Daily graphic Pg 11. Thurs. Feb. 25/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has appealed to the Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) to look into complaints by some women who use Always Ultra sanitary pads and are alleging that they experience some discomfort anytime they use the sanitary pads.
According to a survey conducted by the CPA among 800 women from Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi and Tamale, the women have complained that they experience discomforts such as heat, trash, rushes and itches.
Out of the 800 women sampled, 647 of them making 65 per cent of the respondents said they experienced trash, rushes and itches, 121 of them making 12 per cent said they experienced severe itches and trash and 32 of the women making three per cent said they experienced only heat.
Such side effects, according to the CPA, which leads to scratching can lead to viral infections and when not treated well can cause severe health problems such as cervical cancer.
A letter signed by the Chief Executive Officer of CPA, Mr Kofi Kapito, and Nana Prempeh Aduhene, Complaints and Research Co-ordinator of CPA, however, said the survey found that all the women interviewed preferred Always for overnight use, since the absorption rate was higher than the other sanitary pads on the market.
The survey alleges that the rise in the coefficient of skin friction, indirect evidence of skin moisturisation when irritant and sensory effects when assessed were due to the quality of the product, which are made in Kenya, saying that the Always sold on the Ghanaian market were of low quality as compared to the ones on the European market.
According to the CPA, comparing Always Ultra used in Europe to the one on the Ghanaian market, the latter are rubber in nature while the one on the European market is made of cotton.
This, they say, goes against doctors and specialists recommendation that ladies use cotton panties to avoid certain infections in their private parts due to the nature of the sun and the heat in Africa and also their advice to use sanitary pads that are of cotton to avoid infections.
The survey identified that the rubber nature of the sanitary pads created severe heat absorption, which leads to itches, a situation which causes the women to scratch, consequently leading to sore and wounds at the private part making the place unhygienic.
The CPA, in a letter dated February 16, 2010 and copied to the Ministers of Health; Trade and Industry; Women and Children’s Affairs; the Director-General of Health Services, FIDDLE and ABANTU for Development, said “much as we know that Always sanitary pad is a good product and has been in the market for long, we also believe that the health of our women should not be taken for granted, since the fears of their complaints are real”.
It therefore recommended that the GSB should immediately conduct its own research to ascertain the seriousness of the matter.
They also recommend that if the research is found to be accurate, the manufacturers and importers of the Always Ultra sanitary pads should be compelled to change the fibre nature of the lining in the pad, as well as do structural changes to suit the weather conditions to help curb the excessive heat absorption that it creates.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Ghana takes measures to resolve issue of human trafficking
Daily Graphic pg 55. Thurs. Feb. 25/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE country is said to be making gradual progress in resolving the issue of human trafficking after the passage of the Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) five years ago.
However, issues such as lack of shelter, inadequate logistics, ineffective monitoring and evaluation systems, ineffective communication mechanisms for dissemination of information and ineffective collaboration has been identified as some of the major challenges facing the successful elimination of human trafficking in the country.
This was made known in Accra on yesterday at the second annual meeting with law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, ministries departments and agencies, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to assess the country’s progress in combating human trafficking.
The meeting, which was on the theme, “Assessment of human trafficking and irregular migration in Ghana: The General overview and way forward” was organised by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) and supported by the Royal Danish Embassy project.
The passage of the Human Trafficking Act has since seen the establishment of an Anti-Human Trafficking Secretariat within the Ghana Police Service and through support from UNICEF three new anti-trafficking units in the Central, Western and Ashanti regions have also been established.
A National Plan of Action has also been put in place with anti-trafficking units being established within the Ghana Immigration Service and the Attorney General’s Department.
Also, MOWAC, in collaboration with Rescue Foundation, is in the process of establishing a national database on human trafficking to provide a comprehensive research on the phenomenon and to serve as a source of information on human trafficking for planning and implementation of projects.
The issue of eliminating human trafficking in the country became necessary after the US States Department of Labour reported and blacklisted Ghana in their Trafficking in Persons Draft Report, claiming that gold, cocoa and tilapia use worst forms of child labour for production.
Aside the Act, other legislative interventions such as the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732), the Children’s Act 560 and the Criminal Amendment Code have all been put in place to combat the menace.
The Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ghana, Ms Dyane Epstein, said it was a best practice when governments developed the political will to address a difficult problem such as human trafficking and irregular migration.
She said fighting trafficking contributed to a broader fight against poverty, exploitation of migrants, HIV and AIDS, and gender discrimination.
“Fighting trafficking thus contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and building a better future for humanity,” she said.
The Danish Embassy project, she said, had so far sponsored the training of some judges, law enforcement officers and prosecutors on human trafficking.
A Principal State Attorney at the Attorney General’s Department, Mrs Ivonne Atakora Obuobisa, in a remark said trafficking in human was a complex issue which affected both the poor and better informed people, who were lured under the pretext of gaining lucrative employment’s oversees.
She said due to the monetary gains in the business, perpetrators had become ruthless and therefore there was the need for a more sophisticated means of combating the issue.
The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah, in a keynote address said the country had good legal framework for combating trafficking, and had also ratified relevant international conventions dealing with human trafficking and human right protection.
She said with the many socio-economic issues confronting the country, the issue of trafficking must be a priority, saying that “we need to accept the magnitude of the problem. Trafficking exists and we should not close our eyes to it”.
A representative of the Danish Embassy, Ms Vibeke Mortensen, in an address called on people to distinguish between culture, abuse and trafficking, saying that the three were related leading to the complex nature of human trafficking.
A representative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr Francesco D’ouidio, said the organisation was concerned about the exploitative part of trafficking where children were made to perform hazardous task while women were also forced into prostitution and forced marriages.
Miss Ghana 2009, Miss Mime Areme, who is an ambassador on child trafficking, called for parents to be educated on the dangers of child trafficking in the country.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE country is said to be making gradual progress in resolving the issue of human trafficking after the passage of the Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) five years ago.
However, issues such as lack of shelter, inadequate logistics, ineffective monitoring and evaluation systems, ineffective communication mechanisms for dissemination of information and ineffective collaboration has been identified as some of the major challenges facing the successful elimination of human trafficking in the country.
This was made known in Accra on yesterday at the second annual meeting with law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, ministries departments and agencies, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to assess the country’s progress in combating human trafficking.
The meeting, which was on the theme, “Assessment of human trafficking and irregular migration in Ghana: The General overview and way forward” was organised by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) and supported by the Royal Danish Embassy project.
The passage of the Human Trafficking Act has since seen the establishment of an Anti-Human Trafficking Secretariat within the Ghana Police Service and through support from UNICEF three new anti-trafficking units in the Central, Western and Ashanti regions have also been established.
A National Plan of Action has also been put in place with anti-trafficking units being established within the Ghana Immigration Service and the Attorney General’s Department.
Also, MOWAC, in collaboration with Rescue Foundation, is in the process of establishing a national database on human trafficking to provide a comprehensive research on the phenomenon and to serve as a source of information on human trafficking for planning and implementation of projects.
The issue of eliminating human trafficking in the country became necessary after the US States Department of Labour reported and blacklisted Ghana in their Trafficking in Persons Draft Report, claiming that gold, cocoa and tilapia use worst forms of child labour for production.
Aside the Act, other legislative interventions such as the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732), the Children’s Act 560 and the Criminal Amendment Code have all been put in place to combat the menace.
The Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ghana, Ms Dyane Epstein, said it was a best practice when governments developed the political will to address a difficult problem such as human trafficking and irregular migration.
She said fighting trafficking contributed to a broader fight against poverty, exploitation of migrants, HIV and AIDS, and gender discrimination.
“Fighting trafficking thus contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and building a better future for humanity,” she said.
The Danish Embassy project, she said, had so far sponsored the training of some judges, law enforcement officers and prosecutors on human trafficking.
A Principal State Attorney at the Attorney General’s Department, Mrs Ivonne Atakora Obuobisa, in a remark said trafficking in human was a complex issue which affected both the poor and better informed people, who were lured under the pretext of gaining lucrative employment’s oversees.
She said due to the monetary gains in the business, perpetrators had become ruthless and therefore there was the need for a more sophisticated means of combating the issue.
The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah, in a keynote address said the country had good legal framework for combating trafficking, and had also ratified relevant international conventions dealing with human trafficking and human right protection.
She said with the many socio-economic issues confronting the country, the issue of trafficking must be a priority, saying that “we need to accept the magnitude of the problem. Trafficking exists and we should not close our eyes to it”.
A representative of the Danish Embassy, Ms Vibeke Mortensen, in an address called on people to distinguish between culture, abuse and trafficking, saying that the three were related leading to the complex nature of human trafficking.
A representative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr Francesco D’ouidio, said the organisation was concerned about the exploitative part of trafficking where children were made to perform hazardous task while women were also forced into prostitution and forced marriages.
Miss Ghana 2009, Miss Mime Areme, who is an ambassador on child trafficking, called for parents to be educated on the dangers of child trafficking in the country.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Develop policies to create jobs in the North-To halt migration
Daily Graphic Pg. 11. Tues. Feb. 23/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
CO-AUTHORS of a book, ‘Independent migration of children’, have called on the government to develop programmes and policies that will create job opportunities in the northern part of the country to halt migration to the south.
They have also called on the government to address the root causes of ethnic conflicts exhaustively as a way of speeding up the development process of the country especially in the northern sector.
The book, written by Professor Stephen O. Kwankye, a senior lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana, Legon, and Dr John K. Anarfi, Head of the Social Division at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), presents to policymakers and researchers insights into the current phenomenon of independent North-South migration of children especially young girls in the country.
Launched by the Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, in Accra, the authors examined the life of the young migrant in the city from the perspective of a mixture of socio-economic enhancement of lives of child migrants and the challenges they face.
They also show the various socio-economic and health perspectives of the phenomenon of child migration especially from the northern part of the country to the urban centres, including efforts at return and re-integration of the children back home.
The authors contribute to further research and feed into policy directions with regard to the positive and negative aspects of children as independent migrants and look at independent migration of children in the context of migration, globalisation and poverty.
Some of the recommendations made are a suggestion for a massive educational investment in the affected areas to make education more attractive, affordable and closer to people.
The authors also called on policymakers to make parents integral part of the educational drive through campaigns that educate them on the costs of sending their children to the south through migration.
They also called on the government to consider independent migration of children in migration policies to provide social protection for child migrants who engage in genuine businesses to earn income, as well as consider the establishment of accommodation to double as counselling and support centres for child migrants in the cities.
They further called on the government to intensify sexual and reproductive health educational campaigns targeting child migrants such as “kayayei” in the cities, adding that the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) should develop a programme to follow up migrants who voluntarily returned with macro-finance schemes to facilitate their sustainable re-integration.
Launching the book, the deputy minister said children’s well-being and the future of the country would depend very much on the amount of investment made in their survival, growth and development.
She said if concerns of children were not mainstreamed into national policies, efforts to promote a sustainable development would not yield much efforts.
She said “a brighter future of our children will hinge on greater commitment from the government to draw, implement and monitor policies and initiatives that would promote the general care system in the country for children of especially school age”.
Delivering a keynote address, Professor Nelson Otto Addo said migration in the country had for a long time been noted to be a north-south one based on differences in spatial development.
He said with the northern half of Ghana being a relatively less developed region, it had continued to remain a pool of migrant labour for the cocoa and mining industries in the middle and southern belts of the country.
Prof. Addo, whose address was read by Prof. John Nelson, a former academic, said there was the need to put in place policies and interventions that sought to minimise the risks or costs of independent migration of children and to maximise the benefits.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
CO-AUTHORS of a book, ‘Independent migration of children’, have called on the government to develop programmes and policies that will create job opportunities in the northern part of the country to halt migration to the south.
They have also called on the government to address the root causes of ethnic conflicts exhaustively as a way of speeding up the development process of the country especially in the northern sector.
The book, written by Professor Stephen O. Kwankye, a senior lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana, Legon, and Dr John K. Anarfi, Head of the Social Division at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), presents to policymakers and researchers insights into the current phenomenon of independent North-South migration of children especially young girls in the country.
Launched by the Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, in Accra, the authors examined the life of the young migrant in the city from the perspective of a mixture of socio-economic enhancement of lives of child migrants and the challenges they face.
They also show the various socio-economic and health perspectives of the phenomenon of child migration especially from the northern part of the country to the urban centres, including efforts at return and re-integration of the children back home.
The authors contribute to further research and feed into policy directions with regard to the positive and negative aspects of children as independent migrants and look at independent migration of children in the context of migration, globalisation and poverty.
Some of the recommendations made are a suggestion for a massive educational investment in the affected areas to make education more attractive, affordable and closer to people.
The authors also called on policymakers to make parents integral part of the educational drive through campaigns that educate them on the costs of sending their children to the south through migration.
They also called on the government to consider independent migration of children in migration policies to provide social protection for child migrants who engage in genuine businesses to earn income, as well as consider the establishment of accommodation to double as counselling and support centres for child migrants in the cities.
They further called on the government to intensify sexual and reproductive health educational campaigns targeting child migrants such as “kayayei” in the cities, adding that the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) should develop a programme to follow up migrants who voluntarily returned with macro-finance schemes to facilitate their sustainable re-integration.
Launching the book, the deputy minister said children’s well-being and the future of the country would depend very much on the amount of investment made in their survival, growth and development.
She said if concerns of children were not mainstreamed into national policies, efforts to promote a sustainable development would not yield much efforts.
She said “a brighter future of our children will hinge on greater commitment from the government to draw, implement and monitor policies and initiatives that would promote the general care system in the country for children of especially school age”.
Delivering a keynote address, Professor Nelson Otto Addo said migration in the country had for a long time been noted to be a north-south one based on differences in spatial development.
He said with the northern half of Ghana being a relatively less developed region, it had continued to remain a pool of migrant labour for the cocoa and mining industries in the middle and southern belts of the country.
Prof. Addo, whose address was read by Prof. John Nelson, a former academic, said there was the need to put in place policies and interventions that sought to minimise the risks or costs of independent migration of children and to maximise the benefits.
Gender statistics needed for informed policies
Daily Graphic pg. 11. Tues. Feb. 23/10
Story & Pix: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Gender statistics are the body of statistics compiled, analysed and presented by sex, reflecting gender issues in society. This statistics need to be produced in close co-operation with users to respond to the needs of policy makers, planners, researchers, the media and the public.
According to statisticians, in order for users’ needs to be fully considered, it is necessary to examine gender concerns and goals in society and identify the necessary statistics and indicators to address them with adequate policies and plans to assess and monitor the related cases.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) defines gender statistics as a field of statistics that cuts across the traditional fields to identify, produce and disseminate statistics that reflect the realities of the lives of women and men and policy issues relating to gender. Gender statistics, it says, allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues.
Gender issues are determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men and it encompasses all aspects and concerns with how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities and how they react to changes, interventions and policies.
According to gender advocates, gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics, according to advocates, are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.
Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produced taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that data, both those on individuals as well as those not directly related to individuals, are collected, compiled, and analysed, taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently - this, according to advocates, can be called the gender mainstreaming of statistics.
The impact of data collected on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and in all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure that they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors, according to gender advocates, must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis, and presentation.
They say although the presentation of information on women and men follows the general rules for statistical presentation, one must keep in mind that the presentation aims at facilitating comparisons between women and men, as well as increasing the awareness of gender differentials.
Advocates further contend that the main point is not the mere existence of such differences, but the fact that these differences should not have a negative impact on the living conditions of both women and men, should not discriminate against them and should contribute to an equal sharing of power in economy, society and policy-making processes.
Some policy areas where gender statistics have been identified to influence include population, families and households, work and the economy, education and communication, public life and decision-making, health, crime and violence.
It is in line with ensuring that gender statistics are incorporated in data collection in the country that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with support from the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has set up a gender statistic working group made up of experts from government and non-governmental agencies to identify gender gaps in the production of statistics in the country.
The group, which was launched in Accra, held its first meeting and made up of researchers, gender advocates, UN agencies, civil organisations and academia, will also outline how gender statistics should be produced and used and how its use should be promoted by the government, planning bodies, the media, research institutions and other stakeholders.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, in an address said the Beijing Platform for Action adopted for nations 15 years ago emphasised the need to disaggregate data by sex across board so as to produce data by sex.
She said there was the need to re-look at the statistical system in the country, since a change in the way of data collection would be met with some resistance as new forms would have to be designed for administrative purposes.
She said the time had come for the country to move the issue of gender statistics forward by striving to ensure that a conscious effort was made to bridge the knowledge gap in gender mainstreaming.
The UNIFEM Country Representative, Ms Afua Ansre, in a remark said Ghana had acceded to all international requirements to make gender equality a reality in the country.
She said a sex disaggregated data was needed in all areas of policy making in the country, saying that without such data the country could not meet its international obligations with regard to gender mainstreaming.
She also called on the government to make use of such data when they were generated, saying that although the GSS had some gender disaggregated data it was underutilised.
A director at the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Patience Opoku, in a remark said developing a sex disaggregated data would help the ministry to achieve its mandate of ensuring that issues of women were given the needed priority.
She said the ministry was preparing to actively showcase its achievements at the forthcoming women conference to be held in New York next month.
The Regional Co-ordinator, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Ms Diana Tempelman, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the group, said the lack of gender statistics was a major constraint in developing gender responsive policies and programmes.
She said statistics and indicators on gender relations were needed for informed policy decisions and monitoring of programmes, saying that the group would help improve the capacity of both producers and users of gender statistics to produce and use gender-sensitive indicators and sex disaggregated data to inform policy formulation, monitoring and reporting.
Story & Pix: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Gender statistics are the body of statistics compiled, analysed and presented by sex, reflecting gender issues in society. This statistics need to be produced in close co-operation with users to respond to the needs of policy makers, planners, researchers, the media and the public.
According to statisticians, in order for users’ needs to be fully considered, it is necessary to examine gender concerns and goals in society and identify the necessary statistics and indicators to address them with adequate policies and plans to assess and monitor the related cases.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) defines gender statistics as a field of statistics that cuts across the traditional fields to identify, produce and disseminate statistics that reflect the realities of the lives of women and men and policy issues relating to gender. Gender statistics, it says, allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues.
Gender issues are determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men and it encompasses all aspects and concerns with how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities and how they react to changes, interventions and policies.
According to gender advocates, gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics, according to advocates, are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.
Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produced taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that data, both those on individuals as well as those not directly related to individuals, are collected, compiled, and analysed, taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently - this, according to advocates, can be called the gender mainstreaming of statistics.
The impact of data collected on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and in all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure that they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors, according to gender advocates, must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis, and presentation.
They say although the presentation of information on women and men follows the general rules for statistical presentation, one must keep in mind that the presentation aims at facilitating comparisons between women and men, as well as increasing the awareness of gender differentials.
Advocates further contend that the main point is not the mere existence of such differences, but the fact that these differences should not have a negative impact on the living conditions of both women and men, should not discriminate against them and should contribute to an equal sharing of power in economy, society and policy-making processes.
Some policy areas where gender statistics have been identified to influence include population, families and households, work and the economy, education and communication, public life and decision-making, health, crime and violence.
It is in line with ensuring that gender statistics are incorporated in data collection in the country that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with support from the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has set up a gender statistic working group made up of experts from government and non-governmental agencies to identify gender gaps in the production of statistics in the country.
The group, which was launched in Accra, held its first meeting and made up of researchers, gender advocates, UN agencies, civil organisations and academia, will also outline how gender statistics should be produced and used and how its use should be promoted by the government, planning bodies, the media, research institutions and other stakeholders.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, in an address said the Beijing Platform for Action adopted for nations 15 years ago emphasised the need to disaggregate data by sex across board so as to produce data by sex.
She said there was the need to re-look at the statistical system in the country, since a change in the way of data collection would be met with some resistance as new forms would have to be designed for administrative purposes.
She said the time had come for the country to move the issue of gender statistics forward by striving to ensure that a conscious effort was made to bridge the knowledge gap in gender mainstreaming.
The UNIFEM Country Representative, Ms Afua Ansre, in a remark said Ghana had acceded to all international requirements to make gender equality a reality in the country.
She said a sex disaggregated data was needed in all areas of policy making in the country, saying that without such data the country could not meet its international obligations with regard to gender mainstreaming.
She also called on the government to make use of such data when they were generated, saying that although the GSS had some gender disaggregated data it was underutilised.
A director at the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Patience Opoku, in a remark said developing a sex disaggregated data would help the ministry to achieve its mandate of ensuring that issues of women were given the needed priority.
She said the ministry was preparing to actively showcase its achievements at the forthcoming women conference to be held in New York next month.
The Regional Co-ordinator, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Ms Diana Tempelman, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the group, said the lack of gender statistics was a major constraint in developing gender responsive policies and programmes.
She said statistics and indicators on gender relations were needed for informed policy decisions and monitoring of programmes, saying that the group would help improve the capacity of both producers and users of gender statistics to produce and use gender-sensitive indicators and sex disaggregated data to inform policy formulation, monitoring and reporting.
Gold Coast City Project takes off next month
Daily Graphic (back Page) Tues. Feb. 23/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A US$1.55-billion modernisation project stretching from the Osu Castle along the sea front to the Arts Centre in Accra is to commence next month.
The 160-acre Gold Coast City Project will consist of residential villas and apartments, a shopping mall, a school complex, a recreational centre, a hotel and an office complex, including a World Trade Centre.
The residential apartments, estimated to house about 600 families, are made up of a 124-unit villa, 216 three-unit flats and a 10-unit apartment block of 260 flats.
The project will also see the construction of a six-floor 500-room five-star hotel, a three-floor shopping mall with ice hockey and ice skating facilities, a 21-floor World Trade Centre (WTC), a four-floor modern school complex, a 15-floor office complex for the Ministry of Tourism and a mini golf course.
The commercial development project, which is aimed at changing the face of Accra, is being promoted by Strategic Initiatives Limited with funding from Shuguang Group Company Limited, Guoqiang Construction Group Company Limited and Gemfy Group, all of China.
As part of the component of the project, a US$55-million fund has been earmarked for the relocation of ministries along the coast which will be affected by the project.
The initiator of the four-year project, Togbe Afede XIV, who briefed the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, and his Deputy, Mr Kobby Acheampong, the Osu Mantse, some elders of the Osu Traditional Council and some members of Nai We, said the project, originally intended for either Dubai, Thailand or Angola, was diverted to Accra through his influence, and that it would make the city a tourist centre, which will generate both local and foreign revenues.
According to Togbe Afede, the overall objective of the project is to develop and sustain the entire stretch of the marine drive along the coast in the area.
He said the purpose of the project was to support the sea front development in Accra, as well as improve on sanitation in the area.
He said the project was expected to create social, physical and commercial infrastructure that would attract investment and tourists into the country.
Togbe Afede said the WTC Association, based in New York, had awarded Strategic Initiatives Limited the exclusive licence to build a WTC in the country and according to him, this would encourage most businesses across the country to locate their headquarters in the building.
The Minister for Tourism, in an address, said the siting of the project in Accra was going to help lift the image of Accra and Ghana as a whole.
She said the government had lent its full support to the project and expressed the hope that final arrangements needed would be sorted out for the project to start in March, 2010 as scheduled.
She said her ministry would ensure that the people of Accra were not left out of the proceeds and advantages the project was likely to bring to the capital, saying that it would help create jobs locally, as well as generate revenue for the development of other areas of the city.
The Osu Mantse, Nii Nortey Owuo III, commended the initiation of the project in the area and expressed the hope that it would first consider the youth of Osu so as to help limit the rate of unemployment in the area.
The Osu Stool Secretary, Nii Okwei Nortey, in a remark, called on the initiators of the project to consider other coastal areas in the city for a uniform development of the Accra coastal plain.
The Spokesperson for the Nai We, Henry Nii Yartey Yartey, also gave the family’s consent for the commencement of the project and expressed the hope that it would boost local tourism.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A US$1.55-billion modernisation project stretching from the Osu Castle along the sea front to the Arts Centre in Accra is to commence next month.
The 160-acre Gold Coast City Project will consist of residential villas and apartments, a shopping mall, a school complex, a recreational centre, a hotel and an office complex, including a World Trade Centre.
The residential apartments, estimated to house about 600 families, are made up of a 124-unit villa, 216 three-unit flats and a 10-unit apartment block of 260 flats.
The project will also see the construction of a six-floor 500-room five-star hotel, a three-floor shopping mall with ice hockey and ice skating facilities, a 21-floor World Trade Centre (WTC), a four-floor modern school complex, a 15-floor office complex for the Ministry of Tourism and a mini golf course.
The commercial development project, which is aimed at changing the face of Accra, is being promoted by Strategic Initiatives Limited with funding from Shuguang Group Company Limited, Guoqiang Construction Group Company Limited and Gemfy Group, all of China.
As part of the component of the project, a US$55-million fund has been earmarked for the relocation of ministries along the coast which will be affected by the project.
The initiator of the four-year project, Togbe Afede XIV, who briefed the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, and his Deputy, Mr Kobby Acheampong, the Osu Mantse, some elders of the Osu Traditional Council and some members of Nai We, said the project, originally intended for either Dubai, Thailand or Angola, was diverted to Accra through his influence, and that it would make the city a tourist centre, which will generate both local and foreign revenues.
According to Togbe Afede, the overall objective of the project is to develop and sustain the entire stretch of the marine drive along the coast in the area.
He said the purpose of the project was to support the sea front development in Accra, as well as improve on sanitation in the area.
He said the project was expected to create social, physical and commercial infrastructure that would attract investment and tourists into the country.
Togbe Afede said the WTC Association, based in New York, had awarded Strategic Initiatives Limited the exclusive licence to build a WTC in the country and according to him, this would encourage most businesses across the country to locate their headquarters in the building.
The Minister for Tourism, in an address, said the siting of the project in Accra was going to help lift the image of Accra and Ghana as a whole.
She said the government had lent its full support to the project and expressed the hope that final arrangements needed would be sorted out for the project to start in March, 2010 as scheduled.
She said her ministry would ensure that the people of Accra were not left out of the proceeds and advantages the project was likely to bring to the capital, saying that it would help create jobs locally, as well as generate revenue for the development of other areas of the city.
The Osu Mantse, Nii Nortey Owuo III, commended the initiation of the project in the area and expressed the hope that it would first consider the youth of Osu so as to help limit the rate of unemployment in the area.
The Osu Stool Secretary, Nii Okwei Nortey, in a remark, called on the initiators of the project to consider other coastal areas in the city for a uniform development of the Accra coastal plain.
The Spokesperson for the Nai We, Henry Nii Yartey Yartey, also gave the family’s consent for the commencement of the project and expressed the hope that it would boost local tourism.
Friday, February 19, 2010
AMA demolition squad faces resistance
Daily Graphic (Back Page). Friday Feb. 19/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Yesterday’s demolition exercise by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to rid the main Achimota-Apenkwa Motorway of illegal structures nearly turned violent when AMA officials were confronted by an angry mob.
No injuries were recorded but two persons were arrested and detained at the Tesano Police Station for obstructing the AMA officials from doing their legitimate work.
The exercise began about 5 a.m. with the demolition of stalls and kiosks which, according to the assembly, were illegally sited along the highway.
The demolition squad was at work when resistance from owners of the structures intensified, with some pelting the squad with stones.
The AMA task force was supported by 102 policemen, led by the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, Superintendent Sylvester Boyuo, and bulldozers were used to undertake the removal of unauthorised structures on the Apenkwa Overhead through to the old Achimota Station to the new Achimota Bus Terminal.
Some of the structures demolished included drinking bars, fitting shops, cosmetic shops, a glass manufacturing company, as well as kiosks which served as residential accommodation for some traders and apprentices.
In spite of the resistance, the crowd looked on as the bulldozers destroyed containers, some of which still contained goods, while some of the people also managed to secure some of their goods.
The leader of the exercise, Chief Joseph Okai from the AMA, said the traders had been given sufficient notice, saying that the exercise was part of the Accra Mayor’s determination to decongest the city of illegal and unauthorised structures.
He said he had personally been to the area three times to inform the people about the intended demolition but all the warnings fell on deaf ears.
The Okaikoi Sub-metro Director, Ms Abena Kwesiwa Kyei, said her outfit had, since the beginning of the construction of the Tetteh Quarshie-Abeka Lapaz Highway, been announcing, through various media, for the traders to remove their stalls and kiosks but they all ignored the warning.
The Director of Works at the AMA, Mr Valentine Amedo, said most of the structures in the area did not have permits from the AMA, for which reason the demolition exercise was in order.
Some of the shop owners who were affected by the exercise, however, claimed they were not aware of the exercise.
According to them, a committee that was set up when the demarcation of the highway was being done assured them that their stalls and kiosks would not be affected.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Yesterday’s demolition exercise by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to rid the main Achimota-Apenkwa Motorway of illegal structures nearly turned violent when AMA officials were confronted by an angry mob.
No injuries were recorded but two persons were arrested and detained at the Tesano Police Station for obstructing the AMA officials from doing their legitimate work.
The exercise began about 5 a.m. with the demolition of stalls and kiosks which, according to the assembly, were illegally sited along the highway.
The demolition squad was at work when resistance from owners of the structures intensified, with some pelting the squad with stones.
The AMA task force was supported by 102 policemen, led by the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, Superintendent Sylvester Boyuo, and bulldozers were used to undertake the removal of unauthorised structures on the Apenkwa Overhead through to the old Achimota Station to the new Achimota Bus Terminal.
Some of the structures demolished included drinking bars, fitting shops, cosmetic shops, a glass manufacturing company, as well as kiosks which served as residential accommodation for some traders and apprentices.
In spite of the resistance, the crowd looked on as the bulldozers destroyed containers, some of which still contained goods, while some of the people also managed to secure some of their goods.
The leader of the exercise, Chief Joseph Okai from the AMA, said the traders had been given sufficient notice, saying that the exercise was part of the Accra Mayor’s determination to decongest the city of illegal and unauthorised structures.
He said he had personally been to the area three times to inform the people about the intended demolition but all the warnings fell on deaf ears.
The Okaikoi Sub-metro Director, Ms Abena Kwesiwa Kyei, said her outfit had, since the beginning of the construction of the Tetteh Quarshie-Abeka Lapaz Highway, been announcing, through various media, for the traders to remove their stalls and kiosks but they all ignored the warning.
The Director of Works at the AMA, Mr Valentine Amedo, said most of the structures in the area did not have permits from the AMA, for which reason the demolition exercise was in order.
Some of the shop owners who were affected by the exercise, however, claimed they were not aware of the exercise.
According to them, a committee that was set up when the demarcation of the highway was being done assured them that their stalls and kiosks would not be affected.
Empowering women through micro-financing
Daily Graphic. Pg 11. Thurs. Feb. 18/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MAAME Esi, a petty trader, started her business five years ago by moving from office to office to sell her wares.
In 2009, she secured a loan under one of the savings and loan schemes, and today she is a big time entrepreneur.
Hitherto, Maame Esi had to depend on her husband anytime she ran out of money for her business, and this made her vulnerable in the marriage as she had no say in the management of the house, with regard to the education of their children and other decisions related to their marriage.
Today, out of the proceeds from her shop, she is able to contribute to their children’s education and she has taken up the responsibility of paying the utility bills in the home while her husband also takes care of the rent and other bills.
Through the loan, she is now empowered both economically and socially, as she can now make decisions to protect herself and her family. She now takes part in decision-making concerning her children and their general welfare, and she can also negotiate for sex with her husband.
Micro-finance and micro-insurance schemes are innovative ways of providing the poor with access to capital and thus a way out of poverty. Women, especially, often lack access to financial resources necessary to escape poverty and social dependency.
Micro-credit schemes enable women to engage in economic activities as well as join social networks through which both poverty and social dependency could be overcome.
Micro-credit, according to economic analysts is among the strongest, if not the strongest development strategies that work in developing countries for women.
However, targeted micro-credit schemes are said to have proved to be an exceptionally effective tool for poverty alleviation for the urban and rural poor, as well as women in general.
Micro-credit is particularly conducive to empowering women in urban areas and micro-credit institutions can provide vital services beyond credit, such as information, community formation and fostering, mutual support networks and counselling among others.
Micro-credit has empowered women in a number of ways such as improved access to health and education, allied with expanded opportunities for employment and access to micro-credit and has also expanded choice and empowered women.
With increased social and political consciousness, women can now be said to be more likely to take part in local government and national elections. They are gaining control over their lives, reducing their dependency and taking a greater part in family decision making processes.
While disparities still exist, women who are well resourced have become increasingly powerful catalysts for development, demanding greater control over fertility and birth spacing, education for their daughters, and access to services.
Micro-credit, micro-finance and micro-enterprise are now seen as effective poverty alleviation mechanisms, especially for poor women.
A Micro-Credit Summit Campaign in 1997 aimed at ensuring that “100 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women of those families, receive credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005”.
Many micro-credit schemes specifically target women as they have proven to be very good credit risks with high repayment ratios even with credit at market rates.
It is argued that as well as increasing women’s income, micro-credit programmes also improve women’s role in the household. Thus through the provision of economic resources, a woman may gain greater voice in expenditure decisions.
It also helps to increase women’s confidence because they gain not only through the economic success of their businesses but also through increased access to community services and collective action with other women.
Recently, the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the National Population Council in collaboration with the regional office of the Department of Women, organised an exhibition in Accra to showcase the handiwork of women in small scale businesses.
The exhibition was in line with the theme of the 2009 World Population Day celebration, ‘Responding to the economic crises: Investing in women is a smart choice’.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) no one knows yet what the full scale of the global economic crisis will look like.
It however said women and children in developing countries would bear the brunt of the impact, saying that what started as a financial crisis in rich countries was now deepening into a global economic crisis that was hitting developing countries hard, and that it was already affecting progress towards reducing poverty.
According to the UNFPA, policy responses that build on women's roles as economic agents could do a lot to mitigate the effects of the crisis on development, especially because women, more than men, invested their earnings in the health and education of their children.
Investments in public health, education, child care and other social services helped to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the entire family and raise productivity for a healthier economy.
The Greater Accra Regional Population Officer, Mrs Ellen Osei-Tutu, at the exhibition added her voice to the call to empower women economically to reduce their dependency on their male partners.
She said women were economic agents who could plough back their earnings in supporting their male partners to develop their families and the nation.
Women who are economically empowered, she said, were respected by their husbands and partners because they contributed to the family’s welfare.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MAAME Esi, a petty trader, started her business five years ago by moving from office to office to sell her wares.
In 2009, she secured a loan under one of the savings and loan schemes, and today she is a big time entrepreneur.
Hitherto, Maame Esi had to depend on her husband anytime she ran out of money for her business, and this made her vulnerable in the marriage as she had no say in the management of the house, with regard to the education of their children and other decisions related to their marriage.
Today, out of the proceeds from her shop, she is able to contribute to their children’s education and she has taken up the responsibility of paying the utility bills in the home while her husband also takes care of the rent and other bills.
Through the loan, she is now empowered both economically and socially, as she can now make decisions to protect herself and her family. She now takes part in decision-making concerning her children and their general welfare, and she can also negotiate for sex with her husband.
Micro-finance and micro-insurance schemes are innovative ways of providing the poor with access to capital and thus a way out of poverty. Women, especially, often lack access to financial resources necessary to escape poverty and social dependency.
Micro-credit schemes enable women to engage in economic activities as well as join social networks through which both poverty and social dependency could be overcome.
Micro-credit, according to economic analysts is among the strongest, if not the strongest development strategies that work in developing countries for women.
However, targeted micro-credit schemes are said to have proved to be an exceptionally effective tool for poverty alleviation for the urban and rural poor, as well as women in general.
Micro-credit is particularly conducive to empowering women in urban areas and micro-credit institutions can provide vital services beyond credit, such as information, community formation and fostering, mutual support networks and counselling among others.
Micro-credit has empowered women in a number of ways such as improved access to health and education, allied with expanded opportunities for employment and access to micro-credit and has also expanded choice and empowered women.
With increased social and political consciousness, women can now be said to be more likely to take part in local government and national elections. They are gaining control over their lives, reducing their dependency and taking a greater part in family decision making processes.
While disparities still exist, women who are well resourced have become increasingly powerful catalysts for development, demanding greater control over fertility and birth spacing, education for their daughters, and access to services.
Micro-credit, micro-finance and micro-enterprise are now seen as effective poverty alleviation mechanisms, especially for poor women.
A Micro-Credit Summit Campaign in 1997 aimed at ensuring that “100 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women of those families, receive credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005”.
Many micro-credit schemes specifically target women as they have proven to be very good credit risks with high repayment ratios even with credit at market rates.
It is argued that as well as increasing women’s income, micro-credit programmes also improve women’s role in the household. Thus through the provision of economic resources, a woman may gain greater voice in expenditure decisions.
It also helps to increase women’s confidence because they gain not only through the economic success of their businesses but also through increased access to community services and collective action with other women.
Recently, the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the National Population Council in collaboration with the regional office of the Department of Women, organised an exhibition in Accra to showcase the handiwork of women in small scale businesses.
The exhibition was in line with the theme of the 2009 World Population Day celebration, ‘Responding to the economic crises: Investing in women is a smart choice’.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) no one knows yet what the full scale of the global economic crisis will look like.
It however said women and children in developing countries would bear the brunt of the impact, saying that what started as a financial crisis in rich countries was now deepening into a global economic crisis that was hitting developing countries hard, and that it was already affecting progress towards reducing poverty.
According to the UNFPA, policy responses that build on women's roles as economic agents could do a lot to mitigate the effects of the crisis on development, especially because women, more than men, invested their earnings in the health and education of their children.
Investments in public health, education, child care and other social services helped to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the entire family and raise productivity for a healthier economy.
The Greater Accra Regional Population Officer, Mrs Ellen Osei-Tutu, at the exhibition added her voice to the call to empower women economically to reduce their dependency on their male partners.
She said women were economic agents who could plough back their earnings in supporting their male partners to develop their families and the nation.
Women who are economically empowered, she said, were respected by their husbands and partners because they contributed to the family’s welfare.
600 Students undertake exchange programme
Daily Graphic, Pg 16. Tues, Feb. 16/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SIX HUNDRED students from 17 schools in six regions in the country are undertaking a three-week exchange programme aimed at promoting intercultural diversity and intellectual advancement among the students.
The programme is under the auspices of the Country Awards Council-Ghana (CACG) and is the third to be organised so far by the Ghana National Exchange Programme for senior high schools in the country.
The students will stay in participating schools instead of their schools where they are expected to learn healthy lifestyles, patriotic service in communities, good cultural practices, HIV and AIDS prevention, promotion of tourism and effective leadership among others to help churn them into good future leaders.
This year’s programme which is under the theme; “Developing a holistic youth in diversity, a tool for national development”, has been dedicated to the memories of the late Major Courage Quashigah (retd), a former Minister of Health and Mrs Beatrice Lokko, a retired educationist who were pioneers of the programmes and were Board Chairman and Member of Board respectively of the CACG.
The programme, which was launched three years ago is being supported by the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Chieftancy and Culture, the National Youth Council, the Ministry of Health and other development partners.
A Deputy Director of Education, Secondary Education Division, Mr Ocansey Edwin Larweh, who represented the Minister of Education lauded the programme, and said that it had come at no better time when “we are witnessing so many challenges in our drive towards national development”.
He stressed the need for the youth to be trained in a manner that would enable them to be part of the development and advancement of the country, and added that the exchange programme was designed to promote a common educational platform.
Participating students, he said, would spearhead a national cultural integration process by allowing exchange students to visit schools in a totally new environment and further bridge ethnic gaps, promote academic advancement by exposing the students to diverse environments that would prepare them adequately for the task ahead of them as future leaders.
The programme, he said, would further promote tourism in the country by educating young people on the importance and future prospects of tourism, the need to safeguard and promote internal tourism and also commit young people to education programmes that would harness their talents and encourage high academic performance.
The Programme Manager, Regenerative Health of the Ministry of Health, Mr Kofi Adusei in an address, also said the programme was going to inculcate in the students the benefits of practising regenerative health practices to enable them have better lives and live longer.
He called on people to relate their lifestyles to their health saying that good lifestyle promotes healthy lives.
He, therefore, called on the students to avoid such vices as smoking, drinking, substance abuse and early sex, stressing that such practices would contribute to the deterioration of their health faster than expected.
He called on them to watch what they eat, exercise regularly and keep clean environments so that they can live healthily and longer.
The National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council, Mr Sekou Nkrumah called on the students not to give up when times were hard but should forge ahead to realise their goals in life.
He called on the students to emulate role models such as Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah and also keep good friends to secure a better future.
The Country Director of the Country Awards Council, Mr Kobla Asamani, said the programme would help develop quality leaders to suit the geographical terrain and further promote internal tourism.
He said the programme would also ensure that voluntarism and service to the nation was high on the young persons’ development agenda.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SIX HUNDRED students from 17 schools in six regions in the country are undertaking a three-week exchange programme aimed at promoting intercultural diversity and intellectual advancement among the students.
The programme is under the auspices of the Country Awards Council-Ghana (CACG) and is the third to be organised so far by the Ghana National Exchange Programme for senior high schools in the country.
The students will stay in participating schools instead of their schools where they are expected to learn healthy lifestyles, patriotic service in communities, good cultural practices, HIV and AIDS prevention, promotion of tourism and effective leadership among others to help churn them into good future leaders.
This year’s programme which is under the theme; “Developing a holistic youth in diversity, a tool for national development”, has been dedicated to the memories of the late Major Courage Quashigah (retd), a former Minister of Health and Mrs Beatrice Lokko, a retired educationist who were pioneers of the programmes and were Board Chairman and Member of Board respectively of the CACG.
The programme, which was launched three years ago is being supported by the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Chieftancy and Culture, the National Youth Council, the Ministry of Health and other development partners.
A Deputy Director of Education, Secondary Education Division, Mr Ocansey Edwin Larweh, who represented the Minister of Education lauded the programme, and said that it had come at no better time when “we are witnessing so many challenges in our drive towards national development”.
He stressed the need for the youth to be trained in a manner that would enable them to be part of the development and advancement of the country, and added that the exchange programme was designed to promote a common educational platform.
Participating students, he said, would spearhead a national cultural integration process by allowing exchange students to visit schools in a totally new environment and further bridge ethnic gaps, promote academic advancement by exposing the students to diverse environments that would prepare them adequately for the task ahead of them as future leaders.
The programme, he said, would further promote tourism in the country by educating young people on the importance and future prospects of tourism, the need to safeguard and promote internal tourism and also commit young people to education programmes that would harness their talents and encourage high academic performance.
The Programme Manager, Regenerative Health of the Ministry of Health, Mr Kofi Adusei in an address, also said the programme was going to inculcate in the students the benefits of practising regenerative health practices to enable them have better lives and live longer.
He called on people to relate their lifestyles to their health saying that good lifestyle promotes healthy lives.
He, therefore, called on the students to avoid such vices as smoking, drinking, substance abuse and early sex, stressing that such practices would contribute to the deterioration of their health faster than expected.
He called on them to watch what they eat, exercise regularly and keep clean environments so that they can live healthily and longer.
The National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council, Mr Sekou Nkrumah called on the students not to give up when times were hard but should forge ahead to realise their goals in life.
He called on the students to emulate role models such as Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah and also keep good friends to secure a better future.
The Country Director of the Country Awards Council, Mr Kobla Asamani, said the programme would help develop quality leaders to suit the geographical terrain and further promote internal tourism.
He said the programme would also ensure that voluntarism and service to the nation was high on the young persons’ development agenda.
Bookreview: Hybrid Eyes- Reflections of an African in Europe
Daily Graphic, Pg 9. Tues. Feb. 16/10
Author: Osman Sankoh (Mallam O)
Pages: 96
Reviewed by: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Sales point: EPP Bookshops in Ghana
Hybrid Eyes is a must-read for every young person of African descent with the ambition to travel outside, especially to Europe, to seek greener pastures.
The 17-chapter book vividly describes some of the harsh conditions of life that one can expect in a bid to better one’s economic circumstances or seek higher education in Germany or other European countries.
The writer, a Sierra Leonean of the Sierra Leonean Writers Series, shares with readers his difficult experience in his bid to further his education in Germany. From discrimination, because of his colour, to the expectations of his people back home, the writer gives an account of how he dealt with the numerous roadblocks he encoutered.
Osman Sankoh portrays how Africans are rooted in the extended family system, where the support system embraces you when you need help, to the individualism in a European setting where you can be frustrated to a point that you want to abandon the journey and come back home.
The author’s tales include encounters with some Germans who were extremely nice to him, but he still found out that the majority, mostly on trains, in the neighbourhoods, and on the streets, were brainwashed by schools and the media to see Africans as an inferior race who needed to be avoided. Many people, by their actions, reminded him that he was different.
The author touches on challenges that one is likely to encounter abroad. These include differences in language, stereotyping, hustling, and adverse weather conditions, as well as the varying cultures of the people. On the frustrations he endured while seeking higher education, Sankoh finds that the disparity in the educational systems mean that Africans have to go through a more rigorous training before undertaking a particular course. The writer also compares the efficiency of systems, such as transportation in Europe to the chaotic ones in Africa. He describes how Europeans value time and how their laws work.
He sums up all his frustrations in a reply to a long letter of requests that his brother sent him from Sierra Leone. In the letter, he tries to sensitise his degree-holding brother to his challenges and how he manages to survive the harsh conditions of life as well as the sacrifices that he had made to enable him send money back home.
Despite all the hassle, the writer points out that there are many Africans who have become successful in Germany, America, Britain, and other places in the West, although they often have to go into private business since it is difficult for them to secure jobs in their actual professions.
The book also touches on the different ways that marriage and other customary practices work in Sierra Leone and Africa in general in comparison to what pertains in Germany or Europe. The author shows how the emancipation of women is seen differently from both sides of the continent.
Reading the book, one will also get to feel the gender sensitiveness of the author from the way he portrays his wife and three girls and also through a poem dedicated to his mother. He also brings to the fore the positive attitudes that Germans have for Government property and how they are always proud to talk about their country as opposed to Africans who do not see the need to protect or maintain any property owned by Government for posterity.
The typical African hospitality is also brought up in the book as the author demonstrates how Africans are ready to accommodate westerners in their country, but some westerners perceive Africans as economic refugees and a thorn in their flesh.
The final chapter of the book talks about the importance of one’s root, how the West portrays Africa, and how the writer developed the western eye, which made it possible for him to be able to see Africa and Europe from different angles. The book ends with a call on Africans to eschew corruption, which, according to Sankoh is the bane of underdevelopment in Africa.
Sankoh is the Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network, a health information international NGO based in Accra which works to improve public health in developing countries around the world.
Author: Osman Sankoh (Mallam O)
Pages: 96
Reviewed by: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Sales point: EPP Bookshops in Ghana
Hybrid Eyes is a must-read for every young person of African descent with the ambition to travel outside, especially to Europe, to seek greener pastures.
The 17-chapter book vividly describes some of the harsh conditions of life that one can expect in a bid to better one’s economic circumstances or seek higher education in Germany or other European countries.
The writer, a Sierra Leonean of the Sierra Leonean Writers Series, shares with readers his difficult experience in his bid to further his education in Germany. From discrimination, because of his colour, to the expectations of his people back home, the writer gives an account of how he dealt with the numerous roadblocks he encoutered.
Osman Sankoh portrays how Africans are rooted in the extended family system, where the support system embraces you when you need help, to the individualism in a European setting where you can be frustrated to a point that you want to abandon the journey and come back home.
The author’s tales include encounters with some Germans who were extremely nice to him, but he still found out that the majority, mostly on trains, in the neighbourhoods, and on the streets, were brainwashed by schools and the media to see Africans as an inferior race who needed to be avoided. Many people, by their actions, reminded him that he was different.
The author touches on challenges that one is likely to encounter abroad. These include differences in language, stereotyping, hustling, and adverse weather conditions, as well as the varying cultures of the people. On the frustrations he endured while seeking higher education, Sankoh finds that the disparity in the educational systems mean that Africans have to go through a more rigorous training before undertaking a particular course. The writer also compares the efficiency of systems, such as transportation in Europe to the chaotic ones in Africa. He describes how Europeans value time and how their laws work.
He sums up all his frustrations in a reply to a long letter of requests that his brother sent him from Sierra Leone. In the letter, he tries to sensitise his degree-holding brother to his challenges and how he manages to survive the harsh conditions of life as well as the sacrifices that he had made to enable him send money back home.
Despite all the hassle, the writer points out that there are many Africans who have become successful in Germany, America, Britain, and other places in the West, although they often have to go into private business since it is difficult for them to secure jobs in their actual professions.
The book also touches on the different ways that marriage and other customary practices work in Sierra Leone and Africa in general in comparison to what pertains in Germany or Europe. The author shows how the emancipation of women is seen differently from both sides of the continent.
Reading the book, one will also get to feel the gender sensitiveness of the author from the way he portrays his wife and three girls and also through a poem dedicated to his mother. He also brings to the fore the positive attitudes that Germans have for Government property and how they are always proud to talk about their country as opposed to Africans who do not see the need to protect or maintain any property owned by Government for posterity.
The typical African hospitality is also brought up in the book as the author demonstrates how Africans are ready to accommodate westerners in their country, but some westerners perceive Africans as economic refugees and a thorn in their flesh.
The final chapter of the book talks about the importance of one’s root, how the West portrays Africa, and how the writer developed the western eye, which made it possible for him to be able to see Africa and Europe from different angles. The book ends with a call on Africans to eschew corruption, which, according to Sankoh is the bane of underdevelopment in Africa.
Sankoh is the Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network, a health information international NGO based in Accra which works to improve public health in developing countries around the world.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
AWDF sets up gender resource centre
Daily Graphic, Pg 11. Sat Feb. 13/10
Story & Pix: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A gender-based resource centre has been inaugurated in Accra to help build the capacities of individuals who are into gender studies and training.
The centre, established by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), with support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), aims at compiling knowledge on gender and development in the country and beyond to be accessed by people for their development.
The centre, which was inaugurated by the Executive Secretary of the ACBF, Dr Frannie Leautier, on Wednesday, also aims at showcasing some of the contributions that African women have made towards development in Africa.
It is equipped with a range of literature particularly suited to women working in the non-governmental sector and those looking to enhance their personal or professional development.
Some of the literature are on women’s rights, women’s human rights, feminism, capacity building, political participation, health and reproductive rights, journals, peace-building, financial management, African poetry, among others.
Dr Leautier, who was impressed with the work of the AWDF on the resource centre, pledged her outfit’s continued support to the AWDF in helping to economically empower women’s groups and building the capacities of women, noting that that was about learning and sharing ideas and experiences among the women.
She said her outfit had also launched a book on gender budgeting which would be incorporated in the ACBF’s policies and programmes.
A co-founder of the AWDF and board member, Ms Joana Foster, in an address, said the centre would be accessible to all individuals whose aim was to build their capacities on gender mainstreaming.
The Executive Director of the AWDF, Ms Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, said “it’s about time African women had a resource centre where they can go to learn, read and develop themselves”.
She said the resource centre was a place where women could meet, share knowledge with one another and network.
She said it would also help to strengthen the AWDF’s documentation capacity, adding that it would be put online soon so that people across the continent and the world as a whole could access its services.
Ms Adeleye-Fayemi said the AWDF, which is a grant making foundation with the aim of supporting the work of the African women’s movement, had a vision for African women to live in a world in which there were social justice, equality and respect for human rights.
She said the AWDF’s mission was to mobilise financial resources to support local, national and international initiatives led by women which would lead to the achievement of its vision.
Story & Pix: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A gender-based resource centre has been inaugurated in Accra to help build the capacities of individuals who are into gender studies and training.
The centre, established by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), with support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), aims at compiling knowledge on gender and development in the country and beyond to be accessed by people for their development.
The centre, which was inaugurated by the Executive Secretary of the ACBF, Dr Frannie Leautier, on Wednesday, also aims at showcasing some of the contributions that African women have made towards development in Africa.
It is equipped with a range of literature particularly suited to women working in the non-governmental sector and those looking to enhance their personal or professional development.
Some of the literature are on women’s rights, women’s human rights, feminism, capacity building, political participation, health and reproductive rights, journals, peace-building, financial management, African poetry, among others.
Dr Leautier, who was impressed with the work of the AWDF on the resource centre, pledged her outfit’s continued support to the AWDF in helping to economically empower women’s groups and building the capacities of women, noting that that was about learning and sharing ideas and experiences among the women.
She said her outfit had also launched a book on gender budgeting which would be incorporated in the ACBF’s policies and programmes.
A co-founder of the AWDF and board member, Ms Joana Foster, in an address, said the centre would be accessible to all individuals whose aim was to build their capacities on gender mainstreaming.
The Executive Director of the AWDF, Ms Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, said “it’s about time African women had a resource centre where they can go to learn, read and develop themselves”.
She said the resource centre was a place where women could meet, share knowledge with one another and network.
She said it would also help to strengthen the AWDF’s documentation capacity, adding that it would be put online soon so that people across the continent and the world as a whole could access its services.
Ms Adeleye-Fayemi said the AWDF, which is a grant making foundation with the aim of supporting the work of the African women’s movement, had a vision for African women to live in a world in which there were social justice, equality and respect for human rights.
She said the AWDF’s mission was to mobilise financial resources to support local, national and international initiatives led by women which would lead to the achievement of its vision.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sexual harassment in tertiary institutions - A myth or reality
Daily Graphic, pg 11. Thurs. Feb. 11/10
Asks: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A report of a recent research by Professor Louise Morley and Dr Kattie Lussier of the University of Sussex, UK, that established that some male lecturers in Ghana and Tanzania "consider it their right to demand sex for grades", has stirred discussions in various circles. The two conducted 200 interviews with academics and policy makers and 200 life-history interviews with students.
They wrote their study after encountering widespread reports of sexual harassment suffered by female students during separate research on widening participation in the two countries' higher education systems.
In a paper, Sex, Grades and Power: Gender Violence in African Higher Education, they said the "hierarchical power relations within universities appear to have naturalised a sexual contract in which some male academics consider it their right to demand sex for grades".
This has led to the "construction of negative female learner identities", they added, and explained that "If women fail, this is seen as evidence of their lack of academic abilities and preparedness for higher education. If they achieve academically, this is attributed to prostitution."
A survey conducted by the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) in 2003 defined sexual harassment as any unwelcome conduct, comment, gesture or contact of a sexual nature, whether on a one-time basis or a series of incidents, that might cause offence, humiliation, awkwardness or embarrassment, or that might reasonably be conceived as placing a condition of a sexual nature on employment, opportunity for promotion, grades, etc.
Sexual harassment negatively affects a woman's psychological and or physical well-being and or leads to negative job or academic environment-related consequences for her.
In the educational environment, the phenomenon which normally affects girls and women more than boys and men, has a potential to erode the future of many female pupils and students who are mostly the victims but do not have access to any counselling or channels for redress.
Professor Morley, Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research at Sussex and lead researcher, said sexual harassment in universities is not limited to Africa. "It's a global issue," she told Times Higher Education. "It's about power and the abuse of power."
Professor Morley, who hopes to research the issue further, said the interviews showed that sexual harassment had become "normalised" within some universities.
Male students' assumptions about "prostitution" among their female peers "diminished women's achievements", she said.
Recent findings by the United Nations suggest that sexual exploitation and abuse within schools is widespread but largely an unrecognised problem in many countries. The closed nature of the school environment according to the UN findings meant that students could be at great risk of sexual exploitation.
However, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Prof. Kwesi Kwarfo Adarkwa according to media reports, had denied that such a thing existed in that particular university. He said the UK report lacked merit.
Prof. Adarkwa said female students were outperforming their male counterparts adding that the university’s quality assurance office ensured students got quality education.
Some lecturers and students however think otherwise and a family life counsellor and lecturer at the Engineering Faculty, Vincent Akwaa said his encounter with female students indicated widespread harassment from male lecturers, and points out that some female students who were faced with academic challenges approached lecturers for such favours.
Some students who were interviewed on a Kumasi-based radio station also confirmed that sexual harassment of female students by male lecturers was real. “It’s not a perception; it’s a reality. It goes on in every campus and the lecturers cannot deny it,” one student said.
The 2003 AWLA survey involved a total of 789 women respondents made up of 440 (56 per cent) workers and 349 (44 per cent) students.
It called for awareness creation on this phenomenon and to combat the incidence at the work place and academic environment. It also recommended the need to formulate 'best practices' in the workplace and in academia to minimise the incidence of sexual harassment.
It also advocated co-operation between key players and stakeholders in the formal workplace environs and in academia, and to sensitise the government to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment.
Among some of the most common effects experienced by respondents in the AWLA survey were anger (48 per cent), followed by surprise, disgust, indifference, shame, and fear.
A total of 29 per cent of respondents said their experience of sexual harassment had a detrimental effect on their productivity and described loss of concentration, loss of interest, and low academic performance among others as some of the effects on productivity.
Seventy-six respondents (15 per cent) expressed fear of losing their job or academic standing.
When asked whether or not the experience had been reported to a superior person, 360 respondents (73 per cent) responded in the negative and 129 (26 per cent) responded in the affirmative. Only 19 per cent of the 129 respondents who reported the conduct to their superiors received a positive response. While 24 per cent of these respondents indicated that their harassers were queried.
The Women’s Commissioner of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ms Evelyn Ampomah Nkansah in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said most tertiary institution in the country did not have a sexual harassment policy to address such sexual advances in schools.
According to her although some lecturers may be at fault, it could not be ruled out that some female students also indulged in the practise of ‘sex for grades’ because they did not want to learn.
According to her, such issues, when reported to the authorities, were normally dealt with as and when they happened without the schools having any proper or laid down guidelines to tackle them.
The Women’s Commissioner said so far many of such reports were informal as students who became victims were not bold enough to report to the school authorities for fear of being victimised in their examinations and therefore most of them suffer in silence.
As a way of helping to curb the issue, Ms Nkansah said her outfit undertook seminars and programmes on the various campuses to educate female students on their gender and reproductive rights, unsafe abortions among others to ensure that the young ladies were empowered to know their rights sexually.
Most of the tertiary institutions in the country do not have comprehensive policies on sexual harassment and this therefore makes it difficult for such situations to be handled professionally.
Also with the springing up of many diploma awarding institutions and private universities, the issue of sexual harassment has become more complex as it is difficult to track what goes on in all the institutions.
Speaking to some heads of faculties in some tertiary institutions, the general consensus was that they did not have separate laws to tackle sexual harassment but that laws on sexual harassment were captured in the schools general policies that dealt with other issues such as drug abuse, misconduct among other deviant behaviours.
A Human’s Right Activists and Lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur in a reaction to the UK survey findings said there was the need for tertiary institutions in the country to have separate policy guidelines on sexual harassment as the issue has become rampant.
According to her, the National Council on Tertiary Education which had oversight responsibility to tertiary education in the country, should come out with a law that would mandate all tertiary institutions to have separate policies on sexual harassment since the issue has become a pervasive one affecting most tertiary institutions in the country.
She said international practices had clear policies on sexual harassment which according to her were gender neutral and could be accessed by all.
She explained that the issue of sexual harassment in schools hads become one of power relations where the vulnerable ones had no alternative but to accept such proposals from their superiors.
“We need such policies to give victims the strength and courage to report without fearing for their academic performance”.
She said such a policy should have clear provisions on what constitute sexual harassment and how victims could report so that students who fell victims would be able to report to the school authority for the appropriate action to be taken.
Nana Oye said making a sexual harassment policy part of the general policy of an institution was not good enough and termed it as a “weak policy”, which according to her would not encourage students to report the conduct of their lecturers for fear of being failed or referred.
She reinforced the AWLA survey which said “the fact that very few women will report sexual harassment to the police or to an investigative or advocacy institution suggests that the profile of these institutions must be raised so that more people are aware that they may bring complaints to them. However, the ability of these institutions to deliver satisfactory responses to complainants must also be improved”.
Asks: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A report of a recent research by Professor Louise Morley and Dr Kattie Lussier of the University of Sussex, UK, that established that some male lecturers in Ghana and Tanzania "consider it their right to demand sex for grades", has stirred discussions in various circles. The two conducted 200 interviews with academics and policy makers and 200 life-history interviews with students.
They wrote their study after encountering widespread reports of sexual harassment suffered by female students during separate research on widening participation in the two countries' higher education systems.
In a paper, Sex, Grades and Power: Gender Violence in African Higher Education, they said the "hierarchical power relations within universities appear to have naturalised a sexual contract in which some male academics consider it their right to demand sex for grades".
This has led to the "construction of negative female learner identities", they added, and explained that "If women fail, this is seen as evidence of their lack of academic abilities and preparedness for higher education. If they achieve academically, this is attributed to prostitution."
A survey conducted by the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) in 2003 defined sexual harassment as any unwelcome conduct, comment, gesture or contact of a sexual nature, whether on a one-time basis or a series of incidents, that might cause offence, humiliation, awkwardness or embarrassment, or that might reasonably be conceived as placing a condition of a sexual nature on employment, opportunity for promotion, grades, etc.
Sexual harassment negatively affects a woman's psychological and or physical well-being and or leads to negative job or academic environment-related consequences for her.
In the educational environment, the phenomenon which normally affects girls and women more than boys and men, has a potential to erode the future of many female pupils and students who are mostly the victims but do not have access to any counselling or channels for redress.
Professor Morley, Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research at Sussex and lead researcher, said sexual harassment in universities is not limited to Africa. "It's a global issue," she told Times Higher Education. "It's about power and the abuse of power."
Professor Morley, who hopes to research the issue further, said the interviews showed that sexual harassment had become "normalised" within some universities.
Male students' assumptions about "prostitution" among their female peers "diminished women's achievements", she said.
Recent findings by the United Nations suggest that sexual exploitation and abuse within schools is widespread but largely an unrecognised problem in many countries. The closed nature of the school environment according to the UN findings meant that students could be at great risk of sexual exploitation.
However, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Prof. Kwesi Kwarfo Adarkwa according to media reports, had denied that such a thing existed in that particular university. He said the UK report lacked merit.
Prof. Adarkwa said female students were outperforming their male counterparts adding that the university’s quality assurance office ensured students got quality education.
Some lecturers and students however think otherwise and a family life counsellor and lecturer at the Engineering Faculty, Vincent Akwaa said his encounter with female students indicated widespread harassment from male lecturers, and points out that some female students who were faced with academic challenges approached lecturers for such favours.
Some students who were interviewed on a Kumasi-based radio station also confirmed that sexual harassment of female students by male lecturers was real. “It’s not a perception; it’s a reality. It goes on in every campus and the lecturers cannot deny it,” one student said.
The 2003 AWLA survey involved a total of 789 women respondents made up of 440 (56 per cent) workers and 349 (44 per cent) students.
It called for awareness creation on this phenomenon and to combat the incidence at the work place and academic environment. It also recommended the need to formulate 'best practices' in the workplace and in academia to minimise the incidence of sexual harassment.
It also advocated co-operation between key players and stakeholders in the formal workplace environs and in academia, and to sensitise the government to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment.
Among some of the most common effects experienced by respondents in the AWLA survey were anger (48 per cent), followed by surprise, disgust, indifference, shame, and fear.
A total of 29 per cent of respondents said their experience of sexual harassment had a detrimental effect on their productivity and described loss of concentration, loss of interest, and low academic performance among others as some of the effects on productivity.
Seventy-six respondents (15 per cent) expressed fear of losing their job or academic standing.
When asked whether or not the experience had been reported to a superior person, 360 respondents (73 per cent) responded in the negative and 129 (26 per cent) responded in the affirmative. Only 19 per cent of the 129 respondents who reported the conduct to their superiors received a positive response. While 24 per cent of these respondents indicated that their harassers were queried.
The Women’s Commissioner of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ms Evelyn Ampomah Nkansah in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said most tertiary institution in the country did not have a sexual harassment policy to address such sexual advances in schools.
According to her although some lecturers may be at fault, it could not be ruled out that some female students also indulged in the practise of ‘sex for grades’ because they did not want to learn.
According to her, such issues, when reported to the authorities, were normally dealt with as and when they happened without the schools having any proper or laid down guidelines to tackle them.
The Women’s Commissioner said so far many of such reports were informal as students who became victims were not bold enough to report to the school authorities for fear of being victimised in their examinations and therefore most of them suffer in silence.
As a way of helping to curb the issue, Ms Nkansah said her outfit undertook seminars and programmes on the various campuses to educate female students on their gender and reproductive rights, unsafe abortions among others to ensure that the young ladies were empowered to know their rights sexually.
Most of the tertiary institutions in the country do not have comprehensive policies on sexual harassment and this therefore makes it difficult for such situations to be handled professionally.
Also with the springing up of many diploma awarding institutions and private universities, the issue of sexual harassment has become more complex as it is difficult to track what goes on in all the institutions.
Speaking to some heads of faculties in some tertiary institutions, the general consensus was that they did not have separate laws to tackle sexual harassment but that laws on sexual harassment were captured in the schools general policies that dealt with other issues such as drug abuse, misconduct among other deviant behaviours.
A Human’s Right Activists and Lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur in a reaction to the UK survey findings said there was the need for tertiary institutions in the country to have separate policy guidelines on sexual harassment as the issue has become rampant.
According to her, the National Council on Tertiary Education which had oversight responsibility to tertiary education in the country, should come out with a law that would mandate all tertiary institutions to have separate policies on sexual harassment since the issue has become a pervasive one affecting most tertiary institutions in the country.
She said international practices had clear policies on sexual harassment which according to her were gender neutral and could be accessed by all.
She explained that the issue of sexual harassment in schools hads become one of power relations where the vulnerable ones had no alternative but to accept such proposals from their superiors.
“We need such policies to give victims the strength and courage to report without fearing for their academic performance”.
She said such a policy should have clear provisions on what constitute sexual harassment and how victims could report so that students who fell victims would be able to report to the school authority for the appropriate action to be taken.
Nana Oye said making a sexual harassment policy part of the general policy of an institution was not good enough and termed it as a “weak policy”, which according to her would not encourage students to report the conduct of their lecturers for fear of being failed or referred.
She reinforced the AWLA survey which said “the fact that very few women will report sexual harassment to the police or to an investigative or advocacy institution suggests that the profile of these institutions must be raised so that more people are aware that they may bring complaints to them. However, the ability of these institutions to deliver satisfactory responses to complainants must also be improved”.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ministry to set up database on human trafficking
Daily Graphic, Pg 14. Mon. Feb. 01/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A national database to record activities on human trafficking across the country is to be established by March, this year.
The project, which is being co-ordinated by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and the Rescue Foundation Ghana, is being supported with funding by the British High Commission in Accra.
The database, which will provide a comprehensive research on the phenomenon, will serve as a source of information on human trafficking for planning and implementation of projects aimed at combating human trafficking in the country.
To ensure an effective co-ordination and the gathering of data for the establishment of the database, an 18-member national steering committee, made up of individuals from both government and non-governmental agencies, has been inaugurated to oversee to the compilation of the database in the country.
The objective of the project, among others, is to identify relevant agencies in the area of trafficking in persons for effective collaboration and partnership, as well as to help design an effective referral system that will facilitate victim support and other interventions in tracking trafficking.
The target of the project is to gather information from stakeholders operating in the area of trafficking in persons.
Ghana enacted a Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) in 2005 to proscribe trafficking in persons activities, protect victims and punish perpetrators.
The country was recently graded from a Tier two to a Tier one watch level on a three Tier scale after the passage of the Act, by the Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the United States Department, an authoritative benchmark by institutions, practitioners and interested observers worldwide which assesses 173 countries.
The outgoing Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, who inaugurated the committee, called on Ghanaians to collaborate to ensure that the worrying trend of human trafficking especially among women and children for exploitative purposes, were eradicated from the country.
According to her, the current trend where some traffickers were issuing death treats to rescue officers should not be encouraged, saying that the entire society should help rescue and protect trafficked persons for rehabilitation.
She said MOWAC was committed to the cause for women and children and since these target groups bore the brunt of the phenomenon, “we owe ourselves that duty in creating a safe haven for women, children and the vulnerable in society”.
The First Secretary, Migration Policy, West Africa, of the British Embassy in Accra, Mr Andrew Flemning, said although the country had done a lot in ensuring that the issue of human trafficking was eradicated from the country, there was the need for a lot more to be done if it was to achieve a fully effective response in the area of trafficking in persons.
He called for stiffer punishment for offenders as one form of deterrent, saying that human trafficking was a high profit, low risk international crime which needed to be combated across the world.
The Executive Director of Rescue Foundation Ghana, Mrs Sylvia Hinson-Ekong, in an address said the data, which would be updated regularly, would gather information such as the mechanisms of recruitment, information on trafficking and their collaborators, number of victims, their age, where they come from and their sex, among others, to ensure that the issue was tackled effectively.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A national database to record activities on human trafficking across the country is to be established by March, this year.
The project, which is being co-ordinated by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and the Rescue Foundation Ghana, is being supported with funding by the British High Commission in Accra.
The database, which will provide a comprehensive research on the phenomenon, will serve as a source of information on human trafficking for planning and implementation of projects aimed at combating human trafficking in the country.
To ensure an effective co-ordination and the gathering of data for the establishment of the database, an 18-member national steering committee, made up of individuals from both government and non-governmental agencies, has been inaugurated to oversee to the compilation of the database in the country.
The objective of the project, among others, is to identify relevant agencies in the area of trafficking in persons for effective collaboration and partnership, as well as to help design an effective referral system that will facilitate victim support and other interventions in tracking trafficking.
The target of the project is to gather information from stakeholders operating in the area of trafficking in persons.
Ghana enacted a Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) in 2005 to proscribe trafficking in persons activities, protect victims and punish perpetrators.
The country was recently graded from a Tier two to a Tier one watch level on a three Tier scale after the passage of the Act, by the Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the United States Department, an authoritative benchmark by institutions, practitioners and interested observers worldwide which assesses 173 countries.
The outgoing Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, who inaugurated the committee, called on Ghanaians to collaborate to ensure that the worrying trend of human trafficking especially among women and children for exploitative purposes, were eradicated from the country.
According to her, the current trend where some traffickers were issuing death treats to rescue officers should not be encouraged, saying that the entire society should help rescue and protect trafficked persons for rehabilitation.
She said MOWAC was committed to the cause for women and children and since these target groups bore the brunt of the phenomenon, “we owe ourselves that duty in creating a safe haven for women, children and the vulnerable in society”.
The First Secretary, Migration Policy, West Africa, of the British Embassy in Accra, Mr Andrew Flemning, said although the country had done a lot in ensuring that the issue of human trafficking was eradicated from the country, there was the need for a lot more to be done if it was to achieve a fully effective response in the area of trafficking in persons.
He called for stiffer punishment for offenders as one form of deterrent, saying that human trafficking was a high profit, low risk international crime which needed to be combated across the world.
The Executive Director of Rescue Foundation Ghana, Mrs Sylvia Hinson-Ekong, in an address said the data, which would be updated regularly, would gather information such as the mechanisms of recruitment, information on trafficking and their collaborators, number of victims, their age, where they come from and their sex, among others, to ensure that the issue was tackled effectively.
Janet Mohammed wins 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. award
Daily Graphic, Pg. 11. Sat. Jan 30/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MANY women in various parts of the world and Ghana in particular continue to work hard daily to uplift the image of womanhood and society at large.
One such woman is Mrs Janet Adama Mohammed, who was recently awarded the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. award for Peace and Social Justice by the U.S Embassy.
In 2009, Mrs Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, was the proud recipient of the award, which is aimed at recognising Ghanaians who personify the philosophy and actions of Dr Martin Luther King Jr by helping to build a culture of peacemaking, dialogue and conflict resolution. It also honours activists who have promoted social justice, stability, human rights and peace through non-violent means.
Mrs Mohammed’s award was in recognition of her 20 years of work in peace building and emergency response to local and regional conflicts.
She is currently the Director, Human Rights and Democratisation Programme, IBIS West Africa , a Danish non-governmental organisation (NGO) in West Africa. She joined IBIS in 2006.
She holds a degree in Geography and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast, a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Extension, Rural Development from Reading University, UK, and a Post-graduate Qualifying Diploma in Management from the Institute of Professional Management Association, also in the UK.
She has provided leadership training in 19 African countries, UK, Jordan and Egypt and in 2006, she was selected by the American Embassy to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building.
Mrs Mohammed has devoted herself to the resolution of political and religious conflicts in Ghana's Northern Region by mobilising the youth, women, farmers, elders and chiefs to create a sustainable peace through dialogue and mutual understanding.
Following training she acquired as a process-oriented facilitator in an Inter Action Leadership Programme, Mrs Mohammed has encouraged recognition, appreciation, and communication among disparate groups to create and share hope and, by so doing, helped to bridge the gap among prison, immigration officials, the military, police, and security forces to improve their relationship in the communities they serve in the northern sector.
A native of Siniesa, near Sandama??? in the Upper East Region, Mrs Mohammed was raised in the Catholic faith. She married Prince Mohammed Mahama, a Muslim, and they have three children.
Mrs Mohammed said she started work as a high school tutor, teaching Geography in the Tamale Secondary School in Northern Ghana from 1987 to 1993.
“While a teacher, I took interest in the students at their individual levels to offer them hope and support them build confidence to make the best of their time in school. This was particularly so with the girls and I instituted the Moral Talk Sessions,” she said.
She later joined the Christian Council of Ghana in June 1993 as a training co-ordinator and later became the Director for the Northern Sector Office.
“Here I worked in the communities and built relevant relationships with colleagues in civil society organisations and NGOs, women’s groups, the youth and elders, religious bodies, both Christian and Islamic,” she said.
She also introduced the inter-faith dialogue for peaceful co-existence among the youth, women and elders, stressing that her favourite work was with school peace clubs, where the children gathered confidence to talk at the elders forums about peace through role plays, debate sessions, songs and poems.
She said during the 1994-95 conflict in the Northern Region, she joined the team of NGOs that searched and mobilised emergency support for the conflict victims, while advocating strategic government intervention. In addition to emergency response, she also worked to mobilise groups from communities to engage in conflict resolution.
According to Mrs Mohammed, an interesting part of her work was with the security forces, “whom we provided re-orientation to combine peacekeeping with peace-building. I have organised several peace-building training sessions to contribute to people’s capacities to engage themselves and others in peace building in the communities,”
To enable her gain additional impetus to her work, Mrs Mohammed said, “I learnt and shared knowledge from the British Council's InterAction Leadership Programme, which gave me another perspective to peace-building that creates hope and confidence in people in difficult situations”.
She also learnt different approaches to peace-building, community initiatives and social justice from the American State Visitor's Programme on Conflict Resolution in 2006.
She said the peace-building journey had not been an easy one, stressing that “sometimes I pause to ask myself if I was making any impact. And anytime there was a grim of success, it wiped off all my doubts and that energised me to continue to work harder”.
She thanked the organisations which gave her the opportunity to serve - the Christian Council of Ghana and IBIS West Africa. “Sometimes I did not belong to just one organisation but to platforms and coalitions, and yet my organisations continued to provide space and support for me to be able to perform. I am grateful to them,” she added.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MANY women in various parts of the world and Ghana in particular continue to work hard daily to uplift the image of womanhood and society at large.
One such woman is Mrs Janet Adama Mohammed, who was recently awarded the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. award for Peace and Social Justice by the U.S Embassy.
In 2009, Mrs Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, was the proud recipient of the award, which is aimed at recognising Ghanaians who personify the philosophy and actions of Dr Martin Luther King Jr by helping to build a culture of peacemaking, dialogue and conflict resolution. It also honours activists who have promoted social justice, stability, human rights and peace through non-violent means.
Mrs Mohammed’s award was in recognition of her 20 years of work in peace building and emergency response to local and regional conflicts.
She is currently the Director, Human Rights and Democratisation Programme, IBIS West Africa , a Danish non-governmental organisation (NGO) in West Africa. She joined IBIS in 2006.
She holds a degree in Geography and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast, a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Extension, Rural Development from Reading University, UK, and a Post-graduate Qualifying Diploma in Management from the Institute of Professional Management Association, also in the UK.
She has provided leadership training in 19 African countries, UK, Jordan and Egypt and in 2006, she was selected by the American Embassy to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building.
Mrs Mohammed has devoted herself to the resolution of political and religious conflicts in Ghana's Northern Region by mobilising the youth, women, farmers, elders and chiefs to create a sustainable peace through dialogue and mutual understanding.
Following training she acquired as a process-oriented facilitator in an Inter Action Leadership Programme, Mrs Mohammed has encouraged recognition, appreciation, and communication among disparate groups to create and share hope and, by so doing, helped to bridge the gap among prison, immigration officials, the military, police, and security forces to improve their relationship in the communities they serve in the northern sector.
A native of Siniesa, near Sandama??? in the Upper East Region, Mrs Mohammed was raised in the Catholic faith. She married Prince Mohammed Mahama, a Muslim, and they have three children.
Mrs Mohammed said she started work as a high school tutor, teaching Geography in the Tamale Secondary School in Northern Ghana from 1987 to 1993.
“While a teacher, I took interest in the students at their individual levels to offer them hope and support them build confidence to make the best of their time in school. This was particularly so with the girls and I instituted the Moral Talk Sessions,” she said.
She later joined the Christian Council of Ghana in June 1993 as a training co-ordinator and later became the Director for the Northern Sector Office.
“Here I worked in the communities and built relevant relationships with colleagues in civil society organisations and NGOs, women’s groups, the youth and elders, religious bodies, both Christian and Islamic,” she said.
She also introduced the inter-faith dialogue for peaceful co-existence among the youth, women and elders, stressing that her favourite work was with school peace clubs, where the children gathered confidence to talk at the elders forums about peace through role plays, debate sessions, songs and poems.
She said during the 1994-95 conflict in the Northern Region, she joined the team of NGOs that searched and mobilised emergency support for the conflict victims, while advocating strategic government intervention. In addition to emergency response, she also worked to mobilise groups from communities to engage in conflict resolution.
According to Mrs Mohammed, an interesting part of her work was with the security forces, “whom we provided re-orientation to combine peacekeeping with peace-building. I have organised several peace-building training sessions to contribute to people’s capacities to engage themselves and others in peace building in the communities,”
To enable her gain additional impetus to her work, Mrs Mohammed said, “I learnt and shared knowledge from the British Council's InterAction Leadership Programme, which gave me another perspective to peace-building that creates hope and confidence in people in difficult situations”.
She also learnt different approaches to peace-building, community initiatives and social justice from the American State Visitor's Programme on Conflict Resolution in 2006.
She said the peace-building journey had not been an easy one, stressing that “sometimes I pause to ask myself if I was making any impact. And anytime there was a grim of success, it wiped off all my doubts and that energised me to continue to work harder”.
She thanked the organisations which gave her the opportunity to serve - the Christian Council of Ghana and IBIS West Africa. “Sometimes I did not belong to just one organisation but to platforms and coalitions, and yet my organisations continued to provide space and support for me to be able to perform. I am grateful to them,” she added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)