Daily Graphicc (Pg 11) Tues., June 29/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A four-year pilot project, dubbed the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project (GRSCDP), is to be implemented in 59 selected districts across the country at a cost of $14.63million to include gender concerns into the assemblies' policies.
Under the project, all budget planning officers and other selected district assembly staff including some stakeholders in the various regions have undergone a day's seminar to enhance their knowledge about the project.
The four-year pilot project which is supported by the Ghana Government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will benefit about 3.5 million women. The project will also sponsor 500 needy boys and girls to go through vocational training within the selected districts.
The regional distribution of the selected districts are Eastern; seven, Ashanti; six, Brong Ahafo; seven, Volta; six, Upper East; five, Upper West; four, Northern; four, Western; six, Central; six and Greater Accra; eight.
It also recognises the importance of women empowerment and equitable participation in development as vital to reducing poverty in the country.
Speaking at the last of a series of regional seminars at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, the Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng said some of the benefits that the participating districts would enjoy include the rehabilitation of 25 community vocational institutes which would train the youth on employable skills.
He said as part of the project, the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI) would be supported to redesign its curriculum in order to be more responsive and also focus on competence based training to boost middle level manpower for the development needs of the people.
Also he said 512 teachers within the NVTI sector who had been identified would be trained on the new curriculum to enable them support the programme which would also link potential employers to training, as a way of managing the labour market.
According to him, the project through the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), which was the implementor of the project, was working at ensuring that teachers under vocational training were employed by the government.
He said the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA's) would also benefit from capacity building in order to make them more gender sensitive in their development programmes.
Mr Foster said when completed, the project would help bring socio-economic independent to women and their children in the participating districts and the country as a whole adding that the project would also ensure equitable socio-economic development in the country.
During an open forum, participants lauded the project and rather mentioned that the issue of gender was critical to the development of the country since women were the most vulnerable in the country.
The participants called for more support for women so that they could engage themselves in more employable skills to improve on their socio-economic needs in future.
Others also called for an increase in the number of scholarships for needy boys and girls in the various communities.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Plan Ghana champions children’s right to education
Daily Graphic (Pg 21) Thurs., July 22/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Education is a basic human right recognised since the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Since then, numerous human rights treaties have reaffirmed this right and have supported entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children.
In 1990, the Education for All (EFA) commitment was launched to ensure that by 2015, all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and the vulnerable, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
There is, however, much work to do before this is achieved. UNESCO estimates that 75 million children are not in school and in 2005-2006, as many as 90 million children were without access to education. Beyond the basic need for education to support one’s self and family in later years, many social ills occur in the vacuum of free and accessible education. Moreover, the education gap runs much deeper than a rural-urban divide. Even in urban areas, poor and marginalised children are unable to benefit from greater access to school facilities because of cost, distance and culture.
A 2007 UNESCO and UNICEF report addressed the issue of education from a rights-based approach. Three inter-related rights were specified which needed to be addressed by all countries: The right of access to education with emphasis that education must be available for, accessible to and inclusive of all children; the right to quality education emphasising that education needed to be child-centred, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored; and finally the right to respect within the learning environment which also states that education must be provided in a way that is consistent with human rights, equal respect for culture, religion and language and free from all forms of violence.
Also goals two and three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focus on universal primary education and aim to reduce the gender gap in education.
While a notable progress has been made in the category of enrolment in Ghana, much progress was still needed, especially, in addressing gender parity especially at the higher levels and quality of education that addresses socio-economic needs.
This is why Plan Ghana, a child's right organisation working in six areas in the country, namely Asesewa, Bawjiase, Mankessim, Tumu, Wa and the Volta Region, works to ensure that all children, especially those from rural and impoverished parts of the country, access their rights and have a say in their own development.
Plan Ghana works to improve access to quality education by supporting the recruitment and training of teachers, providing textbooks, school supplies and equipment, and running school health education programmes in 52 schools. It is also piloting a feeding programme in one community, benefiting 350 children.
Plan Ghana started its operations in the country in 1992 and its core areas of activity include the provision of quality education and teacher training, better health, food security and creating awareness of child rights, all of which are rooted in the rights of the child.
In the area of quality education, the programme focuses on encouraging community participation in children's learning and provides child-friendly environments and infrastructure for effective teaching and learning, as well as scholarships to needy children, enabling them to fulfil their full academic potential when money is a barrier.
Among Plan's notable achievements over the years is the increase in school enrolment figures from 60 per cent to 95 per cent through a partnership with 300 communities to improve 180 school facilities in rural areas where it operates. In remote communities, conditions have been improved with increased access to usable water from 27 per cent in 2003 to 73 per cent in 2008 and 3,500 students have also benefited from Plan's scholarship scheme for secondary, vocational and tertiary education. It has also facilitated the training of more than 1,000 teachers in rural areas and also spear-headed a birth registration campaign with registration jumping from 17 per cent in 2003 to 62 per cent in 2008 in its project areas.
Plan Ghana has also pioneered the participation of children in international programmes including the Commonwealth games in Australia in 2005 and the UN Session on Children in 2006. It also devised the sponsorship of six child ambassadors to the US and two other children who played key roles at the UN General Assembly to discuss child participation in New York. The two were part of Plan-West Africa's 'Violence Against Children' project, and have received advocacy training, helping them to help other children participate.
Also Plan Ghana is running a football project in the Eastern Region which aims to get more girls in school, because in Ghana, girls often drop out, increasingly due to teenage pregnancy. Within the last three years that the project has been operational, over 1,200 girls from rural communities have joined the project, increasing school enrolment, with the condition being that they must be in school before they can participate.
Vida, a pupil who dropped out of school and had two children, in an interview said: “I was encouraged by three members of the girls' football team to go back to school. Today, I am in school and a member of the team. With the support of my team mates, my family, the community and Plan Ghana, I hope to attain my highest potential.”
Through the football project, the area has since seen a 15 per cent increase in girls’ enrolment in school and a decrease in absenteeism and dropout rates. The project also aims at highlighting barriers to education for girls in rural communities and help reduce teenage pregnancy rates in the Eastern Region.
One of Plan Ghana’s notable achievements in its project areas last year was when the President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, praised Plan Ghana's management and staff for their good work during a visit to its offices in Tumu in the Sisala District of the Upper West Region.
He said: “I am very happy for the good work Plan Ghana is doing in this area to uplift the living standards of children and their families. I commend you highly for that. I hope you will keep it up and possibly expand your programme to cover more districts in the region. Keep the good work up Plan Ghana.”
Through its work, the Tumu area has seen an increase in school enrolment and library books have also been provided to primary schools to encourage good reading habits among children. This has lead to an improvement in their ability to read and write. The project has also supported the training of 19 pre-school teachers in the latest teaching methodologies. This has made teaching and learning more efficient and effective.
Also in the Wa West, Wa East and Wa Municipalities where Plan Ghana works in 50 communities and sponsors about 5,000 children, the School Health Programme has helped to train teachers in safe hygiene and provided hand-washing facilities to schools, improving sanitation for both teachers and pupils.
In addition, a Plan study carried out in the Sissala District of the Upper West Region found that food insecurity was a severe and chronic problem. Though it was widespread among the district's population, pre-school children, school-going children and young mothers were the worst affected and most vulnerable.
Through the survey, Plan Ghana piloted a project in Kupulima in Wa East in the Upper West Region which is managed by the community to feed children in schools, helping increase school enrolment, attendance and performance. It organised community awareness-raising meetings and trained parents to stress the importance of balanced nutrition and school attendance.
What's more, Plan Ghana has trained 63,561 teachers and built and rehabilitated 8,152 child-friendly schools so that they can deliver quality education, since learning is crucial for development and one of the most powerful tools in breaking the cycle of poverty.
The organisation invests more in education than any other programme area and works to ensure that children, young people and adults get the knowledge and life skills they need to realise their full potential.
As part of its school-improvement programme, which is a major part of its formal education work, Plan Ghana delivers support to every aspect of a school, which is essential in creating the best learning environment for children, ensures the active participation of children and communities in school governance, and holds individual school management accountable for children’s enrolment, attendance, learning and successful completion.
The organisation also reaches out to children who have never been to school or who have dropped out, offering them the chance of a quality education, and works to break down barriers that prevent many girls from being educated with projects to help thousands of them into school.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Education is a basic human right recognised since the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Since then, numerous human rights treaties have reaffirmed this right and have supported entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children.
In 1990, the Education for All (EFA) commitment was launched to ensure that by 2015, all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and the vulnerable, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
There is, however, much work to do before this is achieved. UNESCO estimates that 75 million children are not in school and in 2005-2006, as many as 90 million children were without access to education. Beyond the basic need for education to support one’s self and family in later years, many social ills occur in the vacuum of free and accessible education. Moreover, the education gap runs much deeper than a rural-urban divide. Even in urban areas, poor and marginalised children are unable to benefit from greater access to school facilities because of cost, distance and culture.
A 2007 UNESCO and UNICEF report addressed the issue of education from a rights-based approach. Three inter-related rights were specified which needed to be addressed by all countries: The right of access to education with emphasis that education must be available for, accessible to and inclusive of all children; the right to quality education emphasising that education needed to be child-centred, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored; and finally the right to respect within the learning environment which also states that education must be provided in a way that is consistent with human rights, equal respect for culture, religion and language and free from all forms of violence.
Also goals two and three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focus on universal primary education and aim to reduce the gender gap in education.
While a notable progress has been made in the category of enrolment in Ghana, much progress was still needed, especially, in addressing gender parity especially at the higher levels and quality of education that addresses socio-economic needs.
This is why Plan Ghana, a child's right organisation working in six areas in the country, namely Asesewa, Bawjiase, Mankessim, Tumu, Wa and the Volta Region, works to ensure that all children, especially those from rural and impoverished parts of the country, access their rights and have a say in their own development.
Plan Ghana works to improve access to quality education by supporting the recruitment and training of teachers, providing textbooks, school supplies and equipment, and running school health education programmes in 52 schools. It is also piloting a feeding programme in one community, benefiting 350 children.
Plan Ghana started its operations in the country in 1992 and its core areas of activity include the provision of quality education and teacher training, better health, food security and creating awareness of child rights, all of which are rooted in the rights of the child.
In the area of quality education, the programme focuses on encouraging community participation in children's learning and provides child-friendly environments and infrastructure for effective teaching and learning, as well as scholarships to needy children, enabling them to fulfil their full academic potential when money is a barrier.
Among Plan's notable achievements over the years is the increase in school enrolment figures from 60 per cent to 95 per cent through a partnership with 300 communities to improve 180 school facilities in rural areas where it operates. In remote communities, conditions have been improved with increased access to usable water from 27 per cent in 2003 to 73 per cent in 2008 and 3,500 students have also benefited from Plan's scholarship scheme for secondary, vocational and tertiary education. It has also facilitated the training of more than 1,000 teachers in rural areas and also spear-headed a birth registration campaign with registration jumping from 17 per cent in 2003 to 62 per cent in 2008 in its project areas.
Plan Ghana has also pioneered the participation of children in international programmes including the Commonwealth games in Australia in 2005 and the UN Session on Children in 2006. It also devised the sponsorship of six child ambassadors to the US and two other children who played key roles at the UN General Assembly to discuss child participation in New York. The two were part of Plan-West Africa's 'Violence Against Children' project, and have received advocacy training, helping them to help other children participate.
Also Plan Ghana is running a football project in the Eastern Region which aims to get more girls in school, because in Ghana, girls often drop out, increasingly due to teenage pregnancy. Within the last three years that the project has been operational, over 1,200 girls from rural communities have joined the project, increasing school enrolment, with the condition being that they must be in school before they can participate.
Vida, a pupil who dropped out of school and had two children, in an interview said: “I was encouraged by three members of the girls' football team to go back to school. Today, I am in school and a member of the team. With the support of my team mates, my family, the community and Plan Ghana, I hope to attain my highest potential.”
Through the football project, the area has since seen a 15 per cent increase in girls’ enrolment in school and a decrease in absenteeism and dropout rates. The project also aims at highlighting barriers to education for girls in rural communities and help reduce teenage pregnancy rates in the Eastern Region.
One of Plan Ghana’s notable achievements in its project areas last year was when the President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, praised Plan Ghana's management and staff for their good work during a visit to its offices in Tumu in the Sisala District of the Upper West Region.
He said: “I am very happy for the good work Plan Ghana is doing in this area to uplift the living standards of children and their families. I commend you highly for that. I hope you will keep it up and possibly expand your programme to cover more districts in the region. Keep the good work up Plan Ghana.”
Through its work, the Tumu area has seen an increase in school enrolment and library books have also been provided to primary schools to encourage good reading habits among children. This has lead to an improvement in their ability to read and write. The project has also supported the training of 19 pre-school teachers in the latest teaching methodologies. This has made teaching and learning more efficient and effective.
Also in the Wa West, Wa East and Wa Municipalities where Plan Ghana works in 50 communities and sponsors about 5,000 children, the School Health Programme has helped to train teachers in safe hygiene and provided hand-washing facilities to schools, improving sanitation for both teachers and pupils.
In addition, a Plan study carried out in the Sissala District of the Upper West Region found that food insecurity was a severe and chronic problem. Though it was widespread among the district's population, pre-school children, school-going children and young mothers were the worst affected and most vulnerable.
Through the survey, Plan Ghana piloted a project in Kupulima in Wa East in the Upper West Region which is managed by the community to feed children in schools, helping increase school enrolment, attendance and performance. It organised community awareness-raising meetings and trained parents to stress the importance of balanced nutrition and school attendance.
What's more, Plan Ghana has trained 63,561 teachers and built and rehabilitated 8,152 child-friendly schools so that they can deliver quality education, since learning is crucial for development and one of the most powerful tools in breaking the cycle of poverty.
The organisation invests more in education than any other programme area and works to ensure that children, young people and adults get the knowledge and life skills they need to realise their full potential.
As part of its school-improvement programme, which is a major part of its formal education work, Plan Ghana delivers support to every aspect of a school, which is essential in creating the best learning environment for children, ensures the active participation of children and communities in school governance, and holds individual school management accountable for children’s enrolment, attendance, learning and successful completion.
The organisation also reaches out to children who have never been to school or who have dropped out, offering them the chance of a quality education, and works to break down barriers that prevent many girls from being educated with projects to help thousands of them into school.
Ga East Assembly reasons with drivers
Daily Graphic (Pg 23) Thurs, July 22/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Dome Zonal Council of the Ga East Municipal Assembly have suspended a decision to implement a ‘no parking’ bye-law on the Atomic to St John’s route which was aimed at bringing sanity on that route.
The authorities had to rescind their decision after hundreds of drivers and their mates from the early hours of last Monday morning when the ban was to be enforced, began demonstrating against the decision by not allowing any Urvan bus to work on that stretch of road for well over eight hours.
The situation caused chaos as passengers had to find alternative means of getting to their destination while the already bad traffic situation in that part of the area was worsened as some drivers resisted the demonstrators from including them in their exercise.
It took the intervention of the Ga East District Commander of Police, DSP Ameyaw Afriyie to calm tempers down after he had held a meeting with the leaders of the four major transport unions operating in the area, the Ga East District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ekow Sackey and the executive of the district council.
The transport unions were the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association PROTOA, Co-operative Transport and Tiger Transport Association.
To help salvage the situation, the DCE also tasked a five-member committee headed by the District Commander of Police to address the concerns of the drivers whose main claim was that the distance between the earmarked bus stops was too long and therefore, they would not comply.
The committee, which was expected to present its report to the assembly last Tuesday morning together with leaders of the various union, some drivers and their mates, have so far earmarked new stops which they would present to the DCE.
Speaking to DSP Afriyie after the meeting, he said the council had been asked to suspend the bye-law and arrange for a meeting between all the parties coming Sunday where they would be briefed on the new demarcation and the necessary punitive measures that would taken any driver who flaunt the bye-law.
The Zonal Council Chairman, Mr Sampson Ato Ampah, also in an interview denied claims by the drivers that the council’s task force was charging GH¢50 for wrongful parking and picking of passengers.
According to him, the council earmarked the designated bus stop about a month ago and had since been educating the drivers and their mates to ensure that they only pick and alight passengers at the assigned bus stops.
He said the decision to implement the bye-law was communicated to them last Sunday at a meeting which was expected to be attended by all stakeholders.
However, he said before they could implement their decision, he had a call at 5.30 am that some organised drivers and their mates were preventing others to work on the route as they did not want to comply with the council’s bye-law.
This, he said, resulted in a clash between the council’s task force some of whom had to use force to bring the situation under control, and in the process, some drivers and their mates were assaulted and were asked to go to the hospital for treatment at the expense of the council.
Speaking to some of the drivers and their mates, they said the council was noted for forcing decision down their throat.
They explained that although at the meeting on Sunday they opposed the ear-marked bus stop, the council executive refused to listen to them, adding that a similar case was the charge of a daily fee of GH¢3 which they were currently paying, but they had since its inception some months ago complained that it was too much and needed to be reviewed.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Dome Zonal Council of the Ga East Municipal Assembly have suspended a decision to implement a ‘no parking’ bye-law on the Atomic to St John’s route which was aimed at bringing sanity on that route.
The authorities had to rescind their decision after hundreds of drivers and their mates from the early hours of last Monday morning when the ban was to be enforced, began demonstrating against the decision by not allowing any Urvan bus to work on that stretch of road for well over eight hours.
The situation caused chaos as passengers had to find alternative means of getting to their destination while the already bad traffic situation in that part of the area was worsened as some drivers resisted the demonstrators from including them in their exercise.
It took the intervention of the Ga East District Commander of Police, DSP Ameyaw Afriyie to calm tempers down after he had held a meeting with the leaders of the four major transport unions operating in the area, the Ga East District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ekow Sackey and the executive of the district council.
The transport unions were the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association PROTOA, Co-operative Transport and Tiger Transport Association.
To help salvage the situation, the DCE also tasked a five-member committee headed by the District Commander of Police to address the concerns of the drivers whose main claim was that the distance between the earmarked bus stops was too long and therefore, they would not comply.
The committee, which was expected to present its report to the assembly last Tuesday morning together with leaders of the various union, some drivers and their mates, have so far earmarked new stops which they would present to the DCE.
Speaking to DSP Afriyie after the meeting, he said the council had been asked to suspend the bye-law and arrange for a meeting between all the parties coming Sunday where they would be briefed on the new demarcation and the necessary punitive measures that would taken any driver who flaunt the bye-law.
The Zonal Council Chairman, Mr Sampson Ato Ampah, also in an interview denied claims by the drivers that the council’s task force was charging GH¢50 for wrongful parking and picking of passengers.
According to him, the council earmarked the designated bus stop about a month ago and had since been educating the drivers and their mates to ensure that they only pick and alight passengers at the assigned bus stops.
He said the decision to implement the bye-law was communicated to them last Sunday at a meeting which was expected to be attended by all stakeholders.
However, he said before they could implement their decision, he had a call at 5.30 am that some organised drivers and their mates were preventing others to work on the route as they did not want to comply with the council’s bye-law.
This, he said, resulted in a clash between the council’s task force some of whom had to use force to bring the situation under control, and in the process, some drivers and their mates were assaulted and were asked to go to the hospital for treatment at the expense of the council.
Speaking to some of the drivers and their mates, they said the council was noted for forcing decision down their throat.
They explained that although at the meeting on Sunday they opposed the ear-marked bus stop, the council executive refused to listen to them, adding that a similar case was the charge of a daily fee of GH¢3 which they were currently paying, but they had since its inception some months ago complained that it was too much and needed to be reviewed.
Obtain forest certification • Wood producers urged
Daily Graphic (Pg 46) Wed., July 20/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
WOOD producers in the country have been urged to acquire forest certification to satisfy international consumers.
If not, wood and wood products from Ghana in the next few years would not be bougth on the international market.
A Forest Certification Auditor, Mr Joseph W. Osei, made this known at a media sensitisation workshop in Accra on forest certification and sustainable forest management in Ghana.
This would be a big blow to Ghana’s forest sector, which is said to contribute five to six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with over 50 per cent of the products exported to Europe and the United States of America.
The international forest management certification mandates that forest products such as timber were harvested in a manner which would not lead to deforestation or desertification in the near future.
Ghana, at the beginning of the 20th century, was said to have over eight million hectares of high forests stocked with both timber and non-timber forest products but today it has been reduced to 1.6 million hectares.
According to Mr Osei, even though Ghana’s annual allowable timber cut was two million cubic meters per annum, the current estimated harvest including illegal chainsaw operations was 3.5 million cubic meters.
He said this and other factors had made consumers of topical forest products, especially on the EU and American markets, become concerned about the source of forest products as they want to be assured that the forest products they bought originated from sustainably managed forests.
Retailers and manufacturing industries, he said, were therefore, threatening to stop buying forest products that were not certified.
He said the only way out of the situation was to ensure that timber companies acquired forest certifications through the Ghana Forest Management Certification (GFMC), where they would be mandated to comply with all national laws and international agreements.
He added that forest certification ensured that timber companies acknowledged the cultures of communities living close to the forest, contributed to their development by signing a social responsibility agreement and also enabling forest workers to get better working conditions.
The Director of the National Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, Dr Ernest Asare Abeney, who spoke on sustainable forest management and the future of Ghana’s forest, said presently, forest certification was voluntary, independent, non-discriminatory, transparent and market-driven.
According to him apart from one plantation in the country no timber company had a forest certification although a few had applied and were yet to be certified.
He said sustainable forest management required a deliberate human intervention such as policy, legislation and management, to safeguard productive and protective functions of the forest.
Mr Abeney said sustainable forest management in the country aimed at ensuring that the goods and services derived from the forest met present day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability.
He added that forest management was required to help improve forest health and vitality in order to reduce risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances, wildfires, airborne pollution, invasion by species, pests, diseases and insects.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
WOOD producers in the country have been urged to acquire forest certification to satisfy international consumers.
If not, wood and wood products from Ghana in the next few years would not be bougth on the international market.
A Forest Certification Auditor, Mr Joseph W. Osei, made this known at a media sensitisation workshop in Accra on forest certification and sustainable forest management in Ghana.
This would be a big blow to Ghana’s forest sector, which is said to contribute five to six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with over 50 per cent of the products exported to Europe and the United States of America.
The international forest management certification mandates that forest products such as timber were harvested in a manner which would not lead to deforestation or desertification in the near future.
Ghana, at the beginning of the 20th century, was said to have over eight million hectares of high forests stocked with both timber and non-timber forest products but today it has been reduced to 1.6 million hectares.
According to Mr Osei, even though Ghana’s annual allowable timber cut was two million cubic meters per annum, the current estimated harvest including illegal chainsaw operations was 3.5 million cubic meters.
He said this and other factors had made consumers of topical forest products, especially on the EU and American markets, become concerned about the source of forest products as they want to be assured that the forest products they bought originated from sustainably managed forests.
Retailers and manufacturing industries, he said, were therefore, threatening to stop buying forest products that were not certified.
He said the only way out of the situation was to ensure that timber companies acquired forest certifications through the Ghana Forest Management Certification (GFMC), where they would be mandated to comply with all national laws and international agreements.
He added that forest certification ensured that timber companies acknowledged the cultures of communities living close to the forest, contributed to their development by signing a social responsibility agreement and also enabling forest workers to get better working conditions.
The Director of the National Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, Dr Ernest Asare Abeney, who spoke on sustainable forest management and the future of Ghana’s forest, said presently, forest certification was voluntary, independent, non-discriminatory, transparent and market-driven.
According to him apart from one plantation in the country no timber company had a forest certification although a few had applied and were yet to be certified.
He said sustainable forest management required a deliberate human intervention such as policy, legislation and management, to safeguard productive and protective functions of the forest.
Mr Abeney said sustainable forest management in the country aimed at ensuring that the goods and services derived from the forest met present day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability.
He added that forest management was required to help improve forest health and vitality in order to reduce risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances, wildfires, airborne pollution, invasion by species, pests, diseases and insects.
‘Let’s strengthen laws protecting children’
Daily Graphic (Pg11) Tues., July 20/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, provides for a uniform set of rights for children. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights that is civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention because people under 18 years of age often needed special care and protection which adults did not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognised that children also had human rights.
It, therefore, provided member states the opportunity for their governments to institute legislation, policies and structures for setting in motion the mechanisms for realising these rights at the country level.
The convention sets out the rights that must be realised for children to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. It reflects a new vision of the child.
The convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognising children's rights in this way, the convention firmly sets the focus on the child as a whole.
Apart from making provisions for enhancing child survival, participation, and development, the convention makes provisions for the protection of children from harm and exploitation, and to consolidate child protection and improve the welfare of children in the country, Ghana enacted Children’s Act 1998; Act 560).
The law provides an opportunity for tailoring some meaningful services to many children in Ghana in the last ten years. A careful study of national and regional initiatives indicated an awareness of the idea of rights pertaining to children. The general population is also becoming cognisant of the attention paid to the welfare of children from both public and private institutions including local and international NGOs.
Human rights apply to all age groups and children have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognise their special need for protection.
Other laws that seek to protect children in the country include the Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Code of Ghana.
In line with the objective of giving children the needed protection that they require, the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral committee on children met in Accra to discuss the issue of child protection and early childhood care in the region.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Basic Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Department of Social Welfare, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the National Population Council and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC).
Others were some child related non-governmental organisations working in the area of child protection such as BASICS International and representatives from educational centres such as the Autism Centre and the Dzorwulu Special School in Accra.
Hosted by the Greater Accra Department of Children, members deliberated on the need for a co-ordinated effort where society would be involved by ensuring that all vulnerable children or children living under harsh conditions with either their parents or guidance would be identified and taken out of such situations.
According to the Regional Co-ordinator of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, despite the numerous laws that sought to protect children, a number of children were still used as child labourers some of whom worked as house helps and did not have access to education while others were made to hawk on the street from morning till dusk.
He said children continued to experience numerous abuses and that the time had come for the laws that protected them to be strengthened to ensure their survival, protection, development and participation in all spheres of life.
A Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Simon S. Agbeehia who chaired the meeting, blamed the issue of the lack of child protection in the country on parents and the economy at large saying that "parents are chasing money instead of protecting their children" and that people seem to prefer material wealth than the welfare of their children.
He said the current economic pressures in the country did not allow the society especially parents and guardians to treasure their children the way they should.
The Programmes Director from the Autism Awareness, Care and training centre, Mr Mawusi Adiku was more concerned that parents and guardians did not take into account the behavioural changes in their children because they were sometimes too busy to notice them.
Some parents he said were also too overly protective of their children with disabilities, a situation which he said did not allow them to seek early or prompt care for such children for swift intervention.
He said such children especially those with autism, which he said was a developmental disorder characterised by communication, behaviour and social disorders, could be managed effectively with some of these children given skills training for their livelihood.
Members of the committee in their various submission called for the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream educational schools so as to help develop them socially and mentally.
They also called on parents and teachers to help build the confidence of such children so that they would not feel inferior to other children, a situation which they said demoralised them for life.
They also called for the education of parents on child protection to ensure that children were given the needed opprtunity to develop their capabilities without hindrances.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, provides for a uniform set of rights for children. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights that is civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention because people under 18 years of age often needed special care and protection which adults did not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognised that children also had human rights.
It, therefore, provided member states the opportunity for their governments to institute legislation, policies and structures for setting in motion the mechanisms for realising these rights at the country level.
The convention sets out the rights that must be realised for children to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. It reflects a new vision of the child.
The convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognising children's rights in this way, the convention firmly sets the focus on the child as a whole.
Apart from making provisions for enhancing child survival, participation, and development, the convention makes provisions for the protection of children from harm and exploitation, and to consolidate child protection and improve the welfare of children in the country, Ghana enacted Children’s Act 1998; Act 560).
The law provides an opportunity for tailoring some meaningful services to many children in Ghana in the last ten years. A careful study of national and regional initiatives indicated an awareness of the idea of rights pertaining to children. The general population is also becoming cognisant of the attention paid to the welfare of children from both public and private institutions including local and international NGOs.
Human rights apply to all age groups and children have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognise their special need for protection.
Other laws that seek to protect children in the country include the Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Code of Ghana.
In line with the objective of giving children the needed protection that they require, the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral committee on children met in Accra to discuss the issue of child protection and early childhood care in the region.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Basic Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Department of Social Welfare, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the National Population Council and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC).
Others were some child related non-governmental organisations working in the area of child protection such as BASICS International and representatives from educational centres such as the Autism Centre and the Dzorwulu Special School in Accra.
Hosted by the Greater Accra Department of Children, members deliberated on the need for a co-ordinated effort where society would be involved by ensuring that all vulnerable children or children living under harsh conditions with either their parents or guidance would be identified and taken out of such situations.
According to the Regional Co-ordinator of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, despite the numerous laws that sought to protect children, a number of children were still used as child labourers some of whom worked as house helps and did not have access to education while others were made to hawk on the street from morning till dusk.
He said children continued to experience numerous abuses and that the time had come for the laws that protected them to be strengthened to ensure their survival, protection, development and participation in all spheres of life.
A Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Simon S. Agbeehia who chaired the meeting, blamed the issue of the lack of child protection in the country on parents and the economy at large saying that "parents are chasing money instead of protecting their children" and that people seem to prefer material wealth than the welfare of their children.
He said the current economic pressures in the country did not allow the society especially parents and guardians to treasure their children the way they should.
The Programmes Director from the Autism Awareness, Care and training centre, Mr Mawusi Adiku was more concerned that parents and guardians did not take into account the behavioural changes in their children because they were sometimes too busy to notice them.
Some parents he said were also too overly protective of their children with disabilities, a situation which he said did not allow them to seek early or prompt care for such children for swift intervention.
He said such children especially those with autism, which he said was a developmental disorder characterised by communication, behaviour and social disorders, could be managed effectively with some of these children given skills training for their livelihood.
Members of the committee in their various submission called for the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream educational schools so as to help develop them socially and mentally.
They also called on parents and teachers to help build the confidence of such children so that they would not feel inferior to other children, a situation which they said demoralised them for life.
They also called for the education of parents on child protection to ensure that children were given the needed opprtunity to develop their capabilities without hindrances.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Postgraduate admissions to go up
Daily Graphic (Pg11) July 14/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Government is developing an educational policy which would mandate public universities to allocate 10 per cent of their admissions to postgraduate education.
Currently, postgraduate admissions make up only six per cent in all the public universities in the country.
This was made known by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Mr Paul Dzandu, at a national dialogue on postgraduate education in Ghana organised by the Graduate Students Association of Ghana in Accra.
According to Mr Dzandu, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, postgraduate education which focused on research and development was an important avenue for national development.
He said the government-approved norm for postgraduate intake in the public universities in the country was 10 per cent of the total student enrolment. However, data available from the NCTE indicates that out of 102,548 students enrolled in the public universities for the 2008/2009 academic year, only 5,919, representing six per cent, were postgraduate students.
He said “both the government and the leadership of the universities were aware that the survival of university education and the contribution of university to national development depended on the postgraduate education we provide.”
He added that “as a nation, we need to focus on postgraduate programmes which are of quality and relevance with research outputs geared towards the advancement of knowledge in the country and beyond.”
He said the government had so far put in place measures aimed at ensuring that postgraduate education was promoted in the country, and he mentioned some of the support provided to include an award of government bursary and thesis grant to all postgraduate students in public universities.
He said despite the challenges confronting postgraduate education in our universities, the future was not bleak.
A Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Vlademir Antwi-Danso, said postgraduate education which should be the engine of growth in the country had for a long time been reduced to the acquisition of knowledge, a situation which he said was worrisome.
He said postgraduate education was a platform for research and development which should be linked with national planning and development.
Dr Antwi-Danso said for the country to be totally developed it required good leadership, resources and knowledge and when postgraduate education was well developed, it can provide the solution.
He called on the students to be aggressive in their research work, saying that they must endeavour to do proper research which would help improve national development.
The Vice Dean of the University of Ghana Graduate School, Prof. K. Ofori, who said research led to the acquisition of knowledge, also said every establishment in the country needed research for a sustainable development.
He, however, bemoaned the fact that most research work ended on book shelves.
The Dean of Nutrition and Food Science, Prof. Esther Sakyi-Dawson, said there was the need to reorient graduate students to come out with qualitative research to benefit the country.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Government is developing an educational policy which would mandate public universities to allocate 10 per cent of their admissions to postgraduate education.
Currently, postgraduate admissions make up only six per cent in all the public universities in the country.
This was made known by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Mr Paul Dzandu, at a national dialogue on postgraduate education in Ghana organised by the Graduate Students Association of Ghana in Accra.
According to Mr Dzandu, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, postgraduate education which focused on research and development was an important avenue for national development.
He said the government-approved norm for postgraduate intake in the public universities in the country was 10 per cent of the total student enrolment. However, data available from the NCTE indicates that out of 102,548 students enrolled in the public universities for the 2008/2009 academic year, only 5,919, representing six per cent, were postgraduate students.
He said “both the government and the leadership of the universities were aware that the survival of university education and the contribution of university to national development depended on the postgraduate education we provide.”
He added that “as a nation, we need to focus on postgraduate programmes which are of quality and relevance with research outputs geared towards the advancement of knowledge in the country and beyond.”
He said the government had so far put in place measures aimed at ensuring that postgraduate education was promoted in the country, and he mentioned some of the support provided to include an award of government bursary and thesis grant to all postgraduate students in public universities.
He said despite the challenges confronting postgraduate education in our universities, the future was not bleak.
A Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Vlademir Antwi-Danso, said postgraduate education which should be the engine of growth in the country had for a long time been reduced to the acquisition of knowledge, a situation which he said was worrisome.
He said postgraduate education was a platform for research and development which should be linked with national planning and development.
Dr Antwi-Danso said for the country to be totally developed it required good leadership, resources and knowledge and when postgraduate education was well developed, it can provide the solution.
He called on the students to be aggressive in their research work, saying that they must endeavour to do proper research which would help improve national development.
The Vice Dean of the University of Ghana Graduate School, Prof. K. Ofori, who said research led to the acquisition of knowledge, also said every establishment in the country needed research for a sustainable development.
He, however, bemoaned the fact that most research work ended on book shelves.
The Dean of Nutrition and Food Science, Prof. Esther Sakyi-Dawson, said there was the need to reorient graduate students to come out with qualitative research to benefit the country.
MPs attend workshop on gender skills project
Daily Graphic (soc) Tues. July 13/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, Mr Kobla Mensah Woyome has called for a better and more effective data collection system that will be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
He said that was necessary to ensure that vulnerable people most of whom were women and children, received social interventions which would positively affect their livelihoods.
According to him, a project which was intended to benefit 59 needy districts in the country, did not capture some of the poor districts which had been clasified as poor under the Ghana Living Standard Survey, and were benefiting from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).
Mr Woyome made the call when he chaired a sensitisation seminar organised by the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development project (GRSCDP), for members of the committee in Accra at the weekend.
According to him, the lack of an effective and co-ordinated data in the country was one of the major causes of under development among people especially, women and children and therefore called on the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to compile and harmonise data that would be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
The seminar was aimed among other things at sharing information with the members to enhance their knowledge about the project and also to establish a platform for dialogue and consensus building for the successful implementation of the project.
The four-year project which is being funded by the Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank (AfDB) is aimed at promoting a gender and equitable socio-economic development through institutional capacity building for the overall improvement of women’s employment and entrepreneurship.
According to him, linking data would help identify areas where poverty was endemic to enable people in such areas to benefit from social intervention programmes for them to improve on their lives.
According to Mr Woyome, the need for more effective data had become necessary since most pro-poor communities did not enjoy the needed interventions that would help them to come out of their poverty, because they had not been identified.
He said if the country had a viable data on poverty levels in the various communities, it would make it easier for such communities to benefit from social interventions that would help improve on the livelihood of the people.
He added that poverty and gender inequality was among the most persistent and pervasive global challenges of the century and as such there was the need to make gender issues the core of all programmes and structures geared towards the socio-economic development of the country.
“Just as gender inequality exacerbates poverty, poverty contributes to increased gender disparity”, he said adding that gender equality was not only a women’s issue and therefore should also concern and fully engage men and boys who can contribute to advancing gender equality as individuals within the family, community and in all spheres of society.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah in a welcome address said the project was aimed at promoting equitable socio-economic development that was gender sentive through improved national capacities for enhancing gender mainstreaming, improved access to quality skills training for gainful employment and entrepreneurial development of women.
This she said would increase women’s access to financial and non-financial services for sustainable development that would equally benefit men and women, adding that the focus of the project was to alleviate poverty among women at both national and local levels.
The Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng who gave a general overview of the project, said it was aimed at achieving three main components which were; Institutional strengthening for enhancing gender mainstreaming; support to skills training and entrepreneurial development and; a project management.
He said aside supporting 59 districts within the 10 regions, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), four Community Development Colleges, micro-finance institutions, project staff of other African Development Bank funded projects in the country, business development service providers and micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, would directly benefit from the project.
He said the project, which would be reviewed annually, had a monitoring and evaluation component which would ensure that it impacted positively on the lives of beneficiaries.
The MPs in their various contributions expressed concern about the manner of selection for beneficiary communities saying that they were not involved in the selection process, They however said they were ready to support the project to achieve its overall objective.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, Mr Kobla Mensah Woyome has called for a better and more effective data collection system that will be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
He said that was necessary to ensure that vulnerable people most of whom were women and children, received social interventions which would positively affect their livelihoods.
According to him, a project which was intended to benefit 59 needy districts in the country, did not capture some of the poor districts which had been clasified as poor under the Ghana Living Standard Survey, and were benefiting from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).
Mr Woyome made the call when he chaired a sensitisation seminar organised by the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development project (GRSCDP), for members of the committee in Accra at the weekend.
According to him, the lack of an effective and co-ordinated data in the country was one of the major causes of under development among people especially, women and children and therefore called on the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to compile and harmonise data that would be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
The seminar was aimed among other things at sharing information with the members to enhance their knowledge about the project and also to establish a platform for dialogue and consensus building for the successful implementation of the project.
The four-year project which is being funded by the Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank (AfDB) is aimed at promoting a gender and equitable socio-economic development through institutional capacity building for the overall improvement of women’s employment and entrepreneurship.
According to him, linking data would help identify areas where poverty was endemic to enable people in such areas to benefit from social intervention programmes for them to improve on their lives.
According to Mr Woyome, the need for more effective data had become necessary since most pro-poor communities did not enjoy the needed interventions that would help them to come out of their poverty, because they had not been identified.
He said if the country had a viable data on poverty levels in the various communities, it would make it easier for such communities to benefit from social interventions that would help improve on the livelihood of the people.
He added that poverty and gender inequality was among the most persistent and pervasive global challenges of the century and as such there was the need to make gender issues the core of all programmes and structures geared towards the socio-economic development of the country.
“Just as gender inequality exacerbates poverty, poverty contributes to increased gender disparity”, he said adding that gender equality was not only a women’s issue and therefore should also concern and fully engage men and boys who can contribute to advancing gender equality as individuals within the family, community and in all spheres of society.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah in a welcome address said the project was aimed at promoting equitable socio-economic development that was gender sentive through improved national capacities for enhancing gender mainstreaming, improved access to quality skills training for gainful employment and entrepreneurial development of women.
This she said would increase women’s access to financial and non-financial services for sustainable development that would equally benefit men and women, adding that the focus of the project was to alleviate poverty among women at both national and local levels.
The Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng who gave a general overview of the project, said it was aimed at achieving three main components which were; Institutional strengthening for enhancing gender mainstreaming; support to skills training and entrepreneurial development and; a project management.
He said aside supporting 59 districts within the 10 regions, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), four Community Development Colleges, micro-finance institutions, project staff of other African Development Bank funded projects in the country, business development service providers and micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, would directly benefit from the project.
He said the project, which would be reviewed annually, had a monitoring and evaluation component which would ensure that it impacted positively on the lives of beneficiaries.
The MPs in their various contributions expressed concern about the manner of selection for beneficiary communities saying that they were not involved in the selection process, They however said they were ready to support the project to achieve its overall objective.
Women organisers champion affirmative action
Daily Graphic (Pg.11) Sat., July 10/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE issue of affirmative action seems to have received serious backing from women organisers of the four major political parties in the country.
The four, Ms Anita De-Sosoo, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Women’s Organiser, Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba, New Patriotic Party (NPP), Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim Haruna, Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and Ms Christine Bentie of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), have added their voices to the call for affirmative action and other measures that would help increase women’s participation in governance in the country.
Currently, women constitute 19 out of the country’s 250-member legislature, whereas in other countries such as Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia, women are said to form between 30 to 50 per cent of their various parliaments.
The women organisers added their voice to previous calls made by gender activists from across the country who have, since the inception of democratic governance in the country, called for affirmative action and other forms of quotas to get more women to participate in decision making processes in the country.
Ms Djaba did not mince words when she took the podium to speak on the topic: “Strengthening women’s rights and gender equity: Towards a gender responsive constitution”, saying that “the practice of tokenism with which gender issues are handled by men should be discouraged by the constitution.”
The forum was organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra with the aim of collating views from the women organisers to make inputs into the constitutional review processes which was currently underway in the country. It brought together other women organisers from across the country, gender activists and other participants, including men.
According to Ms Djaba, a quota system could also be enshrined in the country’s constitution to “jump-start the process of increasing women participation in leadership and to incorporate them in the development processes.”
She also called for the political party laws to be amended as a way of compelling parties to select women for at least 30 per cent of the seats they contest.
Moreover, she said there should be measures to ensure that adequate safeguards were put in place to ensure that 30 per cent of the seats in a party’s stronghold were reserved for women.
Not only did she call for quotas and affirmative action, she also called for more budget support for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) so that they could support women to embark on more prosperous economic ventures to ensure that when they stood for elections they would be adequately resourced to finance their political activities.
“National budgets for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs should appreciate to reflect Governments commitment to straighten women.”
Also, she called for the constitution to be amended to stipulate an appropriate percentage of the budget to empower women in business and in politics. Such funds, she said, should be distributed equitably and be devoid of party affiliations for micro credit financing and access, from the grassroots level.
She further suggested the need for people to invest in women who have the desire to contest political elections but do not have the resources, saying that most women have the desire but do not have the financial backing.
On education, which she said was a key component to increasing women’s participation in decision making positions in the country, she said in so far as the dropout rate for girls far exceeds the rate for boys, this will act as a barrier to women’s empowerment.
She therefore called for an inclusion of specific provisions in the constitution which would cater specifically for the girl child and safeguard their schooling, saying that such provisions must include sanctions against whoever compromises or subverts the education of the girl child among others.
She also called for legislative provisions which would provide affordable health and reproductive care for women and girls saying that the status of 51 per cent of the country’s population need to be improved for them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
On culture, Ms Djaba said although Article 26 section 2 states that "all customary practices which dehumanise or are injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person are prohibited", saying that this was a "lip service" since 'trokosi', Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and widowhood rites were perpetrated against women.
She concluded that "at the speed at which we are travelling, it is very glaring that we will not achieve the lofty ideals of equality between the sexes if we do not put in place a legal framework to fast track the process," adding that constitutional amendments alone would not be enough unless enforcement of laws were followed.
The NDC Women’s Organiser, Ms De-Sosoo, said statistically women constituted about 51 per cent of the country's population, yet have less representation in all spheres of society adding that throughout the world, human activities, practices and institutional structures were organised with respect to the social distinction people made between men and women.
She said for most part of the State, the law, politics, religion, higher education and economy, were institutions that have been historically developed by men and dominated by men and are symbolically interpreted from the standpoint of men.
She therefore suggested that to help increase women's status in terms of decision making, some parliamentary seats should be reserved for women to help increase women’s representation in parliament.
She mentioned some strategies that would help groom more women into decision making as building of capacity of women through skills training, grooming of women from tertiary levels and the training of women to be part of the political parties communication team to be abreast of current issues of governance to help build confidence in them.
The fact that women were perceived as lesser beings than men was a major concern for the CPP's Women’s Organiser, Hajia Haruna, who said society's appreciation of women issues were affected by beliefs which needed to be changed.
She said one challenge that prevented women from taking up political leadership was the fear that they would be tagged and labelled by men or sometimes their fellow women who use all manner of names including prostitutes and flirts which, in the end, dampen the spirit of several women who hitherto would have been good materials for political activities.
Hajia Haruna said although several laws and policies had been put in place to help increase women's participation, they had not achieved the right impact as more needed to be done for women to be accepted as equal to men by all in the society.
Ms Bentie of the PNC who also had similar concerns as the other women organisers called on women in the country, irrespective of their background, status, tribes and region to stand united in the fight for equality of opportunities in all societal and national development endeavours, saying that this would not be achieved on a silver platter but with hard work and persuasions.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE issue of affirmative action seems to have received serious backing from women organisers of the four major political parties in the country.
The four, Ms Anita De-Sosoo, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Women’s Organiser, Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba, New Patriotic Party (NPP), Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim Haruna, Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and Ms Christine Bentie of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), have added their voices to the call for affirmative action and other measures that would help increase women’s participation in governance in the country.
Currently, women constitute 19 out of the country’s 250-member legislature, whereas in other countries such as Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia, women are said to form between 30 to 50 per cent of their various parliaments.
The women organisers added their voice to previous calls made by gender activists from across the country who have, since the inception of democratic governance in the country, called for affirmative action and other forms of quotas to get more women to participate in decision making processes in the country.
Ms Djaba did not mince words when she took the podium to speak on the topic: “Strengthening women’s rights and gender equity: Towards a gender responsive constitution”, saying that “the practice of tokenism with which gender issues are handled by men should be discouraged by the constitution.”
The forum was organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra with the aim of collating views from the women organisers to make inputs into the constitutional review processes which was currently underway in the country. It brought together other women organisers from across the country, gender activists and other participants, including men.
According to Ms Djaba, a quota system could also be enshrined in the country’s constitution to “jump-start the process of increasing women participation in leadership and to incorporate them in the development processes.”
She also called for the political party laws to be amended as a way of compelling parties to select women for at least 30 per cent of the seats they contest.
Moreover, she said there should be measures to ensure that adequate safeguards were put in place to ensure that 30 per cent of the seats in a party’s stronghold were reserved for women.
Not only did she call for quotas and affirmative action, she also called for more budget support for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) so that they could support women to embark on more prosperous economic ventures to ensure that when they stood for elections they would be adequately resourced to finance their political activities.
“National budgets for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs should appreciate to reflect Governments commitment to straighten women.”
Also, she called for the constitution to be amended to stipulate an appropriate percentage of the budget to empower women in business and in politics. Such funds, she said, should be distributed equitably and be devoid of party affiliations for micro credit financing and access, from the grassroots level.
She further suggested the need for people to invest in women who have the desire to contest political elections but do not have the resources, saying that most women have the desire but do not have the financial backing.
On education, which she said was a key component to increasing women’s participation in decision making positions in the country, she said in so far as the dropout rate for girls far exceeds the rate for boys, this will act as a barrier to women’s empowerment.
She therefore called for an inclusion of specific provisions in the constitution which would cater specifically for the girl child and safeguard their schooling, saying that such provisions must include sanctions against whoever compromises or subverts the education of the girl child among others.
She also called for legislative provisions which would provide affordable health and reproductive care for women and girls saying that the status of 51 per cent of the country’s population need to be improved for them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
On culture, Ms Djaba said although Article 26 section 2 states that "all customary practices which dehumanise or are injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person are prohibited", saying that this was a "lip service" since 'trokosi', Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and widowhood rites were perpetrated against women.
She concluded that "at the speed at which we are travelling, it is very glaring that we will not achieve the lofty ideals of equality between the sexes if we do not put in place a legal framework to fast track the process," adding that constitutional amendments alone would not be enough unless enforcement of laws were followed.
The NDC Women’s Organiser, Ms De-Sosoo, said statistically women constituted about 51 per cent of the country's population, yet have less representation in all spheres of society adding that throughout the world, human activities, practices and institutional structures were organised with respect to the social distinction people made between men and women.
She said for most part of the State, the law, politics, religion, higher education and economy, were institutions that have been historically developed by men and dominated by men and are symbolically interpreted from the standpoint of men.
She therefore suggested that to help increase women's status in terms of decision making, some parliamentary seats should be reserved for women to help increase women’s representation in parliament.
She mentioned some strategies that would help groom more women into decision making as building of capacity of women through skills training, grooming of women from tertiary levels and the training of women to be part of the political parties communication team to be abreast of current issues of governance to help build confidence in them.
The fact that women were perceived as lesser beings than men was a major concern for the CPP's Women’s Organiser, Hajia Haruna, who said society's appreciation of women issues were affected by beliefs which needed to be changed.
She said one challenge that prevented women from taking up political leadership was the fear that they would be tagged and labelled by men or sometimes their fellow women who use all manner of names including prostitutes and flirts which, in the end, dampen the spirit of several women who hitherto would have been good materials for political activities.
Hajia Haruna said although several laws and policies had been put in place to help increase women's participation, they had not achieved the right impact as more needed to be done for women to be accepted as equal to men by all in the society.
Ms Bentie of the PNC who also had similar concerns as the other women organisers called on women in the country, irrespective of their background, status, tribes and region to stand united in the fight for equality of opportunities in all societal and national development endeavours, saying that this would not be achieved on a silver platter but with hard work and persuasions.
Women organisers call for an LI to back affirmative action
Daily Graphic (pg14) Frid., July 9/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
FOUR national women organisers of the four main political parties with representation in Parliament have called for a legislative instrument (LI) to back affirmative action in political and decision-making positions in the country.
They have also called for a fixed quota system for all political parties and in parliament to ensure that women were adequately represented in all spheres of the country’s political endeavours.
The four made the call at a women’s forum organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra on Wednesday. The forum, which had the theme “Strengthening women’s rights and gender equity: Towards a gender responsive constitution”, was aimed at collating ideas and views to be sent to the Constitutional Review Committee which is mandated to review the country’s 1992 Constitution.
The Women Organisers are: Ms Anita J. De-Sosoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ms Christina Bentie of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Ms Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim-Haruna of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
For a fair representation of the people in Parliament, Ms De-Sosoo said it was necessary for Parliament to reserve seats for women as a way of increasing their numbers.
She said the NDC government, led by President John Evans Atta Mills was on the right path of ensuring that women had 40 per cent representation in decision-making positions in the country.
She, therefore, proposed that the Constitution Review Committee should consider reserving a quota of parliamentary seats for women from different political parties.
She said the current constitution did not make any specific provision for the President to appoint women into any positions.
Ms De-Sosoo also called for a law mandating political parties to adopt quota systems for women as well as support them to contest elections through the provision of financial and logistical support for their political campaigns.
Touching on governance, Ms Bentie of the PNC said it was time for the country to harmonise its constitution with the numerous international protocols such as the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other laws that it had acceded to, to ensure that issues concerning women were adequately dealt with.
She called for legislation that would mandate political parties to set up special support funds for female candidates as well as educate and encourage more women through capacity-building programmes to participate in political activities at all levels.
On women and employment, she said women were still harassed although the country had ratified the CEDAW and the constitution also stipulated that every Ghanaian, irrespective of gender, must have equal access to employment opportunities.
On women in agriculture, Ms Bentie said although majority of women in the country were into agriculture, they continued to use outdated technologies which prevented bountiful harvests.
She added that women do not also have access to credit which would enable them to utilise modern technologies.
She said given the number of women in agriculture, the government should strive to modernise agriculture, promote an effective supply chain system as well as come out with a clear deliberative affirmative action policy to make it easy for women access credit and reserve a quota of the subsidised inputs like tractors and fertilisers supplied by government for women in the agricultural sector.
On the issue of social support for women, Ms Bentie recommended a rehabilitation and support system for women who were abused.
Ms Ibrahim-Haruna, for her part, called for a legislation which would at least mandate political parties to present 30 per cent of women candidates for parliamentary election before the parties were allowed to contest a general election.
She also called for a legislation which would ensure that 30 per cent of appointments to critical public offices were reserved for women, adding “the President must be encouraged to look beyond the confines of his party for such appointments”.
She called on political parties to stop paying lip-service to women empowerment and make conscientious efforts to give women the opportunity to serve their country.
Ms Djaba of the NPP also said the country’s constitution must define an electoral system that was gender-sensitive, adding “our constitutional right of freedom against discrimination from all forms must be reinforced to stop women from groping with challenges of disparity because the governments always failed to translate the constitutional requirement into action”.
She said “the electoral system that addresses gender disparity must provide for membership of women representation proportionately in the Electoral Commission but not merely tokenism”.
She therefore proposed for a constitutional review to allow nomination of women members of parliaments or to local assemblies by political parties proportionately in the event that the minimum requirement of 30 per cent was not realised.
She said the constitution should adopt a quota system of representation which would be entrenched in the constitution and electoral laws.
She said there should be an amendment where 30 per cent of seats to boards, governorship, regional ministries and district assemblies were reserved for women and admission to tertiary institutions were made more flexible for females.
She said in future, the reform must conform to the prescribed minimum benchmark of 50 per cent by the African Union.
She also called for the strengthening of the role of electoral monitors with a view to minimising electoral fraud, which according to her, may have the worst impact on the chances of women winning an election.
Ms Djaba also called for the outlawing of night meetings saying that “nuptial activities undermined the effectiveness of female politicians whose husbands would not tolerate such and are likely to cause domestic violence”.
She also suggested that the review committee should take into account the fact that political parties fielding candidates for elections conformed to the prescribed democratic practices that were gender sensitive and also be accountable for their implementation.
Finally, she said the new constitution should include measures that would ensure that the presidential candidate, if a man, must have a woman as his running mate or appoint a woman as the deputy.
The moderator of the forum, Ms Anna Bossman, a Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in a submission said although the country had a women’s manifesto drawn by civil rights activists, not much had been done about it, and that the manifesto brought out a lot of issues confronting women in the country and how best they could be solved.
She said the time had come for the country to look at the issue of affirmative action and quota systems as a way of ensuring that women had a fair representation in decision- making processes.
The Catholic Bishop of Ho, Bishop Francis Ludonu, also called on the women organisers to come together and form an organisation through which they can project issues confronting women collectively.
A Senior Fellow of the IEA, Mr Francis Agyemfra, on behalf of the organisation commended the women for playing diverse roles in championing the cause of women in the country.
He said the institute was ready to support the women further if they came together to collate their participation in the decision-making processes.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
FOUR national women organisers of the four main political parties with representation in Parliament have called for a legislative instrument (LI) to back affirmative action in political and decision-making positions in the country.
They have also called for a fixed quota system for all political parties and in parliament to ensure that women were adequately represented in all spheres of the country’s political endeavours.
The four made the call at a women’s forum organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra on Wednesday. The forum, which had the theme “Strengthening women’s rights and gender equity: Towards a gender responsive constitution”, was aimed at collating ideas and views to be sent to the Constitutional Review Committee which is mandated to review the country’s 1992 Constitution.
The Women Organisers are: Ms Anita J. De-Sosoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ms Christina Bentie of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Ms Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim-Haruna of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
For a fair representation of the people in Parliament, Ms De-Sosoo said it was necessary for Parliament to reserve seats for women as a way of increasing their numbers.
She said the NDC government, led by President John Evans Atta Mills was on the right path of ensuring that women had 40 per cent representation in decision-making positions in the country.
She, therefore, proposed that the Constitution Review Committee should consider reserving a quota of parliamentary seats for women from different political parties.
She said the current constitution did not make any specific provision for the President to appoint women into any positions.
Ms De-Sosoo also called for a law mandating political parties to adopt quota systems for women as well as support them to contest elections through the provision of financial and logistical support for their political campaigns.
Touching on governance, Ms Bentie of the PNC said it was time for the country to harmonise its constitution with the numerous international protocols such as the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other laws that it had acceded to, to ensure that issues concerning women were adequately dealt with.
She called for legislation that would mandate political parties to set up special support funds for female candidates as well as educate and encourage more women through capacity-building programmes to participate in political activities at all levels.
On women and employment, she said women were still harassed although the country had ratified the CEDAW and the constitution also stipulated that every Ghanaian, irrespective of gender, must have equal access to employment opportunities.
On women in agriculture, Ms Bentie said although majority of women in the country were into agriculture, they continued to use outdated technologies which prevented bountiful harvests.
She added that women do not also have access to credit which would enable them to utilise modern technologies.
She said given the number of women in agriculture, the government should strive to modernise agriculture, promote an effective supply chain system as well as come out with a clear deliberative affirmative action policy to make it easy for women access credit and reserve a quota of the subsidised inputs like tractors and fertilisers supplied by government for women in the agricultural sector.
On the issue of social support for women, Ms Bentie recommended a rehabilitation and support system for women who were abused.
Ms Ibrahim-Haruna, for her part, called for a legislation which would at least mandate political parties to present 30 per cent of women candidates for parliamentary election before the parties were allowed to contest a general election.
She also called for a legislation which would ensure that 30 per cent of appointments to critical public offices were reserved for women, adding “the President must be encouraged to look beyond the confines of his party for such appointments”.
She called on political parties to stop paying lip-service to women empowerment and make conscientious efforts to give women the opportunity to serve their country.
Ms Djaba of the NPP also said the country’s constitution must define an electoral system that was gender-sensitive, adding “our constitutional right of freedom against discrimination from all forms must be reinforced to stop women from groping with challenges of disparity because the governments always failed to translate the constitutional requirement into action”.
She said “the electoral system that addresses gender disparity must provide for membership of women representation proportionately in the Electoral Commission but not merely tokenism”.
She therefore proposed for a constitutional review to allow nomination of women members of parliaments or to local assemblies by political parties proportionately in the event that the minimum requirement of 30 per cent was not realised.
She said the constitution should adopt a quota system of representation which would be entrenched in the constitution and electoral laws.
She said there should be an amendment where 30 per cent of seats to boards, governorship, regional ministries and district assemblies were reserved for women and admission to tertiary institutions were made more flexible for females.
She said in future, the reform must conform to the prescribed minimum benchmark of 50 per cent by the African Union.
She also called for the strengthening of the role of electoral monitors with a view to minimising electoral fraud, which according to her, may have the worst impact on the chances of women winning an election.
Ms Djaba also called for the outlawing of night meetings saying that “nuptial activities undermined the effectiveness of female politicians whose husbands would not tolerate such and are likely to cause domestic violence”.
She also suggested that the review committee should take into account the fact that political parties fielding candidates for elections conformed to the prescribed democratic practices that were gender sensitive and also be accountable for their implementation.
Finally, she said the new constitution should include measures that would ensure that the presidential candidate, if a man, must have a woman as his running mate or appoint a woman as the deputy.
The moderator of the forum, Ms Anna Bossman, a Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in a submission said although the country had a women’s manifesto drawn by civil rights activists, not much had been done about it, and that the manifesto brought out a lot of issues confronting women in the country and how best they could be solved.
She said the time had come for the country to look at the issue of affirmative action and quota systems as a way of ensuring that women had a fair representation in decision- making processes.
The Catholic Bishop of Ho, Bishop Francis Ludonu, also called on the women organisers to come together and form an organisation through which they can project issues confronting women collectively.
A Senior Fellow of the IEA, Mr Francis Agyemfra, on behalf of the organisation commended the women for playing diverse roles in championing the cause of women in the country.
He said the institute was ready to support the women further if they came together to collate their participation in the decision-making processes.
Business turns bloody • Woman, 52, murdered • Police hunt for Cop
Daily Graphic (front page) Mon., July 5/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE alleged gruesome murder of a 52-year-old businesswoman over a failed business transaction with her ex-boyfriend has sent the Police Service hunting for Lance Corporal Hope Semevor, who has been interdicted by the police.
According to the police, the body of Constance Naa Ago Addy, who resided at Dome Pillar 2, was found at Bewadze, near Winneba, with the neck broken, after she had allegedly gone to Semevor to settle a deal involving a GH¢25,000 property at Dome Pillar 2.
The Public Relations Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Inspector Joseph Benefo Darkwah, said the body was discovered by a farmer, which saw it being thrown out of a pick-up which sped off.
The farmer later informed the Winneba Police.
Chief Inspector Darkwah said the police were still investigating the case and had mounted a search for Lance Corporal Semevor.
A daughter of the deceased, Ms Diana Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that although she did not know the exact nature of the relationship between her mother and Hope, she knew that Hope had a piece of land with a house on it at Dome Pillar 2 which her mother was supposed to sell for him.
She said someone bought the said property for GH¢25,000 but Hope refused to release the documents on it, claiming that he had increased the selling price to GH¢50,000, following which the buyer decided not to buy it again and her mother was to retrieve the money from Hope or be dragged to court.
Diana said in pursuit of the money, her mother had been travelling to Swedru, where Hope resided, adding that on one such visit, Constance had called to tell the children that she was with Hope and that she would return the next day.
However, when the children realised that their mother had still not returned the following day, they called her cell phone, explaining that although it had rung several times, there had been no response.
She said they then called Hope’s number to enquire about their mother but his phone was switched off.
Diana said together with another sibling and a friend, she left for Swedru, after the children had realised that their mother’s phone was switched off and Hope was also not responding to their calls.
She said although they did not know where Hope lived in Swedru, they decided to enquire from the police station, with the hope that since he was an ex-police officer, someone might know him.
She said luck smiled on them and they were directed to a friend of Hope’s, who told them that Hope had left for Accra but that he would return that same day.
Diana said upon advice from the Swedru Divisional Police, she reported a case of a missing person to the Golden Star FM and an announcement was made.
Through the announcement, she said, she had a call from someone who informed her that the body of a woman had been found on the Winneba-Cape Coast road
When she rushed to Winneba, she was shown some pictures which turned out to be those of her mother’s, after which she followed up to the morgue, where she identified the body.
The police are still investigating the case.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE alleged gruesome murder of a 52-year-old businesswoman over a failed business transaction with her ex-boyfriend has sent the Police Service hunting for Lance Corporal Hope Semevor, who has been interdicted by the police.
According to the police, the body of Constance Naa Ago Addy, who resided at Dome Pillar 2, was found at Bewadze, near Winneba, with the neck broken, after she had allegedly gone to Semevor to settle a deal involving a GH¢25,000 property at Dome Pillar 2.
The Public Relations Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Inspector Joseph Benefo Darkwah, said the body was discovered by a farmer, which saw it being thrown out of a pick-up which sped off.
The farmer later informed the Winneba Police.
Chief Inspector Darkwah said the police were still investigating the case and had mounted a search for Lance Corporal Semevor.
A daughter of the deceased, Ms Diana Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that although she did not know the exact nature of the relationship between her mother and Hope, she knew that Hope had a piece of land with a house on it at Dome Pillar 2 which her mother was supposed to sell for him.
She said someone bought the said property for GH¢25,000 but Hope refused to release the documents on it, claiming that he had increased the selling price to GH¢50,000, following which the buyer decided not to buy it again and her mother was to retrieve the money from Hope or be dragged to court.
Diana said in pursuit of the money, her mother had been travelling to Swedru, where Hope resided, adding that on one such visit, Constance had called to tell the children that she was with Hope and that she would return the next day.
However, when the children realised that their mother had still not returned the following day, they called her cell phone, explaining that although it had rung several times, there had been no response.
She said they then called Hope’s number to enquire about their mother but his phone was switched off.
Diana said together with another sibling and a friend, she left for Swedru, after the children had realised that their mother’s phone was switched off and Hope was also not responding to their calls.
She said although they did not know where Hope lived in Swedru, they decided to enquire from the police station, with the hope that since he was an ex-police officer, someone might know him.
She said luck smiled on them and they were directed to a friend of Hope’s, who told them that Hope had left for Accra but that he would return that same day.
Diana said upon advice from the Swedru Divisional Police, she reported a case of a missing person to the Golden Star FM and an announcement was made.
Through the announcement, she said, she had a call from someone who informed her that the body of a woman had been found on the Winneba-Cape Coast road
When she rushed to Winneba, she was shown some pictures which turned out to be those of her mother’s, after which she followed up to the morgue, where she identified the body.
The police are still investigating the case.
Rev. opposes gay rights
Daily Graphic (pg3) Sat., July 3/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Lecturer at the Religions Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, Rev. Dr Brandford Yeboah, has condemned the call for the acknowledgement of the rights of homosexuals in the country, saying it is a dangerous trend that should not be countenanced.
According to him, a crisis of identity is becoming a major issue in the country due to globalisation and if that is not checked, it will hurt the very foundation of the country.
Rev. Dr Yeboah said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on the fringes of the second National Media Day of Prayer organised by the Lutheran Media Ministry, in collaboration with the Religious Department of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
The programme was aimed at instilling in people the need for personal repentance and prayer and to mobilise the Christian community to intercede for Ghana's leaders and families.
Rev. Dr Yeboah said although democracy was good to an extent, it was breeding freedoms without control, adding that the issue of freedom was getting into the consciousness of people and called for boundaries to be set to limit such freedoms to suit the country's norms.
He said if the negative effects of globalisation on the country was not checked, the nation would lose its national identity to foreign cultures and this, he said, would erode the future of the youth who would have nothing meaningful to contribute to the world.
“We should be Ghanaians first and foremost and we should have our own culture, values, traditions and norms which we should cherish and guard against their infiltration by foreign cultures,” he added.
Rev. Dr Yeboah, who made a presentation on: “How religion is helping the development of the nation”, said the country was currently experiencing a situation where Christianity was experiencing new idolatry in the form of miracles and materialism.
A media consultant, Nana Essilfie Condua, who also spoke on: “How is the media helping in the development of the nation?”, said the media was at the moment being sidelined from projecting policies and programmes of governments, a situation which he said did not allow for development.
He said the media had, therefore, been turned into mere reporters who sat on the sidelines instead of being part of the planning stages of development programmes in the country.
A lecturer at the Ghana School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, Professor John H. Amuasi, who chaired the programme, said the forum created an opportunity for people to pray for God’s favour upon the nation, saying there was the need for people to pray to understand current happenings in the country.
The Very Rev. Helena Opoku-Sarkodie, the Head of Religious Broadcasting Department of the GBC, in a welcoming address, said the time had come to foster unity within the Christian church and encourage and emphasise prayer, regardless of current issues and positions, for the country’s development.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Lecturer at the Religions Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, Rev. Dr Brandford Yeboah, has condemned the call for the acknowledgement of the rights of homosexuals in the country, saying it is a dangerous trend that should not be countenanced.
According to him, a crisis of identity is becoming a major issue in the country due to globalisation and if that is not checked, it will hurt the very foundation of the country.
Rev. Dr Yeboah said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on the fringes of the second National Media Day of Prayer organised by the Lutheran Media Ministry, in collaboration with the Religious Department of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
The programme was aimed at instilling in people the need for personal repentance and prayer and to mobilise the Christian community to intercede for Ghana's leaders and families.
Rev. Dr Yeboah said although democracy was good to an extent, it was breeding freedoms without control, adding that the issue of freedom was getting into the consciousness of people and called for boundaries to be set to limit such freedoms to suit the country's norms.
He said if the negative effects of globalisation on the country was not checked, the nation would lose its national identity to foreign cultures and this, he said, would erode the future of the youth who would have nothing meaningful to contribute to the world.
“We should be Ghanaians first and foremost and we should have our own culture, values, traditions and norms which we should cherish and guard against their infiltration by foreign cultures,” he added.
Rev. Dr Yeboah, who made a presentation on: “How religion is helping the development of the nation”, said the country was currently experiencing a situation where Christianity was experiencing new idolatry in the form of miracles and materialism.
A media consultant, Nana Essilfie Condua, who also spoke on: “How is the media helping in the development of the nation?”, said the media was at the moment being sidelined from projecting policies and programmes of governments, a situation which he said did not allow for development.
He said the media had, therefore, been turned into mere reporters who sat on the sidelines instead of being part of the planning stages of development programmes in the country.
A lecturer at the Ghana School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, Professor John H. Amuasi, who chaired the programme, said the forum created an opportunity for people to pray for God’s favour upon the nation, saying there was the need for people to pray to understand current happenings in the country.
The Very Rev. Helena Opoku-Sarkodie, the Head of Religious Broadcasting Department of the GBC, in a welcoming address, said the time had come to foster unity within the Christian church and encourage and emphasise prayer, regardless of current issues and positions, for the country’s development.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Add more value to products
Daily Graphic (spread)Sat., July 3/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Assistant United States Trade Representative for Africa, Ms Florizelle Liser, has cautioned Ghana against neglecting its diverse economic background to concentrate only on developing the oil sector.
She, therefore, advised the government to ensure an increase in value added products for exports and not depend solely on the country’s oil as some countries had done to the detriment of their economies.
Ms Liser, who gave the advice at the sixth council meeting of the Ghana-US Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Accra yesterday, said the country’s diverse economy such as agribusiness should be explored further for the total development of the country.
Ghana and the United States of America signed TIFA in 1999 and have since held bilateral discussions to operationalise the agreement.
Represented by a 17-member delegation from the US, the meeting was for the two countries to deepen their trade and investment relations, among other issues.
The meeting covered issues on bilateral trade relations, investment climate, transportation, infrastructure, trade, capacity building and technical assistance.
Ghana was represented by a 26-member inter-ministerial team and led by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mrs Hanna Tetteh.
Ms Liser called on the government of Ghana to ponder over the issue of how resources from the oil sector could be used effectively to support other sectors of the economy including farming.
According to her many countries where oil was being explored had solely relied on the oil business to the neglect of other sectors, a situation which she said had brought a lot of untold hardships to their people.
She bemoaned the fact that although Africa was home to many resources, it contributed to just three per cent of world trade, a situation which she said was “unbelievable”.
She said the only way to change the situation was to add value to raw materials from the region, saying although most of the raw materials were from Africa, value was only added to them when they were exported to other continents.
Ms Liser said the USA was ready to work with Ghana to help it add value to its raw materials, especially agricultural products, and called on the government to come up with sector-specific plans that could help in the country’s development.
Mrs Hanna Tetteh for her part said the government was working at ensuring that other sectors of the economy were equally developed, saying her ministry was in the process of reviewing the Ghana Investment Promotion Act to improve on it to face current challenges.
She added that in the next five years the non-oil sector of the country’s economy would be given continuous attention to ensure that it was not neglected.
According to her, it is the vision of the government that the country will be competitive in all spheres and not be in oil only.
She, however, said the major challenge currently confronting the country was infrastructure, saying the infrastructural needs of the country needed to be improved for accelerated growth of the economy.
She said special attention would be given to agricultural production to help boost productivity, as well as add value to agricultural products for export.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Teitelbaum, in an address said although Ghana was not particularly food insecure, the country would be in a better position to help solve some of the food crises on the continent.
He said Ghana was an excellent designation for business and the USA was ready through its team of experts to help the country become the “bread basket” of Africa to increase food security on the continent.
He added that when well managed, the country could become the hub of business in Africa.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Assistant United States Trade Representative for Africa, Ms Florizelle Liser, has cautioned Ghana against neglecting its diverse economic background to concentrate only on developing the oil sector.
She, therefore, advised the government to ensure an increase in value added products for exports and not depend solely on the country’s oil as some countries had done to the detriment of their economies.
Ms Liser, who gave the advice at the sixth council meeting of the Ghana-US Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Accra yesterday, said the country’s diverse economy such as agribusiness should be explored further for the total development of the country.
Ghana and the United States of America signed TIFA in 1999 and have since held bilateral discussions to operationalise the agreement.
Represented by a 17-member delegation from the US, the meeting was for the two countries to deepen their trade and investment relations, among other issues.
The meeting covered issues on bilateral trade relations, investment climate, transportation, infrastructure, trade, capacity building and technical assistance.
Ghana was represented by a 26-member inter-ministerial team and led by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mrs Hanna Tetteh.
Ms Liser called on the government of Ghana to ponder over the issue of how resources from the oil sector could be used effectively to support other sectors of the economy including farming.
According to her many countries where oil was being explored had solely relied on the oil business to the neglect of other sectors, a situation which she said had brought a lot of untold hardships to their people.
She bemoaned the fact that although Africa was home to many resources, it contributed to just three per cent of world trade, a situation which she said was “unbelievable”.
She said the only way to change the situation was to add value to raw materials from the region, saying although most of the raw materials were from Africa, value was only added to them when they were exported to other continents.
Ms Liser said the USA was ready to work with Ghana to help it add value to its raw materials, especially agricultural products, and called on the government to come up with sector-specific plans that could help in the country’s development.
Mrs Hanna Tetteh for her part said the government was working at ensuring that other sectors of the economy were equally developed, saying her ministry was in the process of reviewing the Ghana Investment Promotion Act to improve on it to face current challenges.
She added that in the next five years the non-oil sector of the country’s economy would be given continuous attention to ensure that it was not neglected.
According to her, it is the vision of the government that the country will be competitive in all spheres and not be in oil only.
She, however, said the major challenge currently confronting the country was infrastructure, saying the infrastructural needs of the country needed to be improved for accelerated growth of the economy.
She said special attention would be given to agricultural production to help boost productivity, as well as add value to agricultural products for export.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Teitelbaum, in an address said although Ghana was not particularly food insecure, the country would be in a better position to help solve some of the food crises on the continent.
He said Ghana was an excellent designation for business and the USA was ready through its team of experts to help the country become the “bread basket” of Africa to increase food security on the continent.
He added that when well managed, the country could become the hub of business in Africa.
Metro Mass Transit Limited trains 24 female drivers
Daily Graphic (pg11) Thurs., July 1/10
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
DRIVING of commercial vehicles by women in Ghana is not a common sight as women are mostly associated with driving private cars be it salon or four-wheel-drives (4WD).
One will not be far from the truth to say that all commercial vehicles in the country are being driven by men and this has become the accepted norm although society will not frown on women driving either taxis or buses.
The Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) operators of the Metro Mass Transport services across the country after eight years of its operation in the country, has been the first to recruit and train the first batch of 24 female drivers to augment its 1,400 male driving staff.
Another batch of 26 women will also be recruited soon to increase the number to 50. The first batch were recruited from the various depots with the breakdown as nine from Accra, three from the Western, one from the Ashanti, four from Brong Ahafo, one from Koforidua, two from Ho, two from Bolgatanga and another two from the Oda depot.
The female drivers have so far undergone nine months of training both in Accra and in Cote d’Ivoire where they have been taught the rudiments of how to operate the 50-seater Metro Mass buses.
The ladies all of whom were employed as conductors on the buses some years ago, with most of them not having any knowledge of driving, undertook a three-month driver training course in Accra before leaving for Cote d’Ivoire for further training at the SOTRA Institute after which they again underwent another three-month training on the road where the Metro Mass have its services.
They have been awarded a licence ‘F’ certificate by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in Accra.
Speaking with one of the ladies who underwent the training, Ms Joyce Kwakyewaa, said although she did not have any knowledge of driving when she was recruited, she could now move the 50 seater bus from Accra to Cape Coast, Swedru, Koforidua and Ho.
She said she was yet to be put on the road where she can have passengers on board and said she had the confidence that she could drive the bus easily since she has been adequately prepared for the job.
A vocational school leaver, Ms Kwakyewaa said although the training was intensive and tough for herself and her colleagues, they were able to go through it and were confident of the future.
A Communications Officer at the MMTL, Mr Collins Ben Forson who explained the idea behind the introduction of women in the operations of the MMTL, said their aim was to ensure that the service became more gender sensitive during its recruitment.
Mr Forson who spoke on behalf of the Communications Director of the MMTL said the general idea was also to help improve on the safety needs of its passengers, since according to him, women had been identified to be more careful, tolerant and more patient when it came to driving.
The Head of Recruitment and Training, Mr Eric Otu said the women would be put on the Kimbu to Tema route in Accra for the next six months starting from July 2, 2010.
The Metro Mass Transit Limited presently has 642 buses operating across the country and 20 of the said buses operated on the Accra to Kimbu route.
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
DRIVING of commercial vehicles by women in Ghana is not a common sight as women are mostly associated with driving private cars be it salon or four-wheel-drives (4WD).
One will not be far from the truth to say that all commercial vehicles in the country are being driven by men and this has become the accepted norm although society will not frown on women driving either taxis or buses.
The Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) operators of the Metro Mass Transport services across the country after eight years of its operation in the country, has been the first to recruit and train the first batch of 24 female drivers to augment its 1,400 male driving staff.
Another batch of 26 women will also be recruited soon to increase the number to 50. The first batch were recruited from the various depots with the breakdown as nine from Accra, three from the Western, one from the Ashanti, four from Brong Ahafo, one from Koforidua, two from Ho, two from Bolgatanga and another two from the Oda depot.
The female drivers have so far undergone nine months of training both in Accra and in Cote d’Ivoire where they have been taught the rudiments of how to operate the 50-seater Metro Mass buses.
The ladies all of whom were employed as conductors on the buses some years ago, with most of them not having any knowledge of driving, undertook a three-month driver training course in Accra before leaving for Cote d’Ivoire for further training at the SOTRA Institute after which they again underwent another three-month training on the road where the Metro Mass have its services.
They have been awarded a licence ‘F’ certificate by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in Accra.
Speaking with one of the ladies who underwent the training, Ms Joyce Kwakyewaa, said although she did not have any knowledge of driving when she was recruited, she could now move the 50 seater bus from Accra to Cape Coast, Swedru, Koforidua and Ho.
She said she was yet to be put on the road where she can have passengers on board and said she had the confidence that she could drive the bus easily since she has been adequately prepared for the job.
A vocational school leaver, Ms Kwakyewaa said although the training was intensive and tough for herself and her colleagues, they were able to go through it and were confident of the future.
A Communications Officer at the MMTL, Mr Collins Ben Forson who explained the idea behind the introduction of women in the operations of the MMTL, said their aim was to ensure that the service became more gender sensitive during its recruitment.
Mr Forson who spoke on behalf of the Communications Director of the MMTL said the general idea was also to help improve on the safety needs of its passengers, since according to him, women had been identified to be more careful, tolerant and more patient when it came to driving.
The Head of Recruitment and Training, Mr Eric Otu said the women would be put on the Kimbu to Tema route in Accra for the next six months starting from July 2, 2010.
The Metro Mass Transit Limited presently has 642 buses operating across the country and 20 of the said buses operated on the Accra to Kimbu route.
Ghanaian midwife receives International award
Daily Graphic (pg 11) Tues. June 24/10
By Linda Asante Agyei, Washington DC & Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho, Ghana
THE term Zorkor Initiative would be popular to the people in the Upper East Region, especially women as it has helped reduce maternal mortality and increased delivery at the Zorko Health Centre.
Introduced by Hajia Mary Isaka, a 53 year old Senior Staff Midwife from Zorkor, a village in the Bongo District, the initiative blends both orthodox and traditional birth attendance practices.
Through the initiative, delivery at the Zorkor Health Centre increased from 40 in 2002 to 88 in 2003 then 216 in 2004, 417 in 2005, 460 in 2006, 479 in 2007 and then dropped to 423 in 2008.
Through the initiative and other best practices introduced by Hajia Isaka in all the three health centres in the Bongo District where she worked, precisely at the Valley Zone Community Clinic, from 2000 to 2003, the Zorkor Health Centre; 2003 to 2009 and the Anafobisi Clinic where she currently works, she was recently presented with the international Midwife Champion of the Year award.
Awarded by Jhpiego, a global health non-profit making organisation affiliated with the John Hopkins University, it is in recognition of her invaluable work as a midwife in her community.
The Midwife Champion of the Year Award recognises the work of midwives in low-resource settings and the award is given to a midwife who has made an extraordinary effort in a developing nation, specifically in training midwives, educating communities, advocacy and implementing evidence-based midwifery care and innovating to save life.
As part of the award, she was given 5,000 dollars to support her work in the community at a ceremony in the United States of America (USA) on June 6, 2010.
She was selected from more than a dozen nominations that were solicited from the World Health Organisation (WHO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). She was nominated by UNFPA for her work in the Bongo District in the Upper West Region.
Hajia Isaka completed her midwifery training in 1997 at the Bolgatanga Nursing Training College and has dedicated herself to improving the health of her community and, through her work and other activities, she has helped saved the lives of hundreds of pregnant women and their new-borns.
Expressing her gratitude, she said “I did not think anyone really cared about someone working in such a remote place. I didn’t think the world would care about what I was doing. I am overwhelmed by the honour and the attention."
She was posted to the Zorko Health Centre in 2003 where maternal mortality was quiet high coupled with high rate of teenage pregnancy. It was the only health facility but was not patronised by pregnant women as they preferred to deliver at home.
To help find solutions to the problems, she met with opinion leaders; the district assembly, religious groups and other groups where she discussed the issue of reducing the maternal mortality rate and control of the high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the district.
Hajia in consultation with the women in the community realised that the reason why the women were delivering at home was to exhibit to their husbands and the entire community that they have been faithful to their husbands. Again, delivering at home, they will be getting family members to assist them and also prepare them hot water to bath and ‘Zomkum’, a drink prepared from millet flower with a nutritious value which enhances the production of breast milk.
This brought about the Zorkor Initiative where she allowed women in labour to choose family members who they want to enter the labour ward with them, ensured that the health centre provided hot water for bathing after delivery and finally prepared the ‘Zomkum’ drink for the mothers.
Also she re-organised the health centre’s maternity ward, insisted on strict infection prevention measures and increased the number of delivery kits.
Hajia then educated the women and the entire community on the need to attend antenatal, deliver in the health facility and attend postnatal clinic.
She entreated people to rush to the health centre and inform them when a woman was in labour and she then arranged to have an old Toyota truck, which she borrowed from the Catholic Diocese, to pick the pregnant women, who may be living far away, to the health facility.
Since 2003, she has single-handedly delivered 2,240 babies.
At her facility, she ensured the staff’s commitment to high-quality, effective and efficient health services; respect for their clients; adherence to punctuality; pleasant interpersonal relationships; and regular dialogue with patients.
Hajia continues to train community health nurses and works to establish innovative and effective health care programmes throughout the Bongo District.
She explained that the delivery rate at Zorkor dropped in 2008 because she formed Virgin Clubs, which succeeded in greatly reducing teenage pregnancy. She has provided training for peer educators, on-the-job training for community health nurses and extension workers, preparing them to participate in uncomplicated, supervised births, maintain records and network with community and health volunteers.
At Anafobisi where she currently works, Hajia Isaka has not rested on her oars, as since 2009 that she joined the Anafobisi Clinic, she has introduced initiatives such as building a temporary bathroom structure for the mothers to bath after delivery, giving motor riders a litter of fuel when they bring in pregnant women in labour, among other interventions, which ecourage women to deliver at the facility.
This has also helped to increase delivery rate at the clinic from three in January 2009, when she started work at the facility, to 156 from September 2009 to date.
She said her award would serve as a motivation to all midwives in the country to give of their best and thanked the Director General of the Ghana Health Service and his staff, UNICEF, the Upper East Regional Health team, the Bongo District Health Management team and the Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese, among others, for their support.
By Linda Asante Agyei, Washington DC & Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho, Ghana
THE term Zorkor Initiative would be popular to the people in the Upper East Region, especially women as it has helped reduce maternal mortality and increased delivery at the Zorko Health Centre.
Introduced by Hajia Mary Isaka, a 53 year old Senior Staff Midwife from Zorkor, a village in the Bongo District, the initiative blends both orthodox and traditional birth attendance practices.
Through the initiative, delivery at the Zorkor Health Centre increased from 40 in 2002 to 88 in 2003 then 216 in 2004, 417 in 2005, 460 in 2006, 479 in 2007 and then dropped to 423 in 2008.
Through the initiative and other best practices introduced by Hajia Isaka in all the three health centres in the Bongo District where she worked, precisely at the Valley Zone Community Clinic, from 2000 to 2003, the Zorkor Health Centre; 2003 to 2009 and the Anafobisi Clinic where she currently works, she was recently presented with the international Midwife Champion of the Year award.
Awarded by Jhpiego, a global health non-profit making organisation affiliated with the John Hopkins University, it is in recognition of her invaluable work as a midwife in her community.
The Midwife Champion of the Year Award recognises the work of midwives in low-resource settings and the award is given to a midwife who has made an extraordinary effort in a developing nation, specifically in training midwives, educating communities, advocacy and implementing evidence-based midwifery care and innovating to save life.
As part of the award, she was given 5,000 dollars to support her work in the community at a ceremony in the United States of America (USA) on June 6, 2010.
She was selected from more than a dozen nominations that were solicited from the World Health Organisation (WHO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). She was nominated by UNFPA for her work in the Bongo District in the Upper West Region.
Hajia Isaka completed her midwifery training in 1997 at the Bolgatanga Nursing Training College and has dedicated herself to improving the health of her community and, through her work and other activities, she has helped saved the lives of hundreds of pregnant women and their new-borns.
Expressing her gratitude, she said “I did not think anyone really cared about someone working in such a remote place. I didn’t think the world would care about what I was doing. I am overwhelmed by the honour and the attention."
She was posted to the Zorko Health Centre in 2003 where maternal mortality was quiet high coupled with high rate of teenage pregnancy. It was the only health facility but was not patronised by pregnant women as they preferred to deliver at home.
To help find solutions to the problems, she met with opinion leaders; the district assembly, religious groups and other groups where she discussed the issue of reducing the maternal mortality rate and control of the high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the district.
Hajia in consultation with the women in the community realised that the reason why the women were delivering at home was to exhibit to their husbands and the entire community that they have been faithful to their husbands. Again, delivering at home, they will be getting family members to assist them and also prepare them hot water to bath and ‘Zomkum’, a drink prepared from millet flower with a nutritious value which enhances the production of breast milk.
This brought about the Zorkor Initiative where she allowed women in labour to choose family members who they want to enter the labour ward with them, ensured that the health centre provided hot water for bathing after delivery and finally prepared the ‘Zomkum’ drink for the mothers.
Also she re-organised the health centre’s maternity ward, insisted on strict infection prevention measures and increased the number of delivery kits.
Hajia then educated the women and the entire community on the need to attend antenatal, deliver in the health facility and attend postnatal clinic.
She entreated people to rush to the health centre and inform them when a woman was in labour and she then arranged to have an old Toyota truck, which she borrowed from the Catholic Diocese, to pick the pregnant women, who may be living far away, to the health facility.
Since 2003, she has single-handedly delivered 2,240 babies.
At her facility, she ensured the staff’s commitment to high-quality, effective and efficient health services; respect for their clients; adherence to punctuality; pleasant interpersonal relationships; and regular dialogue with patients.
Hajia continues to train community health nurses and works to establish innovative and effective health care programmes throughout the Bongo District.
She explained that the delivery rate at Zorkor dropped in 2008 because she formed Virgin Clubs, which succeeded in greatly reducing teenage pregnancy. She has provided training for peer educators, on-the-job training for community health nurses and extension workers, preparing them to participate in uncomplicated, supervised births, maintain records and network with community and health volunteers.
At Anafobisi where she currently works, Hajia Isaka has not rested on her oars, as since 2009 that she joined the Anafobisi Clinic, she has introduced initiatives such as building a temporary bathroom structure for the mothers to bath after delivery, giving motor riders a litter of fuel when they bring in pregnant women in labour, among other interventions, which ecourage women to deliver at the facility.
This has also helped to increase delivery rate at the clinic from three in January 2009, when she started work at the facility, to 156 from September 2009 to date.
She said her award would serve as a motivation to all midwives in the country to give of their best and thanked the Director General of the Ghana Health Service and his staff, UNICEF, the Upper East Regional Health team, the Bongo District Health Management team and the Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese, among others, for their support.
FPSO arrives @ Jubilee field
Daily Graphic (front) Tues. June 22/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, which will pave the way for the commercial production of oil in the country, entered Ghanaian waters yesterday morning.
The floating vessel, which set off from Singapore and docked at the Jubilee Field in the Western Region, will effect the production, storage and offloading of Ghana’s oil from all 17 wells on the Jubilee Field by the end of the last quarter of the year.
The vessel, with 17 modules weighing more than 12,500 tonnes installed on it, has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels and can process 120,000 barrels of oil a day.
The modules include a water treatment plant, crude separation plant, chemical injection plant, gas processing and injection plant, electricity generation plant and a 120-room accommodation.
At a ceremony in Accra yesterday for MODEC International, an FPSO builder, to hand over the vessel to the government, the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, said the country was on course in ensuring that it began its oil production by the end of the year.
He, however, challenged all partners involved in ensuring that the vessel commenced operations at the scheduled date to work fervently towards achieving such a target.
He also appealed to the fisher folk in the area to ensure that they worked within the limit set for them so as not to cause any inconveniences to the operators of the vessel.
He called on Ghanaians to be vigilant in ensuring that they protected the oil find for the sake of posterity.
The Managing Director of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjaye, said the successful production of oil on the Jubilee Field would benefit the country to a large extent and, therefore, called on all Ghanaians to give their maximum support.
He said the vessel, which would separate oil, gas and water for processing, had come at an opportune time for the country.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MODEC International, Mr Shashank Karve, said the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah was a unique vessel, as it was built specifically to suit the country’s needs.
The President and General Manager of Tullow Oil, Mr Dai Jones, who spoke on behalf of other exploring partners, said the vessel was a world-class equipment which would be used in achieving a standard result.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, which will pave the way for the commercial production of oil in the country, entered Ghanaian waters yesterday morning.
The floating vessel, which set off from Singapore and docked at the Jubilee Field in the Western Region, will effect the production, storage and offloading of Ghana’s oil from all 17 wells on the Jubilee Field by the end of the last quarter of the year.
The vessel, with 17 modules weighing more than 12,500 tonnes installed on it, has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels and can process 120,000 barrels of oil a day.
The modules include a water treatment plant, crude separation plant, chemical injection plant, gas processing and injection plant, electricity generation plant and a 120-room accommodation.
At a ceremony in Accra yesterday for MODEC International, an FPSO builder, to hand over the vessel to the government, the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, said the country was on course in ensuring that it began its oil production by the end of the year.
He, however, challenged all partners involved in ensuring that the vessel commenced operations at the scheduled date to work fervently towards achieving such a target.
He also appealed to the fisher folk in the area to ensure that they worked within the limit set for them so as not to cause any inconveniences to the operators of the vessel.
He called on Ghanaians to be vigilant in ensuring that they protected the oil find for the sake of posterity.
The Managing Director of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjaye, said the successful production of oil on the Jubilee Field would benefit the country to a large extent and, therefore, called on all Ghanaians to give their maximum support.
He said the vessel, which would separate oil, gas and water for processing, had come at an opportune time for the country.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MODEC International, Mr Shashank Karve, said the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah was a unique vessel, as it was built specifically to suit the country’s needs.
The President and General Manager of Tullow Oil, Mr Dai Jones, who spoke on behalf of other exploring partners, said the vessel was a world-class equipment which would be used in achieving a standard result.
Children call for child friendly budgets
Daily Graphic (pg11) Sat., June 19/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TO commemorate this year's African Union (AU) Day of the Child, a call has been made to the government to ensure that national budgets were child friendly to help improve the lives of children in the country.
Also heads of families and communities have been called upon to factor in the needs of children in their budgets, such as prioritising home needs to favour children as well as the provision of parks, playgrounds, schools and other recreational centers in the communities.
The call was made by some selected children at a press conference organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) and UNICEF.
The press conference which was addressed by the children was aimed at pressing home their demand for better education facilities in their schools, provision of better health services, good roads, among others.
This year's AU Day of the Child was on the theme “Planning and budgeting for children: Our collective responsibility”. Every year, the AU adopts themes and campaigns relating to the welfare and progress of African children.
The day was instituted on June 16, 1976, during the Apartheid era when thousands of black school children were killed as they undertook a peaceful walk to draw attention to the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language.
Although the children who presented the statement commended efforts so far made towards the well-being of children, like 'Oliver Twist', they asked for more saying that “when we receive priority it will tell on the future we have”.
A Junior High School Two Pupil of Osu Salem in Accra, Master Frank Appiah who addressed the media also called for the issue of gender budgeting to be looked at critically since the needs of boys and girls, men and women in the country were different ,which he thinks should be factored into the country's budget.
He also called for more pupils to be covered under the school feeding programme, as well as equal attention for the physically challenged children in the country.
Ms Roxanne Tsegah of the May's Education Centre in her submission also called for separate toilet facilities for boys and girls in both the public and private schools so as to reduce sexual abuse.
She further called for proper budgeting to reduce the incidence of street children in order to ensure that more children had access to education as well as the support for brilliant but needy children who she said also needed to have better education.
Ms Tsegah also called for better health, water, child protection and sanitation facilities to make life more convenient for the Ghanaian child.
The Deputy Minister of MOWAC, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba in an address appealed especially to parliamentarians to promote and approve budgets with children and women in mind and should also ensure that they allocated a sizeable amount of their Common Fund towards programmes and projects that would enhance the survival, development, protection and participation of children.
She said although this year's theme was challenging it would help all those responsible for the well-being of children to access themselves on how “we are planning and budgeting for the future generation”.
Hajia Gariba said it had become imperative for a child friendly budget to be instituted in the country as children who formed a majority of the country's population were voiceless and were affected by poor nutrition, poor health, poor schooling among others.
She also said budgetary spending affected the well-being of children and their life opportunities as spending on them determined further sustainable development of the nation.
The Deputy Country Director of UNICEF, Mr Rene Van Dongen in an address said “now more than ever we have to make sure that children are on top of the development agenda.
On behalf of UNICEF, he congratulated Ghana for spending significant proportions of its budget on issues such as health care and education but however said it could do more.
He said UNICEF would continue to work with the Government of Ghana and other governments to analyse their budget with regards to its impact on children to facilitate a more effective use of public finances for social purposes.
A Deputy Minister for Information, Mr Okudzato Ablakwa in a submission said the government will do everything possible within its means to ensure that all children including those who are physically challenged were given the needed attention that they deserve.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TO commemorate this year's African Union (AU) Day of the Child, a call has been made to the government to ensure that national budgets were child friendly to help improve the lives of children in the country.
Also heads of families and communities have been called upon to factor in the needs of children in their budgets, such as prioritising home needs to favour children as well as the provision of parks, playgrounds, schools and other recreational centers in the communities.
The call was made by some selected children at a press conference organised by the Department of Children under the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) and UNICEF.
The press conference which was addressed by the children was aimed at pressing home their demand for better education facilities in their schools, provision of better health services, good roads, among others.
This year's AU Day of the Child was on the theme “Planning and budgeting for children: Our collective responsibility”. Every year, the AU adopts themes and campaigns relating to the welfare and progress of African children.
The day was instituted on June 16, 1976, during the Apartheid era when thousands of black school children were killed as they undertook a peaceful walk to draw attention to the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language.
Although the children who presented the statement commended efforts so far made towards the well-being of children, like 'Oliver Twist', they asked for more saying that “when we receive priority it will tell on the future we have”.
A Junior High School Two Pupil of Osu Salem in Accra, Master Frank Appiah who addressed the media also called for the issue of gender budgeting to be looked at critically since the needs of boys and girls, men and women in the country were different ,which he thinks should be factored into the country's budget.
He also called for more pupils to be covered under the school feeding programme, as well as equal attention for the physically challenged children in the country.
Ms Roxanne Tsegah of the May's Education Centre in her submission also called for separate toilet facilities for boys and girls in both the public and private schools so as to reduce sexual abuse.
She further called for proper budgeting to reduce the incidence of street children in order to ensure that more children had access to education as well as the support for brilliant but needy children who she said also needed to have better education.
Ms Tsegah also called for better health, water, child protection and sanitation facilities to make life more convenient for the Ghanaian child.
The Deputy Minister of MOWAC, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba in an address appealed especially to parliamentarians to promote and approve budgets with children and women in mind and should also ensure that they allocated a sizeable amount of their Common Fund towards programmes and projects that would enhance the survival, development, protection and participation of children.
She said although this year's theme was challenging it would help all those responsible for the well-being of children to access themselves on how “we are planning and budgeting for the future generation”.
Hajia Gariba said it had become imperative for a child friendly budget to be instituted in the country as children who formed a majority of the country's population were voiceless and were affected by poor nutrition, poor health, poor schooling among others.
She also said budgetary spending affected the well-being of children and their life opportunities as spending on them determined further sustainable development of the nation.
The Deputy Country Director of UNICEF, Mr Rene Van Dongen in an address said “now more than ever we have to make sure that children are on top of the development agenda.
On behalf of UNICEF, he congratulated Ghana for spending significant proportions of its budget on issues such as health care and education but however said it could do more.
He said UNICEF would continue to work with the Government of Ghana and other governments to analyse their budget with regards to its impact on children to facilitate a more effective use of public finances for social purposes.
A Deputy Minister for Information, Mr Okudzato Ablakwa in a submission said the government will do everything possible within its means to ensure that all children including those who are physically challenged were given the needed attention that they deserve.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Ban corporal punishment • School children plead
Daily Graphic (pg11) Thurs. June 7/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
CHILDREN in the Greater Accra Region have called for an end to corporal punishment and sexual abuse in schools.
According to them, those two abuses retarded their ability to study effectively in the school environment.
At a discussion forum preceding the celebration of this year’s International Day of the African Child, which falls today, the children, who were mostly from the Ablekuma and the Amasaman districts, voiced out their concerns against corporal punishment and child sexual abuse in schools.
They said there was the need for the government and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to intervene to ensure that those two abuses were halted in schools.
The International Day of the African Child was initiated by the then Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union) on the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto protests when thousands of black schoolchildren took to the streets under the South African apartheid regime. The day was dedicated in honour of the children’s actions.
The celebration of the day is aimed at fighting the cause of children in trouble, AIDS orphans, child soldiers and impoverished youth who will inherit the continent and this year’s celebration is on the theme, “Budgeting for children — Our collective responsibility”.
The discussion forum, organised by Plan Ghana, in conjunction with ActionAid, Ghana, was on a local theme, “Sexual violence and corporal punishment in schools”.
It brought together about 1,000 basic and junior high schoolchildren.
The children, in their various submissions, said corporal punishment such as caning was the least and most ineffective way of correcting a child and called for the use of dialogue or other forms of punishment that would not be injurious or harmful to the child.
They also argued that corporal punishment, when meted out to them in the classroom, usually made them timid and unable to concentrate on what was being taught in class.
On sexual abuse, the children enumerated the contracting of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and AIDS and also teenage pregnancy as some of the end results of sexual abuse in schools.
The Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr Samuel Paulous, in a brief remark, said children were the future of every nation and there was, therefore, the need for all stakeholders, including the government and parents, to ensure that they had the best of education and a safe environment where they could grow.
He said all children had the right to quality education but indicated that several factors, including sexual abuse and corporal punishment, made it impossible for them to complete school.
He said the programme was aimed at giving the African child the opportunity to voice out his or her concerns for action to be taken to better his or her future.
The Country Director of ActionAid, Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, said the programme was aimed at raising awareness of violence against children in schools to help put an end to it.
She said a communiqué which would voice out the concerns of the children would be presented to the Ministry of Education and Parliament for consideration.
A drama dubbed “Cinderama”, which focused on child abuse and was sponsored by the National Theatre, was screened for the children with the aim of helping them to be more assertive when they were confronted with issues of abuse in school.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
CHILDREN in the Greater Accra Region have called for an end to corporal punishment and sexual abuse in schools.
According to them, those two abuses retarded their ability to study effectively in the school environment.
At a discussion forum preceding the celebration of this year’s International Day of the African Child, which falls today, the children, who were mostly from the Ablekuma and the Amasaman districts, voiced out their concerns against corporal punishment and child sexual abuse in schools.
They said there was the need for the government and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to intervene to ensure that those two abuses were halted in schools.
The International Day of the African Child was initiated by the then Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union) on the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto protests when thousands of black schoolchildren took to the streets under the South African apartheid regime. The day was dedicated in honour of the children’s actions.
The celebration of the day is aimed at fighting the cause of children in trouble, AIDS orphans, child soldiers and impoverished youth who will inherit the continent and this year’s celebration is on the theme, “Budgeting for children — Our collective responsibility”.
The discussion forum, organised by Plan Ghana, in conjunction with ActionAid, Ghana, was on a local theme, “Sexual violence and corporal punishment in schools”.
It brought together about 1,000 basic and junior high schoolchildren.
The children, in their various submissions, said corporal punishment such as caning was the least and most ineffective way of correcting a child and called for the use of dialogue or other forms of punishment that would not be injurious or harmful to the child.
They also argued that corporal punishment, when meted out to them in the classroom, usually made them timid and unable to concentrate on what was being taught in class.
On sexual abuse, the children enumerated the contracting of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and AIDS and also teenage pregnancy as some of the end results of sexual abuse in schools.
The Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr Samuel Paulous, in a brief remark, said children were the future of every nation and there was, therefore, the need for all stakeholders, including the government and parents, to ensure that they had the best of education and a safe environment where they could grow.
He said all children had the right to quality education but indicated that several factors, including sexual abuse and corporal punishment, made it impossible for them to complete school.
He said the programme was aimed at giving the African child the opportunity to voice out his or her concerns for action to be taken to better his or her future.
The Country Director of ActionAid, Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, said the programme was aimed at raising awareness of violence against children in schools to help put an end to it.
She said a communiqué which would voice out the concerns of the children would be presented to the Ministry of Education and Parliament for consideration.
A drama dubbed “Cinderama”, which focused on child abuse and was sponsored by the National Theatre, was screened for the children with the aim of helping them to be more assertive when they were confronted with issues of abuse in school.
EC reopens register • 5,000 centers involved
Daily Graphic (spread) June 12/10
STORY: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho.
THE Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday announced the reopening of the voters register and pleaded with political parties not to engage in acts that would mar the June 11 to June 20 exercise.
About two million Ghanaians who have attained the age of 18 since the last registration exercise in 2008, as well as older ones who had not registered previously are expected to be captured in the register during the limited exercise.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the reopening of the register, the acting Director of Public Affairs of the EC, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, asked political parties not to repeat acts such as the transportation of people to the registration centres for them to be registered.
He said political parties were only expected to send agents to the various registration centres as observers and not to meddle in the registration exercise.
He said although some people had earlier expressed concern over the fact that the voters register was bloated, that assertion could not be established because presently the commission did not know the voter population of the country until the 2010 National Population and Housing Census was done.
He said the EC would ensure that minors or foreigners would not be registered, saying that the country’s laws frowned on the registration of such people.
Mr Owusu-Parry said it was an offence for anybody whose name was already in the voters register to register again, adding that it was equally an offence for a person to register or attempt to register if he or she was not yet 18.
“A person who registers or attempts to register, knowing that he or she does not qualify, shall, on summary conviction, be imprisoned,” he pointed out.
He said the registration would be done at a designated registration centre in each electoral area throughout the country from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the registration period, including Saturdays and Sundays.
He called on voters who had lost their voter ID cards to report the loss to the registration officer at the registration centre in the electoral area during the period or a district officer of the EC now or at least a month before elections for replacement.
He said registered voters who had moved from the area where they registered would be given the opportunity to transfer their votes at the appropriate time.
He called on people who had genuine ID cards but could not find their names in the voters register during the last elections to exercise patience and wait till the register was opened for exhibition at a later date for them to make their complaints.
Mr Owusu-Parry called for co-operation from all stakeholders and the general public to ensure a smooth registration exercise.
Representatives of some of the political parties whom the Daily Graphic spoke to said the EC’s call was in order.
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, welcomed the call and said since the EC was the authority on the subject, it knew what it was talking about and, therefore, it behoved all the political parties to stay clear of the exercise.
The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet, in a reaction to the call by the EC, said the party would only make sure that the right thing was done.
STORY: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho.
THE Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday announced the reopening of the voters register and pleaded with political parties not to engage in acts that would mar the June 11 to June 20 exercise.
About two million Ghanaians who have attained the age of 18 since the last registration exercise in 2008, as well as older ones who had not registered previously are expected to be captured in the register during the limited exercise.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the reopening of the register, the acting Director of Public Affairs of the EC, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, asked political parties not to repeat acts such as the transportation of people to the registration centres for them to be registered.
He said political parties were only expected to send agents to the various registration centres as observers and not to meddle in the registration exercise.
He said although some people had earlier expressed concern over the fact that the voters register was bloated, that assertion could not be established because presently the commission did not know the voter population of the country until the 2010 National Population and Housing Census was done.
He said the EC would ensure that minors or foreigners would not be registered, saying that the country’s laws frowned on the registration of such people.
Mr Owusu-Parry said it was an offence for anybody whose name was already in the voters register to register again, adding that it was equally an offence for a person to register or attempt to register if he or she was not yet 18.
“A person who registers or attempts to register, knowing that he or she does not qualify, shall, on summary conviction, be imprisoned,” he pointed out.
He said the registration would be done at a designated registration centre in each electoral area throughout the country from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the registration period, including Saturdays and Sundays.
He called on voters who had lost their voter ID cards to report the loss to the registration officer at the registration centre in the electoral area during the period or a district officer of the EC now or at least a month before elections for replacement.
He said registered voters who had moved from the area where they registered would be given the opportunity to transfer their votes at the appropriate time.
He called on people who had genuine ID cards but could not find their names in the voters register during the last elections to exercise patience and wait till the register was opened for exhibition at a later date for them to make their complaints.
Mr Owusu-Parry called for co-operation from all stakeholders and the general public to ensure a smooth registration exercise.
Representatives of some of the political parties whom the Daily Graphic spoke to said the EC’s call was in order.
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, welcomed the call and said since the EC was the authority on the subject, it knew what it was talking about and, therefore, it behoved all the political parties to stay clear of the exercise.
The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet, in a reaction to the call by the EC, said the party would only make sure that the right thing was done.
GSB cautions on sub-standard cables
Daily Graphic (spread), June 8/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) has alerted users of electrical cables to a large consignment of smuggled sub-standard cables on the Ghanaian market.
The cables, which are yet to be traced by the GSB, were smuggled into the country through unapproved routes, especially the eastern corridor.
The Head, Marketing and Public Relations of GSB, Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako, at a press conference in Accra, therefore, called on users of electrical cables to be more assertive and careful when purchasing such goods.
He commended the members of the Ghana Electrical Dealers Association (GEDA) for their vigilance which led to the detection of some of the goods on the market.
Mr Amponsah Bediako linked most of the recent fire outbreaks that the country was witnessing to the use of such sub-standard cables and said the situation was very alarming and, therefore, needed to be checked.
Briefing journalists on the fake cables found on the market, a Chief Standards Officer at the GSB, Mr Emmanuel Kwa-Kofi, said tests conducted on some of the cables showed that they were of inferior standard.
He said the test revealed that a 1.5 conductor cable which should have a maximum of 12.1 ohms rather had 133 ohms, while a 2.5 square millimetre conductor cable which should have a standard conductivity of 7.41 ohms measured 74 ohms.
Giving the implications of those findings, Mr Kwa-Kofi said it those cables were used in wiring a building, it would not be able to withstand the heat that would be generated by the electricity and, therefore, cause fire outbreaks.
The Chairman of GEDA, Mr Joseph Obeng, said his outfit became alarmed when it was alerted to a truck full of fake electrical cables that was being offloaded in Accra but said before GEDA could alert the GSB, the owners had gone underground.
He said as a major stakeholder in electrical cables, the association was doing everything possible to ensure that the GSB and other relevant bodies got rid of all inferior cables from the Ghanaian market.
According to him, because most African countries had banned the importation or production of such sub-standard electrical cables, Ghana had become a dumping ground for some manufacturers from other countries outside the sub-region.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) has alerted users of electrical cables to a large consignment of smuggled sub-standard cables on the Ghanaian market.
The cables, which are yet to be traced by the GSB, were smuggled into the country through unapproved routes, especially the eastern corridor.
The Head, Marketing and Public Relations of GSB, Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako, at a press conference in Accra, therefore, called on users of electrical cables to be more assertive and careful when purchasing such goods.
He commended the members of the Ghana Electrical Dealers Association (GEDA) for their vigilance which led to the detection of some of the goods on the market.
Mr Amponsah Bediako linked most of the recent fire outbreaks that the country was witnessing to the use of such sub-standard cables and said the situation was very alarming and, therefore, needed to be checked.
Briefing journalists on the fake cables found on the market, a Chief Standards Officer at the GSB, Mr Emmanuel Kwa-Kofi, said tests conducted on some of the cables showed that they were of inferior standard.
He said the test revealed that a 1.5 conductor cable which should have a maximum of 12.1 ohms rather had 133 ohms, while a 2.5 square millimetre conductor cable which should have a standard conductivity of 7.41 ohms measured 74 ohms.
Giving the implications of those findings, Mr Kwa-Kofi said it those cables were used in wiring a building, it would not be able to withstand the heat that would be generated by the electricity and, therefore, cause fire outbreaks.
The Chairman of GEDA, Mr Joseph Obeng, said his outfit became alarmed when it was alerted to a truck full of fake electrical cables that was being offloaded in Accra but said before GEDA could alert the GSB, the owners had gone underground.
He said as a major stakeholder in electrical cables, the association was doing everything possible to ensure that the GSB and other relevant bodies got rid of all inferior cables from the Ghanaian market.
According to him, because most African countries had banned the importation or production of such sub-standard electrical cables, Ghana had become a dumping ground for some manufacturers from other countries outside the sub-region.
25 participants attend workshop on good governance
Daily Graphic (pg11) Sat., June 5/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TWENTY-FIVE representatives from human rights and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) whose operations are related to governance, have completed a five-day training in making governments in their countries more accountable to the needs of the citizenry, especially women.
The participants, drawn from West Africa and Cameroon, were trained on how to use a tool kit dubbed ‘The Citizens Education Action Learning (CEAL) guide designed by the Commonwealth Foundation under the Commonwealth Secretariat’.
The guide, which has so far benefited other activists in East Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, is designed to enable the participants have more insight into good governance.
The training programme organised by WiLDAF Ghana with sponsorship from the Commonwealth Secretariat, was attended by participants from organisations such as Campaign for Good Governance in Sierra Leone, the West Africa Association of Development Organisations, Cameroon, Gender and Development Action, Nigeria. Others organisations from Ghana were the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEGC), Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), KAB Consult, ABANTU for Development, the Hunger Project, the Gender Centre among others.
Facilitated by the Executive Director of Dignity International, Mr Jerald Joseph, the participants were taken through the benefits to be derived from consistent application of the tool kit.
The Head of Governance at WiLDAF, Mr Frank Bodze, said the tool kit, under the citizens governance programme under the Commonwealth Foundation, was meant to bridge the gap between civil society and the citizenry, and to ensure that people at the grassroot were more involved in governance.
The guide, he said, would help them to better understand topics on poverty eradication, sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to Mr Bodze, the guide would also help them better understand the nature of democracy and the relationship between democracy and development and the importance of good governance.
The kit, he said, also focuses on the rule of law, respect for human rights, the application of new public management systems and structures, as well as transparency and accountability.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TWENTY-FIVE representatives from human rights and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) whose operations are related to governance, have completed a five-day training in making governments in their countries more accountable to the needs of the citizenry, especially women.
The participants, drawn from West Africa and Cameroon, were trained on how to use a tool kit dubbed ‘The Citizens Education Action Learning (CEAL) guide designed by the Commonwealth Foundation under the Commonwealth Secretariat’.
The guide, which has so far benefited other activists in East Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, is designed to enable the participants have more insight into good governance.
The training programme organised by WiLDAF Ghana with sponsorship from the Commonwealth Secretariat, was attended by participants from organisations such as Campaign for Good Governance in Sierra Leone, the West Africa Association of Development Organisations, Cameroon, Gender and Development Action, Nigeria. Others organisations from Ghana were the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEGC), Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), KAB Consult, ABANTU for Development, the Hunger Project, the Gender Centre among others.
Facilitated by the Executive Director of Dignity International, Mr Jerald Joseph, the participants were taken through the benefits to be derived from consistent application of the tool kit.
The Head of Governance at WiLDAF, Mr Frank Bodze, said the tool kit, under the citizens governance programme under the Commonwealth Foundation, was meant to bridge the gap between civil society and the citizenry, and to ensure that people at the grassroot were more involved in governance.
The guide, he said, would help them to better understand topics on poverty eradication, sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to Mr Bodze, the guide would also help them better understand the nature of democracy and the relationship between democracy and development and the importance of good governance.
The kit, he said, also focuses on the rule of law, respect for human rights, the application of new public management systems and structures, as well as transparency and accountability.
Impact of Cigarette Smoking on Women
Daily Graphic (pg11) Tues. June 1/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THIS year’s World No-Tobacco Day focuses on women on the theme “Gender and Tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women”. Cigarette smoking is a known killer, but hundreds of thousands of people, including women, continue to smoke.
Tobacco smoking has been a habit among both men and women with dire consequences for both the primary smoker and those around them (secondary inhalers). According to health experts, 40,000 deaths are recorded every year among people exposed to second hand-smoking.
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the vapours either tasted or inhaled.The substance for years had been criticised, but became popular nonetheless.
Smoking is the most common method used in consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. The agricultural product is often mixed with other additives.
The resulting vapour is then inhaled and the active substances absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs. The active substances trigger chemical reactions in nerve endings which heightens the heart’s rate, memory, alertness, and reaction time. Dopamine and later endorphins are released, which are often associated with pleasure. As of the year 2000,smoking was said to be practised by some 1.22 billion people across the globe and men were said to be more likely to smoke more than women, however, health experts say the gender gap declines with the young and the poor more likely to smoke more than the wealthy.
Many smokers started smoking during adolescence or in the stage of adulthood. Usually, during the early stages, smoking provides pleasurable sensations, serving as a source of positive reinforcement. After an individual has smoked for many years, the avoidance of withdrawal symptoms and negative reinforcement become the key motivations to continue.
Despite known risks of cigarette smoking, more than 23 per cent of women across the world still smoke, increasing their risk of cervical cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems and more.
Most women who smoke are between the ages of 25 and 44. Teenage women are said to make up a significant percentage of smokers.
Women are said to be more at risk for certain problems related to smoking than men. Women who use oral contraceptives or other hormonal forms of birth control are especially, at risk of developing serious side effects. Women using hormone forms of birth control, who smoke, increase their risk of developing life threatening blood clots and strokes. This is even worse for women over the age of 35 who smoke and use birth control pills.
Also, women smokers who use oral contraceptives according to health experts, can develop high blood pressure and they may have fertility problems.
Studies suggest that women who smoke are three-four times more likely to experience problems conceiving than those who do not. This may be because of a decreased ovulatory response. In some women, the egg has trouble implanting when the woman smokes.
Smoking also affects women's normal cyclical changes, including those that occur during menopause and menstruation.Women who start smoking during their teen years are said to be more at risk of developing early menopause than women who do not smoke.Smokers may also experience more menstrual problems including abnormal bleeding or amenorrhoea than women who don't smoke. This is because smoking often lowers levels of oestrogen’s in the body.
However, women who quit smoking are said to be more likely to realise immediate health benefits.Those who quit smoking before they reach the age of 50 reduce their risk of dying of smoking by as much as one-half.Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of heart disease in people exposed to second hand smoke.
Smoking is said to increase ones risk of developing a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The lung damage that occurs from pulmonary disease is not often reversible. However,if one quits smoking, the lung function according to scientists would not decline further, and one may notice an improvement in coughing and breathing.
Also cigarette smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and women who smoke more than double their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Immediately stopping smoking can result in instant improvement in ones cardiovascular function and a reduced risk of heart disease.
After smoking cessation has continued for at least a year, one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease according to health experts, drops by 50 per cent and will continue to decline further. Some studies suggest the heart attack risk for smokers drops after two years of cessation.
Cigarette smoking contributes to developing several different kinds of cancer, including cervical cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the oesophagus, mouth, bladder and pancreas and stopping can improve ones survival rate and reduce the risk of developing severe cancers resulting from smoking.
Smoking also contributes to bone loss, thus increasing a woman's risk of developing osteoporosis and experts say 10 years after stopping smoking, a woman's excess risk of osteoporosis declines significantly.
Women who smoke are also more at risk in developing breast cancer. Experts say the risk of developing fatal forms of breast cancer is 75 per cent higher for women who smoke than those who do not, and the number of cigarettes a woman smokes per day is said to have a resultant effect on their breast cancer survival rate. Women who smoke are also 48 per cent more likely to develop a rare form of vulva cancer.
Smoking is dangerous to pregnant women. Pregnant women who smoke, often give birth to babies with birth defects and low birth weights. Mothers who smoke are also more at risk of a miscarriage, premature rupture of the membranes and placenta previa, increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and blood clots.
Babies born to mothers who smoke often experience withdrawal symptoms during the first week of life.Over time,smoking also contributes to skin wrinkling and may even reduce one’s sexual ability.Quitting smoking however,improves all these conditions immediately.
Younger female smokers are said to be at risk of a heart attack compared to men who smoke. Women who smoke according to experts have on the average a first heart attack at about age 66, compared to women who don't smoke at age 81.
The good news according to health experts is that, there are many methods one can adopt to help quit smoking. Unfortunately, smoking cessation, they say is difficult. Smoking is an addiction. Nicotine is addictive and causes many people to fail when they try quitting.
This is because when one quits smoking, one is likely to have withdrawal symptoms. These are often unpleasant, and may include cigarette cravings, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, restlessness and even depression. These withdrawal symptoms are usually hardest to deal with and most intense during the first three days after smoking cessation. Fortunately, the cravings according to experts do go away if you remain smoke free.
Some people in trying to quit also experience mild depression, but usually this is not severe enough to warrant any treatment. However, experts advise that when one is having difficulty with depression, treatment may be recommended.
According to health experts, another factor that prevents most women who are into smoking from stopping, was because they were likely to gain weight. According to them, the reason people gain weight when they quit smoking was simply because they eat more. Many women gain between two and five pounds when they first quit.Over a period of time, this may increase to ten pounds.
However, the good news according to experts, is that weight gain and smoking cessation are not unavoidable. They say if one adopts an exercise programme and eat healthy foods, one is not likely to gain much weight. And more importantly, the benefits of quitting smoking outweigh any small weight gain by ten times.
Some recommended remedies for ‘cold turkeys’ developed by people who try to quit smoking, is by using over-the-counter cures such as nicotine gum and patches.
Nicotine patch, according to experts, helps reduce the physical withdrawal symptoms and cravings associated with smoking cessation.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THIS year’s World No-Tobacco Day focuses on women on the theme “Gender and Tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women”. Cigarette smoking is a known killer, but hundreds of thousands of people, including women, continue to smoke.
Tobacco smoking has been a habit among both men and women with dire consequences for both the primary smoker and those around them (secondary inhalers). According to health experts, 40,000 deaths are recorded every year among people exposed to second hand-smoking.
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the vapours either tasted or inhaled.The substance for years had been criticised, but became popular nonetheless.
Smoking is the most common method used in consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. The agricultural product is often mixed with other additives.
The resulting vapour is then inhaled and the active substances absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs. The active substances trigger chemical reactions in nerve endings which heightens the heart’s rate, memory, alertness, and reaction time. Dopamine and later endorphins are released, which are often associated with pleasure. As of the year 2000,smoking was said to be practised by some 1.22 billion people across the globe and men were said to be more likely to smoke more than women, however, health experts say the gender gap declines with the young and the poor more likely to smoke more than the wealthy.
Many smokers started smoking during adolescence or in the stage of adulthood. Usually, during the early stages, smoking provides pleasurable sensations, serving as a source of positive reinforcement. After an individual has smoked for many years, the avoidance of withdrawal symptoms and negative reinforcement become the key motivations to continue.
Despite known risks of cigarette smoking, more than 23 per cent of women across the world still smoke, increasing their risk of cervical cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems and more.
Most women who smoke are between the ages of 25 and 44. Teenage women are said to make up a significant percentage of smokers.
Women are said to be more at risk for certain problems related to smoking than men. Women who use oral contraceptives or other hormonal forms of birth control are especially, at risk of developing serious side effects. Women using hormone forms of birth control, who smoke, increase their risk of developing life threatening blood clots and strokes. This is even worse for women over the age of 35 who smoke and use birth control pills.
Also, women smokers who use oral contraceptives according to health experts, can develop high blood pressure and they may have fertility problems.
Studies suggest that women who smoke are three-four times more likely to experience problems conceiving than those who do not. This may be because of a decreased ovulatory response. In some women, the egg has trouble implanting when the woman smokes.
Smoking also affects women's normal cyclical changes, including those that occur during menopause and menstruation.Women who start smoking during their teen years are said to be more at risk of developing early menopause than women who do not smoke.Smokers may also experience more menstrual problems including abnormal bleeding or amenorrhoea than women who don't smoke. This is because smoking often lowers levels of oestrogen’s in the body.
However, women who quit smoking are said to be more likely to realise immediate health benefits.Those who quit smoking before they reach the age of 50 reduce their risk of dying of smoking by as much as one-half.Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of heart disease in people exposed to second hand smoke.
Smoking is said to increase ones risk of developing a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The lung damage that occurs from pulmonary disease is not often reversible. However,if one quits smoking, the lung function according to scientists would not decline further, and one may notice an improvement in coughing and breathing.
Also cigarette smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and women who smoke more than double their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Immediately stopping smoking can result in instant improvement in ones cardiovascular function and a reduced risk of heart disease.
After smoking cessation has continued for at least a year, one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease according to health experts, drops by 50 per cent and will continue to decline further. Some studies suggest the heart attack risk for smokers drops after two years of cessation.
Cigarette smoking contributes to developing several different kinds of cancer, including cervical cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the oesophagus, mouth, bladder and pancreas and stopping can improve ones survival rate and reduce the risk of developing severe cancers resulting from smoking.
Smoking also contributes to bone loss, thus increasing a woman's risk of developing osteoporosis and experts say 10 years after stopping smoking, a woman's excess risk of osteoporosis declines significantly.
Women who smoke are also more at risk in developing breast cancer. Experts say the risk of developing fatal forms of breast cancer is 75 per cent higher for women who smoke than those who do not, and the number of cigarettes a woman smokes per day is said to have a resultant effect on their breast cancer survival rate. Women who smoke are also 48 per cent more likely to develop a rare form of vulva cancer.
Smoking is dangerous to pregnant women. Pregnant women who smoke, often give birth to babies with birth defects and low birth weights. Mothers who smoke are also more at risk of a miscarriage, premature rupture of the membranes and placenta previa, increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and blood clots.
Babies born to mothers who smoke often experience withdrawal symptoms during the first week of life.Over time,smoking also contributes to skin wrinkling and may even reduce one’s sexual ability.Quitting smoking however,improves all these conditions immediately.
Younger female smokers are said to be at risk of a heart attack compared to men who smoke. Women who smoke according to experts have on the average a first heart attack at about age 66, compared to women who don't smoke at age 81.
The good news according to health experts is that, there are many methods one can adopt to help quit smoking. Unfortunately, smoking cessation, they say is difficult. Smoking is an addiction. Nicotine is addictive and causes many people to fail when they try quitting.
This is because when one quits smoking, one is likely to have withdrawal symptoms. These are often unpleasant, and may include cigarette cravings, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, restlessness and even depression. These withdrawal symptoms are usually hardest to deal with and most intense during the first three days after smoking cessation. Fortunately, the cravings according to experts do go away if you remain smoke free.
Some people in trying to quit also experience mild depression, but usually this is not severe enough to warrant any treatment. However, experts advise that when one is having difficulty with depression, treatment may be recommended.
According to health experts, another factor that prevents most women who are into smoking from stopping, was because they were likely to gain weight. According to them, the reason people gain weight when they quit smoking was simply because they eat more. Many women gain between two and five pounds when they first quit.Over a period of time, this may increase to ten pounds.
However, the good news according to experts, is that weight gain and smoking cessation are not unavoidable. They say if one adopts an exercise programme and eat healthy foods, one is not likely to gain much weight. And more importantly, the benefits of quitting smoking outweigh any small weight gain by ten times.
Some recommended remedies for ‘cold turkeys’ developed by people who try to quit smoking, is by using over-the-counter cures such as nicotine gum and patches.
Nicotine patch, according to experts, helps reduce the physical withdrawal symptoms and cravings associated with smoking cessation.
Business School to expand facilities
Daily Graphic (Pg 29) Friday, May 28/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) is constructing a $21 million facility to house its Executive Masters Business Administration (EMBA) programme.
The facility, which would have an administration block, a six-unit 250-seater lecture hall, a six-storey office block for library, syndicate rooms, a 1,000 seater conference hall, faculty offices and lecture theatres, is the first phase of an estimated GH¢100 million project aimed at establishing a world class executive business school in the country.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. C. N. B. Tagoe who launched the 10th anniversary celebrations of the EMBA during a ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the state-of-the-art EMBA facility, said the construction of the project formed part of a bigger dream of making the University of Ghana a centre of greater excellence.
He said from a humble beginning of 60 students in 2000, the school can now boast 400 students admitted each year and therefore, the need to expand the facility to accommodate the ever increasing population of the school.
Prof. Tagoe, who congratulated the management of the school, said “In 10 years, you have led the way, created opportunities and through your work,many others have now come to see the opportunities that abound in providing executive education in Ghana”.
He, however, called on the management to ensure that they appropriately name the facility or sections of it in memory and honour of the late Prof. Stephen Acheampong, whose dedication, passion, drive and vision were key in the establishment of the school.
The acting Dean of the Faculty of the EMBA, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu in an address, said when completed, the facility would be a world class teaching and learning centre comparable to others such as Harvard in the United States of America.
According to him, the EMBA was the first academic programme of its kind in the country and West African sub-region, saying the school has come very far in its quest for excellence in both teaching and learning.
He said the school was blazing the trail to provide a completely modern, excellent and state-of-the-art executive building to provide first class teaching and learning facility for its valued students.
He said in future, other facilities such as a hostel, a three-star hotel, a one-stop shopping mall, a stock exchange centre, a cafeteria among others would be added to the project.
Mr Takyi-Asiedu commended the UG for proving the school with the land for the project.
Representatives from the Merchant Bank, Fidelity Bank, CAL Bank and the Intercontinental Bank, all pledged their readiness to support in the construction of the facility.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) is constructing a $21 million facility to house its Executive Masters Business Administration (EMBA) programme.
The facility, which would have an administration block, a six-unit 250-seater lecture hall, a six-storey office block for library, syndicate rooms, a 1,000 seater conference hall, faculty offices and lecture theatres, is the first phase of an estimated GH¢100 million project aimed at establishing a world class executive business school in the country.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. C. N. B. Tagoe who launched the 10th anniversary celebrations of the EMBA during a ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the state-of-the-art EMBA facility, said the construction of the project formed part of a bigger dream of making the University of Ghana a centre of greater excellence.
He said from a humble beginning of 60 students in 2000, the school can now boast 400 students admitted each year and therefore, the need to expand the facility to accommodate the ever increasing population of the school.
Prof. Tagoe, who congratulated the management of the school, said “In 10 years, you have led the way, created opportunities and through your work,many others have now come to see the opportunities that abound in providing executive education in Ghana”.
He, however, called on the management to ensure that they appropriately name the facility or sections of it in memory and honour of the late Prof. Stephen Acheampong, whose dedication, passion, drive and vision were key in the establishment of the school.
The acting Dean of the Faculty of the EMBA, Mr S. Takyi-Asiedu in an address, said when completed, the facility would be a world class teaching and learning centre comparable to others such as Harvard in the United States of America.
According to him, the EMBA was the first academic programme of its kind in the country and West African sub-region, saying the school has come very far in its quest for excellence in both teaching and learning.
He said the school was blazing the trail to provide a completely modern, excellent and state-of-the-art executive building to provide first class teaching and learning facility for its valued students.
He said in future, other facilities such as a hostel, a three-star hotel, a one-stop shopping mall, a stock exchange centre, a cafeteria among others would be added to the project.
Mr Takyi-Asiedu commended the UG for proving the school with the land for the project.
Representatives from the Merchant Bank, Fidelity Bank, CAL Bank and the Intercontinental Bank, all pledged their readiness to support in the construction of the facility.
Finney Hospital delivers first In Vitro baby
Daily Graphic (spread) Thursday, May 27/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A year after it was officially inaugurated, the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre at New Bortianor, near Accra has delivered its first In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) baby.
The healthy looking baby girl was delivered at 11.30 a.m. through a caesarean section (CS) on Tuesday and weighed 2.65 kilograms.
The Consultant Embryologist of the centre, Mr Ellis Fleischer-Djoleto, who led the team in the fertilisation process, said the centre was poised for changing the face of health care, especially women’s health, in the country.
Assisted by Mr George Serlom Quarcoe, a senior embryologists and IVF Director at the centre, and Dr Henry Markham, a resident clinician, Dr Fleischer-Djoleto said the centre, which was established in 2008 but was officially opened in September, 2009, opened an Assisted Conception Unit (ACU) to cater for the increasing demand for fertility services in the country.
He said the hospital was capable of helping to solve the fertility needs of women in the country and beyond.
According to him, the hospital, which has a modern sperm bank, offered specialised services such as sperm and egg freezing for oncology patients, embryo freezing, surgical sperm retrieval, sperm donation and surrogacy, among others, to help couples who had difficulty in having babies.
He said since the unit was set up, it had performed 32 IVFs and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injections (ICSIs) out of which 12 pregnancies had been achieved.
Mr Fleischer-Djoleto said the centre was elated at the delivery of the baby because it was the first IVF baby to be delivered in the hospital.
The Midwife at the hospital, Ms Sahadatu Abubakar, said after performing the necessary checks on her, the baby was found to be in a normal condition.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A year after it was officially inaugurated, the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre at New Bortianor, near Accra has delivered its first In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) baby.
The healthy looking baby girl was delivered at 11.30 a.m. through a caesarean section (CS) on Tuesday and weighed 2.65 kilograms.
The Consultant Embryologist of the centre, Mr Ellis Fleischer-Djoleto, who led the team in the fertilisation process, said the centre was poised for changing the face of health care, especially women’s health, in the country.
Assisted by Mr George Serlom Quarcoe, a senior embryologists and IVF Director at the centre, and Dr Henry Markham, a resident clinician, Dr Fleischer-Djoleto said the centre, which was established in 2008 but was officially opened in September, 2009, opened an Assisted Conception Unit (ACU) to cater for the increasing demand for fertility services in the country.
He said the hospital was capable of helping to solve the fertility needs of women in the country and beyond.
According to him, the hospital, which has a modern sperm bank, offered specialised services such as sperm and egg freezing for oncology patients, embryo freezing, surgical sperm retrieval, sperm donation and surrogacy, among others, to help couples who had difficulty in having babies.
He said since the unit was set up, it had performed 32 IVFs and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injections (ICSIs) out of which 12 pregnancies had been achieved.
Mr Fleischer-Djoleto said the centre was elated at the delivery of the baby because it was the first IVF baby to be delivered in the hospital.
The Midwife at the hospital, Ms Sahadatu Abubakar, said after performing the necessary checks on her, the baby was found to be in a normal condition.
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