional organisations and academic institutions that are interested in promoting gender justice.
The Chief Justice said, "Laws need to be demystified and made accessible to the public, especially women," adding that the legal maxim that presumed everybody to know the law was fiction and had no place in Africa where majority of the population was illiterate.
Mrs Justice Wood said although on paper national constitutions, laws and international conventions, instruments and protocols seemed to promote equality between men and women, the reality was still a mirage.
She observed that "in most African countries equitable and sustainable development has been stunted because women are marginalised and gender considerations not given the needed attention," adding, "Human development, if not engendered, is endangered."
She said women’s issues were now recognised as human rights issues and were required to receive maximum attention at both national and international levels, adding that "unfortunately, the status of most women is still deplorable, compared to that of men”.
She said the Ghanaian judiciary had taken steps to ensure that the theme for the next couple of years, "Access to Justice", was a reality and not just a sound bite.
The UNDP Country Representative, Mr Daouda Toure, in an address, said Ghana had made modest gains in women’s access to justice since Beijing but added that there were still some barriers that needed to be dealt with.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the UNDP, Ms Kathleen Cravero, said gender justice empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law, adding that it meant taking positive measures to educate women and secure their equal representation in all legal issues.
Competency-based training for 22 vocational heads
Daily Graphic, pg. 11, Thursday, Nov. 20/08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Peduase
THE hospitality industry in the country is characterised by intense competition as tourists become more sensitive to quality customer service delivery.
Tourists have the options of choosing from alternative destinations, facilities and services.
The industry provides services such as travel and tour, front office operations, food and beverage service and sales, housekeeping, heritage and eco-tourism, interpretation services, leisure, sports and recreation and event support management. It is envisaged to become the largest employer in the next few years.
This, therefore, calls for a training system to be established to support high quality service in all areas of the hospitality industry.
The industry, which is the third largest foreign exchange earnerin the country, employs about 200,000 of the country’s workforce. Women are said to constitute 70 per cent of the workforce in the industry and, therefore, has the potential of changing the status of many Ghanaians especially, women employed in the industry.
The industry is, however, bedeviled with challenges including inadequate travel and accommodation infrastructure, shortage of trained professionals and skilled personnel, low productivity and high cost of service delivery, poor quality of service, inadequate safety and security facilities and weak training infrastructure, among others.
It is as a result of the need for training to address some of these challenges that the Vocational Training for Females’ (VTF) with support from the Japanesse International Cooperation Agency (JICA), on Monday organised a two-day Competency-Based Training (CBT) for 22 instructors from vocational institutions from across the country at Peduase in the Eastern Region.
The training also formed part of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) support project being implemented by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) as part of curriculum reforms in vocational and technical institutions across the country.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Tourists Board, Mr Martin Mireku, in a keynote address, said the need for a curriculum reform in the hospitality industry had become necessary due to globalisation.
He said, “for Ghana’s tourism and hospitality industry to become competitive, it should aim at attaining international quality standards”.
He said for that to be possible, the training of people in the hospitality industry should follow the international trend of basing qualifications on performance standards rather than on the passing of courses and examinations.
He said tourist arrivals have increased significantly over the past decades recording an increase of 18 per cent in 2006.
According to him, it is projected that the country would earn $1.5 billion from the industry by the year 2010.
Mr Mireku, however, said Ghana’s tourism industry was marked by a critical shortage of skilled and service-friendly personnel at the operations, supervisory, and management levels.
He said it was unfortunate that the country did not have any well-organised training system neither did it have a national performance standards or quality assurance measures for training in place.
He said the training of personnel in the industry should be based on what employers want their employees to exhibit at the work place which should form the basis of what was taught, learned and assessed for the purposes of certification.
Mr Mireku who called for a mandatory on-the-job training for personnel, also stressed the need to introduce a system of accreditation to regulate training for the industry to address those shorfalls in the training of personnel for the industry.
The acting Executive Director, COTVET, Mr Asamoah Duodu, in an address, said the government was promoting technical and vocational education under the new educational reform with the view of equipping the youth with employable skills to reduce poverty and creating wealth.
The Project Administrator of JICA/TVETs projects, Mr Yoshio Ishiyama said a quality human resource base was essential for nation building, and noted that Japan “do not have rich natural resources like gold and oil as Ghana does, so we educated and trained our people. This gave us the foundation for economic growth”.
He commended the VTF for the initiative and indicated that the initiative could only be fully operationalised depending on the commitment of the individuals involved.
The Executive Director of M-Plaza, a hospitality industry, Mr Edmund Ofosu-Yeboah expressed concern that the country had not been successful in getting the needed manpower to operate the industry that met the required standards.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Peduase
THE hospitality industry in the country is characterised by intense competition as tourists become more sensitive to quality customer service delivery.
Tourists have the options of choosing from alternative destinations, facilities and services.
The industry provides services such as travel and tour, front office operations, food and beverage service and sales, housekeeping, heritage and eco-tourism, interpretation services, leisure, sports and recreation and event support management. It is envisaged to become the largest employer in the next few years.
This, therefore, calls for a training system to be established to support high quality service in all areas of the hospitality industry.
The industry, which is the third largest foreign exchange earnerin the country, employs about 200,000 of the country’s workforce. Women are said to constitute 70 per cent of the workforce in the industry and, therefore, has the potential of changing the status of many Ghanaians especially, women employed in the industry.
The industry is, however, bedeviled with challenges including inadequate travel and accommodation infrastructure, shortage of trained professionals and skilled personnel, low productivity and high cost of service delivery, poor quality of service, inadequate safety and security facilities and weak training infrastructure, among others.
It is as a result of the need for training to address some of these challenges that the Vocational Training for Females’ (VTF) with support from the Japanesse International Cooperation Agency (JICA), on Monday organised a two-day Competency-Based Training (CBT) for 22 instructors from vocational institutions from across the country at Peduase in the Eastern Region.
The training also formed part of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) support project being implemented by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) as part of curriculum reforms in vocational and technical institutions across the country.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Tourists Board, Mr Martin Mireku, in a keynote address, said the need for a curriculum reform in the hospitality industry had become necessary due to globalisation.
He said, “for Ghana’s tourism and hospitality industry to become competitive, it should aim at attaining international quality standards”.
He said for that to be possible, the training of people in the hospitality industry should follow the international trend of basing qualifications on performance standards rather than on the passing of courses and examinations.
He said tourist arrivals have increased significantly over the past decades recording an increase of 18 per cent in 2006.
According to him, it is projected that the country would earn $1.5 billion from the industry by the year 2010.
Mr Mireku, however, said Ghana’s tourism industry was marked by a critical shortage of skilled and service-friendly personnel at the operations, supervisory, and management levels.
He said it was unfortunate that the country did not have any well-organised training system neither did it have a national performance standards or quality assurance measures for training in place.
He said the training of personnel in the industry should be based on what employers want their employees to exhibit at the work place which should form the basis of what was taught, learned and assessed for the purposes of certification.
Mr Mireku who called for a mandatory on-the-job training for personnel, also stressed the need to introduce a system of accreditation to regulate training for the industry to address those shorfalls in the training of personnel for the industry.
The acting Executive Director, COTVET, Mr Asamoah Duodu, in an address, said the government was promoting technical and vocational education under the new educational reform with the view of equipping the youth with employable skills to reduce poverty and creating wealth.
The Project Administrator of JICA/TVETs projects, Mr Yoshio Ishiyama said a quality human resource base was essential for nation building, and noted that Japan “do not have rich natural resources like gold and oil as Ghana does, so we educated and trained our people. This gave us the foundation for economic growth”.
He commended the VTF for the initiative and indicated that the initiative could only be fully operationalised depending on the commitment of the individuals involved.
The Executive Director of M-Plaza, a hospitality industry, Mr Edmund Ofosu-Yeboah expressed concern that the country had not been successful in getting the needed manpower to operate the industry that met the required standards.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Environmental reporting course opens in Berlin
Daily Graphic Pg. 2, Tuesday, July 08,08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Berlin, Germany
A six-week training course on environmental reporting for fifteen journalists from seven developing countries has opened at Berlin in Germany.
The participants are drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, India, Bangladesh, Jordon and Indonnesia.
The trainning programme is being organised by the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in conjunction with The Capacity Building Institute (InWent), Germany and it is aimed at building the capacities of the journalists on current environmental happenings across the globe.
The training will cover areas such as waste management, global warming, climate change, nuclear energy, ecology, water and sanitation, renewable energies, rural electrification, biodiversity, land degradation and desertification.
The journalists will be lectured by seasoned lecturers on the environment such as Mr Martin Meister, a Managing Editor of a science magazine in Germany, Mr Peter Plappert, a freelance consultant and trainer on environmental issues, Mr Pierre portas, a biologist by training, Mr Ludwig Pulschen, an agricultural engineer, Mr Henner Weithoner, an on-line publisher and editor-in-chief of a renewable energy journal and Ms Annedore Smith, a journalist with the Associated Press.
The participants will also go on field trips across Germany to visit some solar company’s and learn at first hand some of their success stories on environmental conversation such as to the world’s largest solar electric systems in Arnstein-Germany, visit the international Solar Energy Society and Germany’s biggest geothermal projects in Berlin.
The Head of IIJ, Ms Astrid Kohl who oepned the course said IIJ was aimed at building the capacities of mid-carrier journalists on topical issues affecting the globe such as on the environment, business and political reporting.
She said the institute as a policy organises about 40 to 45 courses every year to cover topical issues with special focus on West and South Africa, India and South East Asia.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho, Berlin, Germany
A six-week training course on environmental reporting for fifteen journalists from seven developing countries has opened at Berlin in Germany.
The participants are drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, India, Bangladesh, Jordon and Indonnesia.
The trainning programme is being organised by the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in conjunction with The Capacity Building Institute (InWent), Germany and it is aimed at building the capacities of the journalists on current environmental happenings across the globe.
The training will cover areas such as waste management, global warming, climate change, nuclear energy, ecology, water and sanitation, renewable energies, rural electrification, biodiversity, land degradation and desertification.
The journalists will be lectured by seasoned lecturers on the environment such as Mr Martin Meister, a Managing Editor of a science magazine in Germany, Mr Peter Plappert, a freelance consultant and trainer on environmental issues, Mr Pierre portas, a biologist by training, Mr Ludwig Pulschen, an agricultural engineer, Mr Henner Weithoner, an on-line publisher and editor-in-chief of a renewable energy journal and Ms Annedore Smith, a journalist with the Associated Press.
The participants will also go on field trips across Germany to visit some solar company’s and learn at first hand some of their success stories on environmental conversation such as to the world’s largest solar electric systems in Arnstein-Germany, visit the international Solar Energy Society and Germany’s biggest geothermal projects in Berlin.
The Head of IIJ, Ms Astrid Kohl who oepned the course said IIJ was aimed at building the capacities of mid-carrier journalists on topical issues affecting the globe such as on the environment, business and political reporting.
She said the institute as a policy organises about 40 to 45 courses every year to cover topical issues with special focus on West and South Africa, India and South East Asia.
Sai calls for ways to reduce population
Daily Graphic Pg. 47, Thursday, Nov. 13, 08
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Presidential Advisor on HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health, Professor F.T. Sai, has called on those vying for the presidency in this year’s general election to design practical ways of controlling population growth in the country.
“No country in the world has achieved rapid development with a population growth of more than two per cent,” he said.
Professor Sai, who made the call at the launch of this year’s World AIDS Day in Accra, said the country’s population growth presently stood at between 2.5 and 2.6 per cent and noted that it behoved those aspiring to lead the country to take that into serious consideration if they were to achieve their development agenda lined up for the country.
This year’s World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1, will be on the theme, “Leadership, Reducing Stigma and Discrimination” .
In Ghana, the target for this year’s celebration is to enhance and advocate for leadership and accountability to address the HIV epidemic in Ghana at all levels by engaging everybody in decision making at the national, regional, district, community, family and individual levels; help to reduce stigma and discrimination and help increase counselling and testing services.
As part of the activities, the Ghana Aids Commission will sponsor a nation-wide HIV/AIDS campaign dubbed, “Know your status”, which is being undertaken by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to encourage more people to avail themselves for voluntary testing.
Professor Sai said issues about women were critical and that no leadership at the governmental level, for instance, needed to toy with them because of the peculiar role women played in national development.
In a speech read on his behalf, Vice-President Aliu Mahama said, “Ghana, fortunately, is still not as badly affected as some sister African countries. However, the disease has claimed a cumulative death of about 200,000 Ghanaians and this is stark warning to us that if we do not prevent it now, many more lives will be lost without treatment.”
Alhaji Mahama stressed the need for the introduction of measures to improve access to care for the infected and increase awareness of HIV-related burden that was usually shouldered by women, girls and the aged.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Prof Sakyi Awuku Amoa, in an address, said the commission was conscious of the fact that the country had not been able to achieve much in the area of behavioural change and called for more support from all.
He said the government continued to give attention to the low prevalence rate of the infection in the country, saying so far all district hospitals provided anti-retroviral therapy for PLHIV across the country.
The United Nations (UN) Resident Co-ordinator, Mr Daouda Toure, in a statement, said stigmatisation could not be reduced in the country without the active involvement of “our leaders, Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV), the media, other key stakeholders and society as a whole”.
The Chief of the USAID Health Office, Ms Bethanne Moskov, in a statement, also called on the need for people to treat PLHIV with more dignity and respect, saying it was the only way that the epidemic could be fought.
The President of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecelia Senoo, together with the President of the National Association of Positive Persons (NAP+), Mr Clement Azigiwe, called for commitment on the part of the leaders of the country to ensure that the rights of PLHIV were not infringed upon.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Presidential Advisor on HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health, Professor F.T. Sai, has called on those vying for the presidency in this year’s general election to design practical ways of controlling population growth in the country.
“No country in the world has achieved rapid development with a population growth of more than two per cent,” he said.
Professor Sai, who made the call at the launch of this year’s World AIDS Day in Accra, said the country’s population growth presently stood at between 2.5 and 2.6 per cent and noted that it behoved those aspiring to lead the country to take that into serious consideration if they were to achieve their development agenda lined up for the country.
This year’s World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1, will be on the theme, “Leadership, Reducing Stigma and Discrimination” .
In Ghana, the target for this year’s celebration is to enhance and advocate for leadership and accountability to address the HIV epidemic in Ghana at all levels by engaging everybody in decision making at the national, regional, district, community, family and individual levels; help to reduce stigma and discrimination and help increase counselling and testing services.
As part of the activities, the Ghana Aids Commission will sponsor a nation-wide HIV/AIDS campaign dubbed, “Know your status”, which is being undertaken by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to encourage more people to avail themselves for voluntary testing.
Professor Sai said issues about women were critical and that no leadership at the governmental level, for instance, needed to toy with them because of the peculiar role women played in national development.
In a speech read on his behalf, Vice-President Aliu Mahama said, “Ghana, fortunately, is still not as badly affected as some sister African countries. However, the disease has claimed a cumulative death of about 200,000 Ghanaians and this is stark warning to us that if we do not prevent it now, many more lives will be lost without treatment.”
Alhaji Mahama stressed the need for the introduction of measures to improve access to care for the infected and increase awareness of HIV-related burden that was usually shouldered by women, girls and the aged.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Prof Sakyi Awuku Amoa, in an address, said the commission was conscious of the fact that the country had not been able to achieve much in the area of behavioural change and called for more support from all.
He said the government continued to give attention to the low prevalence rate of the infection in the country, saying so far all district hospitals provided anti-retroviral therapy for PLHIV across the country.
The United Nations (UN) Resident Co-ordinator, Mr Daouda Toure, in a statement, said stigmatisation could not be reduced in the country without the active involvement of “our leaders, Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV), the media, other key stakeholders and society as a whole”.
The Chief of the USAID Health Office, Ms Bethanne Moskov, in a statement, also called on the need for people to treat PLHIV with more dignity and respect, saying it was the only way that the epidemic could be fought.
The President of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecelia Senoo, together with the President of the National Association of Positive Persons (NAP+), Mr Clement Azigiwe, called for commitment on the part of the leaders of the country to ensure that the rights of PLHIV were not infringed upon.
Study to improve access to medicine
Daily Graphic Pg.3, Thursday, Nov. 13, 08
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho & Gifty Bamfo
A two-year pilot study to help address issues of drug availability and counterfeits in Ghana was launched yesterday with the inauguration of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA), Ghana in Accra.
MeTA is a multi-stakeholder alliance working to improve access and affordability of medicines to people either due to high cost or unavailability of drugs.
Six other countries, the Philippines, Jordan, Kyrgystan, Peru, Uganda and Zambia, are also undertaking the pilot projects.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr (Mrs) Gladys Ashitey, who launched the MeTA, Ghana project, said Ghana was found as an enabling environment for the pilot project due to its existing enabling legislative and policy environment.
She mentioned some areas of such enabling environment as the government’s commitment to good governance, the passage of the Public Procurement Act 2003, the Whistle Blowers Act and the setting up of organisations for the collection and reporting of data on aspects of medicine supply and use such as the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Central Medical Stores (CMS), the Ghana National Drugs Programme (GNDP) and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG).
Dr Ashitey said the Ministry of Health’s five-year programme of work reflected the principles underpinning MeTA concepts.
The Deputy Director of DFID-Ghana, Ms Pauline Seenan, said the U.K. government had committed 7.3 million euros to underwrite the cost of MeTA pilot projects over the next 24 months in several countries, including Ghana.
“If the pilot projects go well and MeTA could add value to country efforts, the U.K. was committed to providing funds over a 10-year period to strengthen further multi-stakeholder approach,” she stated.
She expressed the hope that MeTA would contribute to improving client satisfaction, allocation and use of available resources.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho & Gifty Bamfo
A two-year pilot study to help address issues of drug availability and counterfeits in Ghana was launched yesterday with the inauguration of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA), Ghana in Accra.
MeTA is a multi-stakeholder alliance working to improve access and affordability of medicines to people either due to high cost or unavailability of drugs.
Six other countries, the Philippines, Jordan, Kyrgystan, Peru, Uganda and Zambia, are also undertaking the pilot projects.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr (Mrs) Gladys Ashitey, who launched the MeTA, Ghana project, said Ghana was found as an enabling environment for the pilot project due to its existing enabling legislative and policy environment.
She mentioned some areas of such enabling environment as the government’s commitment to good governance, the passage of the Public Procurement Act 2003, the Whistle Blowers Act and the setting up of organisations for the collection and reporting of data on aspects of medicine supply and use such as the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Central Medical Stores (CMS), the Ghana National Drugs Programme (GNDP) and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG).
Dr Ashitey said the Ministry of Health’s five-year programme of work reflected the principles underpinning MeTA concepts.
The Deputy Director of DFID-Ghana, Ms Pauline Seenan, said the U.K. government had committed 7.3 million euros to underwrite the cost of MeTA pilot projects over the next 24 months in several countries, including Ghana.
“If the pilot projects go well and MeTA could add value to country efforts, the U.K. was committed to providing funds over a 10-year period to strengthen further multi-stakeholder approach,” she stated.
She expressed the hope that MeTA would contribute to improving client satisfaction, allocation and use of available resources.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Watch your lifestyle
12/11/08 Daily Graphic pg. 31
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Minister of Health, Major (rtd) Courage Quarshigah, has called on Ghanaians to practise regenerative health and healthy lifestyles to increase their life expectancy from the present 57 years.
He said it behoved people to go back to the basics and practise regenerative diet as well as personal hygiene, if they wanted to live longer.
Major Quarshigah, who made the call at the opening of a five-day conference for senior nursing officers, said regenerative health and nutrition were the only way through which Ghanaians could increase their life expectancy.
The conference, which was on the theme: “Regenerative Health and the Nurse Manager”, was being organised by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the African Hebrew Development Agency in Dimona, Israel, and it was expected to bring together 120 senior nurse managers from the Ghana Health Service, private institutions, the police, military, fire service, prisons, universities, ports and harbours, mines and teaching hospitals across the country.
The conference was expected to empower the participants with regenerative health, nursing administration and management skills.
Major Quarshigah said “it is possible for us to regenerate what we have degenerated over the years”, adding that “we can, if we choose to extend our life expectancy”.
He consequently warned youngmen who took aphrodisiacs to desist from such practice, saying that such substances caused toxic waste in one’s system, which in turn, create more health problems for people.
He said presently, hospitals across the country were overwhelmed with patients who reported that there with preventable diseases and avoidable injuries from their own unwholesome lifestyles.
The Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs Mary Osae-Addae, said the conference, which was a yearly programme, had dedicated this year’s conference to introducing the concept of regenerative health to both new and old senior nursing managers so as to enhance the health status of their clients.
She was also of the view that most nurses had little knowledge on regenerative health and nutrition programmes and, therefore, there was the need for them to be introduced to it for replication in their various outfits.
Mrs Osae-Addae said the conference would also give them the opportunity to deliberate on issues concerning nursing activities in the country.
The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, Mrs Alice Asare Allotey, said most diseases in the country were preventable, adding that if nurses were made to spearhead their eradication, it would go a long way to help patients to adopt them.
She called on her colleagues to lead by example, saying that “just as we demand better conditions of service, the onus lies on us to deliver up to expectation”.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
THE Minister of Health, Major (rtd) Courage Quarshigah, has called on Ghanaians to practise regenerative health and healthy lifestyles to increase their life expectancy from the present 57 years.
He said it behoved people to go back to the basics and practise regenerative diet as well as personal hygiene, if they wanted to live longer.
Major Quarshigah, who made the call at the opening of a five-day conference for senior nursing officers, said regenerative health and nutrition were the only way through which Ghanaians could increase their life expectancy.
The conference, which was on the theme: “Regenerative Health and the Nurse Manager”, was being organised by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the African Hebrew Development Agency in Dimona, Israel, and it was expected to bring together 120 senior nurse managers from the Ghana Health Service, private institutions, the police, military, fire service, prisons, universities, ports and harbours, mines and teaching hospitals across the country.
The conference was expected to empower the participants with regenerative health, nursing administration and management skills.
Major Quarshigah said “it is possible for us to regenerate what we have degenerated over the years”, adding that “we can, if we choose to extend our life expectancy”.
He consequently warned youngmen who took aphrodisiacs to desist from such practice, saying that such substances caused toxic waste in one’s system, which in turn, create more health problems for people.
He said presently, hospitals across the country were overwhelmed with patients who reported that there with preventable diseases and avoidable injuries from their own unwholesome lifestyles.
The Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs Mary Osae-Addae, said the conference, which was a yearly programme, had dedicated this year’s conference to introducing the concept of regenerative health to both new and old senior nursing managers so as to enhance the health status of their clients.
She was also of the view that most nurses had little knowledge on regenerative health and nutrition programmes and, therefore, there was the need for them to be introduced to it for replication in their various outfits.
Mrs Osae-Addae said the conference would also give them the opportunity to deliberate on issues concerning nursing activities in the country.
The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, Mrs Alice Asare Allotey, said most diseases in the country were preventable, adding that if nurses were made to spearhead their eradication, it would go a long way to help patients to adopt them.
She called on her colleagues to lead by example, saying that “just as we demand better conditions of service, the onus lies on us to deliver up to expectation”.
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