Daily Graphic (front page) Monday, March 29/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE H1N1 flu, otherwise known as swine flu, does not seem to go away, with the Achimota Basic School being its latest victim.
Three cases of the H1N1 flu have compelled the authorities to close down the school for two weeks.
The Lincoln Community School in Accra was the first to have been hit by the swine flu in the latter part of last year. Since then, it has spread to the Okuapeman Senior High School in the Eastern Region, the Merton Primary in Accra and the Tema Parents School.
At the Achimota Basic School, students in the boarding house have been asked to stay at home until April 6, 2010 to allow for the fumigation of the school.
The Headmaster, Mr Frank Armah, told an Accra FM station that the school was closed down on the directive of the Director of Basic Education at the Ministry of Education, Mr Stephen Adu.
Pupils in the Primary and the Junior High School departments were sent home at the weekend after a test at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical and Research (NMIMR) had confirmed that three children had been infected with the swine flu.
The school had been deserted when the Daily Graphic visited the place on Sunday, with no sign of any primary or JHS student being around.
Only students of the senior high school could be seen around.
The news of the outbreak of the disease had been reported in the media as of March 24, 2010. However, the reports suggested that authorities of the school were trying to hush it, although they had brought in doctors to educate the pupils on the disease.
The Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate confirmed the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza early last week in an interview with a local FM station in Accra.
The Schedule Officer at the directorate, Mr O. Wula, at that time said the school was strictly monitoring events, even though the situation was not alarming.
Some parents who spoke to the station on condition of anonymity blamed the authorities of the Achimota School for trying to put a lid on the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza in the school.
The parents demanded that their children be released so that they (parents) could take them to their private doctors, since they suspected that the treatment being administered to them at the school might not be the best.
In an interview on the same network, a human rights advocate, Nana Oye Lithur, called for legal action to be taken against teachers of the school whom she accused of harbouring the children after the H1N1 influenza had been detected there.
According to her, parents had the right to know the health status of their children, yet when the disease was detected, school authorities did not inform the parents but rather brought in doctors to educate the children on the disease.
Nana Lithur said bringing in doctors to diagnose and educate the children was in the right direction but the authorities should have informed the children’s parents.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
AMAL Bank, Graphic to promote health
Daily Graphic (Spread) Saturday, March 27/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Amalgamated Bank Ltd (AmalBank) and the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) have expressed their willingness to cooperate in the areas of health promotion, education and business as part of their social responsibility programmes.
This was the outcome of a meeting between the management of the two companies held at the GCGL on Friday.
The Managing Director of AmalBank, Mr Menson C. D. Torkornoo, led a team of four management personnel to the meeting. The other members were the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Mr Hamis Ussif; the Head of Legal Services/ Company Secretary, Mr Godwyll Ansah; the Head of Human Capital, Ms Jocelyn Emma Ackon, and the Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Kobina Woode.
The Graphic team comprised the Managing Director, Mr Ibrahim Awal; the General Manager of Finance, Mr Baah Adade, and the Public Affairs Manager of GCGL, Mr Albert Sam.
Briefing the meeting on his bank, Mr Torkornoo said AmalBank was currently the number 12 among the 25 commercial banks in the country, adding that it was the determination of management to improve on the bank’s rating.
He was, therefore, optimistic that the collaboration between AmalBank and GCGL would help make the bank more visible and profitable.
He commended the GCGL for its role in informing and educating Ghanaians on important national and international issues.
Mr Torkornoo also commended the GCGL on its 60th anniversary, adding that Graphic had become synonymous with credibility within the media circles.
He said AmalBank, which was the first private Ghanaian bank in the country, so far had 19 branches in the country with three in Kumasi and said the bank aimed at opening more business offices in the country.
The MD of GCGL, Mr Awal, noted that the collaboration between the two banks would also help to improve the socio-economic conditions of people living in the catchment area of Graphic and AmalBank.
Mr Awal said GCGL would continue to provide the platform for Ghanaians of different backgrounds to contribute their quota to national development.
According to him, GCGL had come a long way since its establishment 60 years ago and its interest apart from growing its business was to help in the development of the country.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Amalgamated Bank Ltd (AmalBank) and the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) have expressed their willingness to cooperate in the areas of health promotion, education and business as part of their social responsibility programmes.
This was the outcome of a meeting between the management of the two companies held at the GCGL on Friday.
The Managing Director of AmalBank, Mr Menson C. D. Torkornoo, led a team of four management personnel to the meeting. The other members were the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Mr Hamis Ussif; the Head of Legal Services/ Company Secretary, Mr Godwyll Ansah; the Head of Human Capital, Ms Jocelyn Emma Ackon, and the Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Kobina Woode.
The Graphic team comprised the Managing Director, Mr Ibrahim Awal; the General Manager of Finance, Mr Baah Adade, and the Public Affairs Manager of GCGL, Mr Albert Sam.
Briefing the meeting on his bank, Mr Torkornoo said AmalBank was currently the number 12 among the 25 commercial banks in the country, adding that it was the determination of management to improve on the bank’s rating.
He was, therefore, optimistic that the collaboration between AmalBank and GCGL would help make the bank more visible and profitable.
He commended the GCGL for its role in informing and educating Ghanaians on important national and international issues.
Mr Torkornoo also commended the GCGL on its 60th anniversary, adding that Graphic had become synonymous with credibility within the media circles.
He said AmalBank, which was the first private Ghanaian bank in the country, so far had 19 branches in the country with three in Kumasi and said the bank aimed at opening more business offices in the country.
The MD of GCGL, Mr Awal, noted that the collaboration between the two banks would also help to improve the socio-economic conditions of people living in the catchment area of Graphic and AmalBank.
Mr Awal said GCGL would continue to provide the platform for Ghanaians of different backgrounds to contribute their quota to national development.
According to him, GCGL had come a long way since its establishment 60 years ago and its interest apart from growing its business was to help in the development of the country.
MP urges Prez Mills to be in firm control
Daily Graphic, (Pg. 15), Friday, March 26/10
Story:Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Member of Parliament (MPs) for Akyem Oda, Mr Yaw Owusu Boateng, has challenged President J.E.A. Mills to be in firm control of his government in order to meet the development targets of the country, as well as fulfil the NDC campaign manifesto pledges.
“Judging from the way things are moving in the country, the President, Prof. John Evans Ata Mills, does not seem to be in control of his government and this does not augur well for the progress of the nation,” the MP told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
From security to the economy, governance and education among others issues, the MP was of the view that there were visible problems which when not checked would hold back the clock of progress and the country’s development agenda.
The MP said recent happenings on the security front showed that the general security of the country was threatened, saying, “There are warning signals such as the Akwatia mayhem which preceded the bye-election in 2009, skirmishes at the Cheriponi bye-elections, the Techimanhene-Asantehene-Tuobodom issue, among other chieftaincy and land issues such as the ones at Garizhegu in the Tamale North Constituency of the Northern Region and Danchira, near Weija in the Greater Accra Region.”
Armed robbery, he said, was also on the ascendancy, as people, including MPs, had for some time now been burgled in succession.
Robbers, the MP noted, were having a field day putting the general security of the country in jeopardy.
He said people were not secured in their daily lives, intimating that “in terms of security things are not working”.
He described the state of the country as being lawless as there is a lot of indisciplined behaviour in almost every sector of the economy.
He said what was worrying of late was the general indisciplined attitudes of some NDC party members who went about ceasing toilets and cars because their party was in power.
On the economy, Mr Boateng wondered why the government was wasting money in going round to get people’s views on how the revenue from the oil find was to be used.
According to him, in his state of the nations address to Parliament this year, President Mills stated that he wanted to leave a legacy by investing in industries and therefore sorting public views was just a window dressing as the President had already made up his mind on how he was going to utilise the revenues.
Mr Boateng, who does not favour the Presidents plans of investing in industries, said public investment in industrialisation from history had neither worked for the country nor many other countries across the world.
Alternatively, he said, the government could invest outside the country where the profit gained could be used in boosting infrastructures such as schools and roads.
On the issue of governance, he said the country had a problem in that area especially with the government’s decision to implement the Representation of People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL) which was passed by the previous administration but was opposed by the current government.
He said the way out was for the government to introduce biometric voting by ensuring that the Electoral Commission was supported to embark on voter education with support from the political parties.
On the educational front, Mr Boateng said the educational system in the country had become problematic, saying that although most experts in education and educationalists believed in a four-year curricula, the present government was burnt on changing the system just because it was in its manifesto to implement a three-year educational system.
Changing the curricula, he said, disturbed the children, as well as their parents, teachers and society at large.
All these happenings, he said, pointed to the fact that things were not going on well although the government claimed things were moving in the right direction, adding that the government should seriously deal with the problems facing the country else it would not meet her development targets.
Story:Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Member of Parliament (MPs) for Akyem Oda, Mr Yaw Owusu Boateng, has challenged President J.E.A. Mills to be in firm control of his government in order to meet the development targets of the country, as well as fulfil the NDC campaign manifesto pledges.
“Judging from the way things are moving in the country, the President, Prof. John Evans Ata Mills, does not seem to be in control of his government and this does not augur well for the progress of the nation,” the MP told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday.
From security to the economy, governance and education among others issues, the MP was of the view that there were visible problems which when not checked would hold back the clock of progress and the country’s development agenda.
The MP said recent happenings on the security front showed that the general security of the country was threatened, saying, “There are warning signals such as the Akwatia mayhem which preceded the bye-election in 2009, skirmishes at the Cheriponi bye-elections, the Techimanhene-Asantehene-Tuobodom issue, among other chieftaincy and land issues such as the ones at Garizhegu in the Tamale North Constituency of the Northern Region and Danchira, near Weija in the Greater Accra Region.”
Armed robbery, he said, was also on the ascendancy, as people, including MPs, had for some time now been burgled in succession.
Robbers, the MP noted, were having a field day putting the general security of the country in jeopardy.
He said people were not secured in their daily lives, intimating that “in terms of security things are not working”.
He described the state of the country as being lawless as there is a lot of indisciplined behaviour in almost every sector of the economy.
He said what was worrying of late was the general indisciplined attitudes of some NDC party members who went about ceasing toilets and cars because their party was in power.
On the economy, Mr Boateng wondered why the government was wasting money in going round to get people’s views on how the revenue from the oil find was to be used.
According to him, in his state of the nations address to Parliament this year, President Mills stated that he wanted to leave a legacy by investing in industries and therefore sorting public views was just a window dressing as the President had already made up his mind on how he was going to utilise the revenues.
Mr Boateng, who does not favour the Presidents plans of investing in industries, said public investment in industrialisation from history had neither worked for the country nor many other countries across the world.
Alternatively, he said, the government could invest outside the country where the profit gained could be used in boosting infrastructures such as schools and roads.
On the issue of governance, he said the country had a problem in that area especially with the government’s decision to implement the Representation of People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL) which was passed by the previous administration but was opposed by the current government.
He said the way out was for the government to introduce biometric voting by ensuring that the Electoral Commission was supported to embark on voter education with support from the political parties.
On the educational front, Mr Boateng said the educational system in the country had become problematic, saying that although most experts in education and educationalists believed in a four-year curricula, the present government was burnt on changing the system just because it was in its manifesto to implement a three-year educational system.
Changing the curricula, he said, disturbed the children, as well as their parents, teachers and society at large.
All these happenings, he said, pointed to the fact that things were not going on well although the government claimed things were moving in the right direction, adding that the government should seriously deal with the problems facing the country else it would not meet her development targets.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Datakids crèche inaugurated
Daily Graphic, Pg 11. Tues. March 23/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MOST nursing mothers, after their maternity leave, find it difficult adjusting to their normal work schedules, since they have to leave their babies in the care of grandparents, other relatives or nannies.
This makes the transition back to work after maternity leave very frustrating and unpleasant, most especially for mothers who are not comfortable with the people they leave their babies with.
Some are forced to take their babies to the crèche at an early age and this also puts the babies at risk of contracting various infections and diseases.
Although most workers relish the idea of a crèche in their offices where they can take their babies and drop in intermittently to either breast-feed or check on them, not many see the idea as materialising in their companies.
The staff of Databank Financial Services in Accra are, however, lucky to have a crèche to cater for the needs of nursing mothers who resume work after their maternity leave.
Built by the management of the bank, the Datakids Crèche, which started operating in September last year, is being manned by a retired nursing officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, Captain Nana Adams (retd), and three supporting crèche tutors.
Presently, the crèche has 14 children, made up of eight toddlers aged between eight months and two years and four pupils who drop in to wait for their parents after they close from school.
Interestingly, at the Datakids Crèche, not only mothers who work at the bank drop in their babies but also fathers whose wives work in other companies where the facility is non-existent also drop in their babies to enable their mothers to have their peace of mind at their various workplaces.
The Datakids Crèche is fitted with a kitchenette and a washroom and the babies are fed with food which their parents pack for them and they are bathed whenever necessary and also just before they are picked up.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Databank, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who was at the opening ceremony of the Datakids Crèche, said the project was one of the Databank’s means of ensuring that its workers worked in a comfortable environment.
He said the need for the crèche became necessary when the company realised that it was necessary to meet the needs of its staff to boost productivity.
According to him, the establishment of the crèche within the premises of the company would help attain that objective, since nursing mothers would have the peace of mind to work.
He said if all companies began to put the interest of their employees’ children at the centre of their businesses, the country would begin to cherish its children and that would help make the work of women easier.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration at Databank, Mrs Felicia Gyamfi Ashley, said the company also offered a week’s paternity leave for men whose wives were delivered of babies, saying that enabled the fathers to offer their wives the needed services within the period.
She said Databank had the interest of the family at heart and that in celebrating 20 years of its existence, it saw the crèche as a more appropriate opportunity to cater for the interest of nursing mothers who were staff of the company.
The Crèche Mother, Captain Nana Adams (retd), said with her expertise as a former nursing officer, she was able to offer relevant advice to the young mothers and fathers who brought their children to the crèche, as well as ensure that they were properly taken care of.
She said the Datakids Crèche admitted children from birth to six years when they were ready to be integrated into the formal school system.
A father whose baby has, since the start of the crèche, been benefiting from services provided by the centre, said the facility had been a blessing to him and his wife who also worked in another bank.
The father, Mr Emmanuel Quarm, said his wife had to start work a month after delivery and putting the baby in the crèche had been more of a blessing than they had expected.
According to him, he now worked with a free mind, since he did not have to think of the safety or otherwise of his baby.
Mrs Sophia Quarm said the crèche could not have been established at a better time.
She said the place had been of tremendous help to her as a new mother, since she also learnt a lot from the Crèche Mother.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MOST nursing mothers, after their maternity leave, find it difficult adjusting to their normal work schedules, since they have to leave their babies in the care of grandparents, other relatives or nannies.
This makes the transition back to work after maternity leave very frustrating and unpleasant, most especially for mothers who are not comfortable with the people they leave their babies with.
Some are forced to take their babies to the crèche at an early age and this also puts the babies at risk of contracting various infections and diseases.
Although most workers relish the idea of a crèche in their offices where they can take their babies and drop in intermittently to either breast-feed or check on them, not many see the idea as materialising in their companies.
The staff of Databank Financial Services in Accra are, however, lucky to have a crèche to cater for the needs of nursing mothers who resume work after their maternity leave.
Built by the management of the bank, the Datakids Crèche, which started operating in September last year, is being manned by a retired nursing officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, Captain Nana Adams (retd), and three supporting crèche tutors.
Presently, the crèche has 14 children, made up of eight toddlers aged between eight months and two years and four pupils who drop in to wait for their parents after they close from school.
Interestingly, at the Datakids Crèche, not only mothers who work at the bank drop in their babies but also fathers whose wives work in other companies where the facility is non-existent also drop in their babies to enable their mothers to have their peace of mind at their various workplaces.
The Datakids Crèche is fitted with a kitchenette and a washroom and the babies are fed with food which their parents pack for them and they are bathed whenever necessary and also just before they are picked up.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Databank, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who was at the opening ceremony of the Datakids Crèche, said the project was one of the Databank’s means of ensuring that its workers worked in a comfortable environment.
He said the need for the crèche became necessary when the company realised that it was necessary to meet the needs of its staff to boost productivity.
According to him, the establishment of the crèche within the premises of the company would help attain that objective, since nursing mothers would have the peace of mind to work.
He said if all companies began to put the interest of their employees’ children at the centre of their businesses, the country would begin to cherish its children and that would help make the work of women easier.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration at Databank, Mrs Felicia Gyamfi Ashley, said the company also offered a week’s paternity leave for men whose wives were delivered of babies, saying that enabled the fathers to offer their wives the needed services within the period.
She said Databank had the interest of the family at heart and that in celebrating 20 years of its existence, it saw the crèche as a more appropriate opportunity to cater for the interest of nursing mothers who were staff of the company.
The Crèche Mother, Captain Nana Adams (retd), said with her expertise as a former nursing officer, she was able to offer relevant advice to the young mothers and fathers who brought their children to the crèche, as well as ensure that they were properly taken care of.
She said the Datakids Crèche admitted children from birth to six years when they were ready to be integrated into the formal school system.
A father whose baby has, since the start of the crèche, been benefiting from services provided by the centre, said the facility had been a blessing to him and his wife who also worked in another bank.
The father, Mr Emmanuel Quarm, said his wife had to start work a month after delivery and putting the baby in the crèche had been more of a blessing than they had expected.
According to him, he now worked with a free mind, since he did not have to think of the safety or otherwise of his baby.
Mrs Sophia Quarm said the crèche could not have been established at a better time.
She said the place had been of tremendous help to her as a new mother, since she also learnt a lot from the Crèche Mother.
GIWC commended for its charitable work
Daily Graphic, Pg 11. Sat. March 20/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, has commended the Ghana International Women’s Club (GIWC) for helping to better the lives of a number of less privileged women in the country.
Speaking at a fund raising and tea party organised by the group in Accra for its members, the minister lauded the club for undertaking various projects in parts of the country to make life more meaningful for women and children.
She called on other women groups in the country to help deprived women progress in live.
She said the government was trying to accelerate development in the three northern regions, and called on private individuals to channel their projects to that part of the country to benefit more women and children.
The President of the club, Mrs Nagwa Katta, said the club had funded over three hundred projects in parts of the country, adding that it was aiming at undertaking more development projects that would better the lives of more women in the country.
She said after 30 years of service in the country, the club, which was made up of women from different nations residing in Ghana, would continue to initiate projects in deprived communities in the country, and called for more support to enable the club to attain its objectives.
The Project Chairperson of the GIWC, Mrs Florence Frimpong, mentioned the Autism Centre in Accra, the Orthopaedic Centre at Nsawam, the Breeches Day Care Centre, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and the Okuapeman School, as some of the places where the club’s projects are located. She also said others were the Dzorwulu Special School, the Osu Library, the Sesami Women’s Group in the Brong Ahafo Region and a farming project for the Navrongo Women’s Group.
She said in 2008, the club raised $30,000 to fund over 170 cataract operations for some less deprived people.
Currently she said the club was aiming at providing beds for the Obstetric Unit of the Ridge Hospital.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, has commended the Ghana International Women’s Club (GIWC) for helping to better the lives of a number of less privileged women in the country.
Speaking at a fund raising and tea party organised by the group in Accra for its members, the minister lauded the club for undertaking various projects in parts of the country to make life more meaningful for women and children.
She called on other women groups in the country to help deprived women progress in live.
She said the government was trying to accelerate development in the three northern regions, and called on private individuals to channel their projects to that part of the country to benefit more women and children.
The President of the club, Mrs Nagwa Katta, said the club had funded over three hundred projects in parts of the country, adding that it was aiming at undertaking more development projects that would better the lives of more women in the country.
She said after 30 years of service in the country, the club, which was made up of women from different nations residing in Ghana, would continue to initiate projects in deprived communities in the country, and called for more support to enable the club to attain its objectives.
The Project Chairperson of the GIWC, Mrs Florence Frimpong, mentioned the Autism Centre in Accra, the Orthopaedic Centre at Nsawam, the Breeches Day Care Centre, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and the Okuapeman School, as some of the places where the club’s projects are located. She also said others were the Dzorwulu Special School, the Osu Library, the Sesami Women’s Group in the Brong Ahafo Region and a farming project for the Navrongo Women’s Group.
She said in 2008, the club raised $30,000 to fund over 170 cataract operations for some less deprived people.
Currently she said the club was aiming at providing beds for the Obstetric Unit of the Ridge Hospital.
Friday, March 19, 2010
ECOWAS meets on climate change
Daily Graphic (spread)Fri. March 19/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MINISTERS of Environment from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Accra yesterday to adopt and validate a sub-regional programme of action to reduce the negative impact of climate change in the sub-region.
Dubbed, “Programme of Strategic Guidelines on Reduction of Vulnerability to Climate Change in West Africa”, the document is intended to serve as guidelines for countries within the sub-region.
The document was drafted during a meeting of technical committee of experts in agriculture, environment and water resources in conformity with the decision of the Summit of Heads of State and Government held in February in Abuja.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, said climate change was real and its impact was devastating.
She said climate change was affecting the major drivers of the country’s economy including agriculture, industry and infrastructure.
Ms Ayittey said climate change impacts had the greatest potential to undermine significant components of existing economic and social infrastructure, adding that current changes already threatened to undermine progress made towards the achievement of development goals.
She said adapting to climate change and building climate-resilient economies were a must and there was the urgent need to transition towards a sub-regional green low-emissions economies now.
For his part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Ousseini Salifou said the issue of climate change was of great concern due to its effects on human life, animals and plants.
He said climate change was one of the worst impediments to the promotion of sustainable development, achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and poverty reduction.
According to him, experts had predicted that the West African sub-region would be one of the worst affected by climate change and might probably have the most negative impact.
He said a clear reduction of vulnerability to climate change for the natural, economic and social systems in the sub-region would necessitate production of scientific knowledge and technical innovations, as well as reforms of current policies and habits.
Mr Salifou called for the voluntary adoption of a management system marked by great anticipation capacity in order to significantly achieve effective reduction of vulnerability of the natural systems.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
MINISTERS of Environment from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Accra yesterday to adopt and validate a sub-regional programme of action to reduce the negative impact of climate change in the sub-region.
Dubbed, “Programme of Strategic Guidelines on Reduction of Vulnerability to Climate Change in West Africa”, the document is intended to serve as guidelines for countries within the sub-region.
The document was drafted during a meeting of technical committee of experts in agriculture, environment and water resources in conformity with the decision of the Summit of Heads of State and Government held in February in Abuja.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, said climate change was real and its impact was devastating.
She said climate change was affecting the major drivers of the country’s economy including agriculture, industry and infrastructure.
Ms Ayittey said climate change impacts had the greatest potential to undermine significant components of existing economic and social infrastructure, adding that current changes already threatened to undermine progress made towards the achievement of development goals.
She said adapting to climate change and building climate-resilient economies were a must and there was the urgent need to transition towards a sub-regional green low-emissions economies now.
For his part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Ousseini Salifou said the issue of climate change was of great concern due to its effects on human life, animals and plants.
He said climate change was one of the worst impediments to the promotion of sustainable development, achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and poverty reduction.
According to him, experts had predicted that the West African sub-region would be one of the worst affected by climate change and might probably have the most negative impact.
He said a clear reduction of vulnerability to climate change for the natural, economic and social systems in the sub-region would necessitate production of scientific knowledge and technical innovations, as well as reforms of current policies and habits.
Mr Salifou called for the voluntary adoption of a management system marked by great anticipation capacity in order to significantly achieve effective reduction of vulnerability of the natural systems.
October set for census date
Daily Graphic (Back Page), Friday, March 19/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE date for the conduct of the National Population Census has now been tentatively fixed for October 26, this year.
The National Census Steering Committee is said to have fixed the date for the last quarter of the year but it is waiting for a confirmation from Cabinet.
According to a source at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the date was fixed after the committee had deliberated with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders to ensure that the date was convenient to all.
The census, which will be undertaken by 36,000 enumerators and 9,000 supervisors, mostly made up of teachers, will be conducted within a period of two weeks.
The 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place this month, was delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from the trial census organised in November last year.
Ghana normally organises its national census, which captures the data of every person living within the borders of the country at census night, in or around March every 10 years but this year’s census delayed due to other factors, such as the commencement of the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup.
According to experts, such major events could affect the seriousness of the census programme.
According to the source, three new areas on agriculture, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and disability will be introduced into this year’s questionnaire.
The new areas will be introduced alongside some of the normal questions on age, fertility, religious affiliation, as well as educational and economic characteristics of people.
This year’s census will also capture all housing structures, including kiosks, mosques, churches and school buildings in the country.
The Census Secretariat estimates to capture about 25 million people who will be residing within the country on the day of the census.
At a press conference organised in January this year, the Minister of Finance, who is the Chairman of the National Census Steering Committee, said the government was sourcing additional funds from the private sector and developing partners to finance the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
He said the country needed more than US$49 million to organise the census, noting that as of January this year, it had set aside GH¢37 million towards the implementation of the census programme.
The minister, at the press conference, commended the country’s development partners, such as the UNFPA, the DFID, the UNDP, DANIDA, UNICEF, the Swiss government and the People’s Republic of China, for their contribution and pledges, which amounted to US$5 million.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE date for the conduct of the National Population Census has now been tentatively fixed for October 26, this year.
The National Census Steering Committee is said to have fixed the date for the last quarter of the year but it is waiting for a confirmation from Cabinet.
According to a source at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the date was fixed after the committee had deliberated with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders to ensure that the date was convenient to all.
The census, which will be undertaken by 36,000 enumerators and 9,000 supervisors, mostly made up of teachers, will be conducted within a period of two weeks.
The 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place this month, was delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from the trial census organised in November last year.
Ghana normally organises its national census, which captures the data of every person living within the borders of the country at census night, in or around March every 10 years but this year’s census delayed due to other factors, such as the commencement of the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup.
According to experts, such major events could affect the seriousness of the census programme.
According to the source, three new areas on agriculture, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and disability will be introduced into this year’s questionnaire.
The new areas will be introduced alongside some of the normal questions on age, fertility, religious affiliation, as well as educational and economic characteristics of people.
This year’s census will also capture all housing structures, including kiosks, mosques, churches and school buildings in the country.
The Census Secretariat estimates to capture about 25 million people who will be residing within the country on the day of the census.
At a press conference organised in January this year, the Minister of Finance, who is the Chairman of the National Census Steering Committee, said the government was sourcing additional funds from the private sector and developing partners to finance the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
He said the country needed more than US$49 million to organise the census, noting that as of January this year, it had set aside GH¢37 million towards the implementation of the census programme.
The minister, at the press conference, commended the country’s development partners, such as the UNFPA, the DFID, the UNDP, DANIDA, UNICEF, the Swiss government and the People’s Republic of China, for their contribution and pledges, which amounted to US$5 million.
Ghana, B. Faso, Mali sign €133.1m energy pact
Daily Graphic,(Back page) Thurs. March 18/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
GHANA, Burkina-Faso and Mali yesterday signed onto a €133.1 million energy interconnection project to link the three countries.
The 742-kilometre project will transfer an initial 130 megawatts of energy from Han in Ghana, to Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Fasso and Sikasso and Bamako, both in Mali.
The project, expected to be completed within 45 months, will be financed by the three countries and will be facilitated by the West African Power Pool (WAPP) Secretariat.
A communiqué that will commit the three countries to the project was signed by the ministers of energy from the three countries in Accra yesterday.
Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, who represented the sector minister, said the natural gas from Ghana’s oil find would constitute the critical fuel for the power generation.
He said presently, a 330kV Coastal Backbone Project, being financed partly by the Korean government, was under construction at the Aboadze-Prestea-Kumasi Transmission Line, to help address the country’s serious transmission capacity inadequacies.
Alhaji Fuseini said the backbone project would form part of the planned infrastructure required for the operation of the proposed West Africa grid network being undertaken by the three countries.
He said the network in the northern part of the country was being strengthened with the construction of a 161kV transmission line linking Tumu, Han and Wa and explained that the project, scheduled for completion by the close of 2013, would tie into the Ghana-Burkina Faso-Mali interconnection project.
He said the generation of power from Ghana’s oil production would help to give a predictable and sustainable energy price for all in the sub-region.
He called on the various utility companies in the three countries to develop common technical standards that would ensure that the systems put in place operated on common standards.
The Secretary-General of WAPP, Mr Amadu Diallo, in an address said the project, which had minimal environmental and social impact, had been approved by the various environmental protection agencies in the three countries.
He said WAPP, after the adoption of the document, would commence with the preparation of bidding documents, mobilisation of funding, as well as a supplementary work to establish an institutional framework.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
GHANA, Burkina-Faso and Mali yesterday signed onto a €133.1 million energy interconnection project to link the three countries.
The 742-kilometre project will transfer an initial 130 megawatts of energy from Han in Ghana, to Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Fasso and Sikasso and Bamako, both in Mali.
The project, expected to be completed within 45 months, will be financed by the three countries and will be facilitated by the West African Power Pool (WAPP) Secretariat.
A communiqué that will commit the three countries to the project was signed by the ministers of energy from the three countries in Accra yesterday.
Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, who represented the sector minister, said the natural gas from Ghana’s oil find would constitute the critical fuel for the power generation.
He said presently, a 330kV Coastal Backbone Project, being financed partly by the Korean government, was under construction at the Aboadze-Prestea-Kumasi Transmission Line, to help address the country’s serious transmission capacity inadequacies.
Alhaji Fuseini said the backbone project would form part of the planned infrastructure required for the operation of the proposed West Africa grid network being undertaken by the three countries.
He said the network in the northern part of the country was being strengthened with the construction of a 161kV transmission line linking Tumu, Han and Wa and explained that the project, scheduled for completion by the close of 2013, would tie into the Ghana-Burkina Faso-Mali interconnection project.
He said the generation of power from Ghana’s oil production would help to give a predictable and sustainable energy price for all in the sub-region.
He called on the various utility companies in the three countries to develop common technical standards that would ensure that the systems put in place operated on common standards.
The Secretary-General of WAPP, Mr Amadu Diallo, in an address said the project, which had minimal environmental and social impact, had been approved by the various environmental protection agencies in the three countries.
He said WAPP, after the adoption of the document, would commence with the preparation of bidding documents, mobilisation of funding, as well as a supplementary work to establish an institutional framework.
Give women quality health services
Daily Graphic, Pg. 11 Thurs. March 18/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
UNSAFE abortion is defined as a procedure for termination of unwanted pregnancies either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards or both.
Health experts say the problem accounts for the country’s high maternal mortality rate, with unsafe abortions accounting for 11 per cent of the country’s maternal mortality rate.
Factors, including harmful socio-cultural practices such as trokosi, widowhood rites, female genital circumcision, women branded as witches, child marriages, stigmatisation of the disabled, among others, work against reducing maternal mortality in the country.
To halt all these negative cultural practises, Ghana has ratified a number of international convention relevant to the realisation of women’s reproductive rights such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, among others.
Also, the government has put in place a lot of domestic legislation and policy frameworks, including the Children’s Act, the National Health Insurance Act, Reproductive Health Policy, Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy, Matrimonial Causes Act, Criminal Code and the Domestic Violence Act to ensure that women make free and informed decisions about issues that affect their reproductive and sexual lives without any fear of coercion, violence or discrimination.
According to a Gynaecologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Ali Samba, most women abort unwanted pregnancies because family planning services are not accessible or affordable.
Dr Samba, who was making a presentation on “Saving women’s lives: The situation of maternal mortality in Ghana and the interventions to address maternal mortality” at a seminar in Accra, said most women in the country ended up having unsafe abortions due to the restrictive abortion laws and policies in the country.
The seminar was organised by the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) and the Reducing Maternal Mortality and Mobidity (R3M) Programme in Accra recently on the theme “Saving the organ of creation”. It was aimed at educating students of the University of Ghana, Legon, as part of an advocacy activity aimed at enlightening the students on their reproductive rights.
Partnered by the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), the seminar also provided a platform for the students to come out on how the economic, social and cultural practices within the country contribute to protecting their reproductive rights.
Dr Samba reiterated his call to make family planning services free, saying women who could not afford the service would rather opt for the free antenatal care services, which were currently being offered in public hospitals as opposed to paying for contraceptive or family planning services.
Nana Oye Lithur, Director of the HRAC, in a presentation, said although abortion, to some extent, was criminal in the country, women rarely reported cases of abortion, neither were they prosecuted for them.
She said between 2002 and 2006, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded 89 attempted cases of abortion. The same outfit, she said, also recorded 69 cases of abortions within the same period.
According to her, in all circumstances in which abortion is permitted by law, that is when the pregnancy is the result of rape and when the pregnancy poses danger to the health of the pregnant woman, it should be safe, saying that in all cases, women should have access to quality services for the management of complications arising from abortions.
She said the law on abortion in Ghana was stated in the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) Section 58 and 59. She pointed out that although there was no legislative instrument (LI) to back the law, the Ghana Health Service had developed standards and protocols for the prevention and management of unsafe abortion and comprehensive abortion care.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
UNSAFE abortion is defined as a procedure for termination of unwanted pregnancies either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards or both.
Health experts say the problem accounts for the country’s high maternal mortality rate, with unsafe abortions accounting for 11 per cent of the country’s maternal mortality rate.
Factors, including harmful socio-cultural practices such as trokosi, widowhood rites, female genital circumcision, women branded as witches, child marriages, stigmatisation of the disabled, among others, work against reducing maternal mortality in the country.
To halt all these negative cultural practises, Ghana has ratified a number of international convention relevant to the realisation of women’s reproductive rights such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, among others.
Also, the government has put in place a lot of domestic legislation and policy frameworks, including the Children’s Act, the National Health Insurance Act, Reproductive Health Policy, Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy, Matrimonial Causes Act, Criminal Code and the Domestic Violence Act to ensure that women make free and informed decisions about issues that affect their reproductive and sexual lives without any fear of coercion, violence or discrimination.
According to a Gynaecologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Ali Samba, most women abort unwanted pregnancies because family planning services are not accessible or affordable.
Dr Samba, who was making a presentation on “Saving women’s lives: The situation of maternal mortality in Ghana and the interventions to address maternal mortality” at a seminar in Accra, said most women in the country ended up having unsafe abortions due to the restrictive abortion laws and policies in the country.
The seminar was organised by the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) and the Reducing Maternal Mortality and Mobidity (R3M) Programme in Accra recently on the theme “Saving the organ of creation”. It was aimed at educating students of the University of Ghana, Legon, as part of an advocacy activity aimed at enlightening the students on their reproductive rights.
Partnered by the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), the seminar also provided a platform for the students to come out on how the economic, social and cultural practices within the country contribute to protecting their reproductive rights.
Dr Samba reiterated his call to make family planning services free, saying women who could not afford the service would rather opt for the free antenatal care services, which were currently being offered in public hospitals as opposed to paying for contraceptive or family planning services.
Nana Oye Lithur, Director of the HRAC, in a presentation, said although abortion, to some extent, was criminal in the country, women rarely reported cases of abortion, neither were they prosecuted for them.
She said between 2002 and 2006, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded 89 attempted cases of abortion. The same outfit, she said, also recorded 69 cases of abortions within the same period.
According to her, in all circumstances in which abortion is permitted by law, that is when the pregnancy is the result of rape and when the pregnancy poses danger to the health of the pregnant woman, it should be safe, saying that in all cases, women should have access to quality services for the management of complications arising from abortions.
She said the law on abortion in Ghana was stated in the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) Section 58 and 59. She pointed out that although there was no legislative instrument (LI) to back the law, the Ghana Health Service had developed standards and protocols for the prevention and management of unsafe abortion and comprehensive abortion care.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
ECOWAS to adopt policy on climate change
Daily Graphic (spread) Tuesday, March 16/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
AN ECOWAS ministerial meeting on the adoption of a climate change policy for West Africa opened in Accra yesterday, with an assurance by the Ghana government to pursue measures to reduce the environmental consequences of oil production to the barest minimum.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, who gave the assurance, said the government would use appropriate technologies to ensure that carbon emissions and other dangerous greenhouse gases that would be emitted during oil production and processing were captured and stored.
The two-day meeting is expected to adopt a sub-regional document on climate change policy for West Africa.
The minister said with the production of oil, the country would move from being a low to a high carbon emitter, hence the need to take measures to ensure that appropriate environmental management and safety standards were taken.
“Currently, my government has mandated the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a strategic environmental impact assessment of the entire oil production to advise the government on the relevant steps it needed to take to address the adverse effects of oil production on our economy, culture and, above all, our environment," she stated.
Ms Ayitey underscored the need for the sub-regional leaders and policy makers to make reducing the impact of climate change a topmost priority, saying that with the observed trend and projected increases in temperatures and the concomitant decrease in rainfall in all ecological zones, it was certain that water resources and hydro-power production would be seriously affected.
She said climate change was bound to worsen health conditions because it would lead to the incidence of water, air and food-borne diseases.
She said the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December last year did not deliver the fair, equitable and just outcome that was expected by all, adding that African countries would continue to call for a reduction in emissions from developed countries.
Ms Ayittey urged the participants to come up with an effective document, saying that the sub-region must have a broad framework to address all the issues.
For his part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Ousseini Salifou, said the meeting was aimed at coming up with a tangible strategy that would enable the sub-region to deal effectively with the issue of climate change.
He said the document, when finalised, would become a pillar and vital tool to deal with various mitigation measures to combat climate change.
He said Africa was united at the Copenhagen summit and that regional leaders would ensure that they continued to present issues with one voice.
He said ECOWAS would continue to support and contribute its quota to ensure that the sub-region experienced minimal effects of climate change.
Mr Salifou gave the assurance that ECOWAS would work closely with relevant agencies and bodies to help find solutions to the negative effects of climate change.
In a related development, African civil society groups yesterday began a four-day meeting in Accra to seek a solution to climate change and protect the continent’s interest in climate matters, reports Mark-Anthony Vinorkor.
Mindful of the fact that climate change is the defining human development and security issue of this generation and that millions of Africans are being forced to cope with the impact of climate change, the organisations are meeting to discuss ways to combine efforts to deal with the problem.
The conference is being organised and sponsored by Friends of the Earth, Ghana.
Ms Ayittey, in a speech read on her behalf, observed that civil society organisations (CSOs) were closer to the grass roots, lived and worked among local populations and so they were in a very good position to bring out the voices from the ground.
She said the ministry considered CSOs as key stakeholders in environmental management in the country working from all levels of policy making, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
To that effect, she said, the membership of the national Climate Change Committee included non-governmental organisations.
Ms Ayittey noted that a successful outcome from the Copenhagen meeting on climate change would have been deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and adequate funds to address climate change in developing countries, but the summit did not deliver that directly.
“Copenhagen, therefore, fell short of the expectations of many developing countries,” she added.
She said developing countries bore little responsibility for causing the climate crisis but they would be hit hardest, saying that was, unfortunately, the case of the continent.
However, Ms Ayittey added, the political willingness demonstrated by global leaders to be present and attend the conference in Copenhagen clearly showed that there was recognition that climate change was one of the greatest threats to socio-economic development and needed multilateral approach.
“Despite the shortcomings, future negotiations on global climate change debate have not closed but the road will not be easy. That is why there is the need for all stakeholders, particularly Africa, to begin to critically analyse the Copenhagen Accord and its implications as a continent and also as individual countries,” she added.
Mr Mithika Mwenda, the Co-ordinator of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, said climate change posed the greatest threat to the survival of humanity and the earth.
He noted that efforts to defeat the challenge of climate change were meeting huge boulders of rock and that time was running out for the global community to act.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
AN ECOWAS ministerial meeting on the adoption of a climate change policy for West Africa opened in Accra yesterday, with an assurance by the Ghana government to pursue measures to reduce the environmental consequences of oil production to the barest minimum.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, who gave the assurance, said the government would use appropriate technologies to ensure that carbon emissions and other dangerous greenhouse gases that would be emitted during oil production and processing were captured and stored.
The two-day meeting is expected to adopt a sub-regional document on climate change policy for West Africa.
The minister said with the production of oil, the country would move from being a low to a high carbon emitter, hence the need to take measures to ensure that appropriate environmental management and safety standards were taken.
“Currently, my government has mandated the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a strategic environmental impact assessment of the entire oil production to advise the government on the relevant steps it needed to take to address the adverse effects of oil production on our economy, culture and, above all, our environment," she stated.
Ms Ayitey underscored the need for the sub-regional leaders and policy makers to make reducing the impact of climate change a topmost priority, saying that with the observed trend and projected increases in temperatures and the concomitant decrease in rainfall in all ecological zones, it was certain that water resources and hydro-power production would be seriously affected.
She said climate change was bound to worsen health conditions because it would lead to the incidence of water, air and food-borne diseases.
She said the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December last year did not deliver the fair, equitable and just outcome that was expected by all, adding that African countries would continue to call for a reduction in emissions from developed countries.
Ms Ayittey urged the participants to come up with an effective document, saying that the sub-region must have a broad framework to address all the issues.
For his part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Ousseini Salifou, said the meeting was aimed at coming up with a tangible strategy that would enable the sub-region to deal effectively with the issue of climate change.
He said the document, when finalised, would become a pillar and vital tool to deal with various mitigation measures to combat climate change.
He said Africa was united at the Copenhagen summit and that regional leaders would ensure that they continued to present issues with one voice.
He said ECOWAS would continue to support and contribute its quota to ensure that the sub-region experienced minimal effects of climate change.
Mr Salifou gave the assurance that ECOWAS would work closely with relevant agencies and bodies to help find solutions to the negative effects of climate change.
In a related development, African civil society groups yesterday began a four-day meeting in Accra to seek a solution to climate change and protect the continent’s interest in climate matters, reports Mark-Anthony Vinorkor.
Mindful of the fact that climate change is the defining human development and security issue of this generation and that millions of Africans are being forced to cope with the impact of climate change, the organisations are meeting to discuss ways to combine efforts to deal with the problem.
The conference is being organised and sponsored by Friends of the Earth, Ghana.
Ms Ayittey, in a speech read on her behalf, observed that civil society organisations (CSOs) were closer to the grass roots, lived and worked among local populations and so they were in a very good position to bring out the voices from the ground.
She said the ministry considered CSOs as key stakeholders in environmental management in the country working from all levels of policy making, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
To that effect, she said, the membership of the national Climate Change Committee included non-governmental organisations.
Ms Ayittey noted that a successful outcome from the Copenhagen meeting on climate change would have been deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and adequate funds to address climate change in developing countries, but the summit did not deliver that directly.
“Copenhagen, therefore, fell short of the expectations of many developing countries,” she added.
She said developing countries bore little responsibility for causing the climate crisis but they would be hit hardest, saying that was, unfortunately, the case of the continent.
However, Ms Ayittey added, the political willingness demonstrated by global leaders to be present and attend the conference in Copenhagen clearly showed that there was recognition that climate change was one of the greatest threats to socio-economic development and needed multilateral approach.
“Despite the shortcomings, future negotiations on global climate change debate have not closed but the road will not be easy. That is why there is the need for all stakeholders, particularly Africa, to begin to critically analyse the Copenhagen Accord and its implications as a continent and also as individual countries,” she added.
Mr Mithika Mwenda, the Co-ordinator of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, said climate change posed the greatest threat to the survival of humanity and the earth.
He noted that efforts to defeat the challenge of climate change were meeting huge boulders of rock and that time was running out for the global community to act.
Spain presents computers to Immigration
Daily Graphic, (Backpage) Sat. March 14/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Spanish government has presented 26 computers and accessories to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to facilitate the establishment of a new Centre of Expertise on Migration and Identity Documents.
The donation formed part of the Spanish government’s support for Ghana to fight illegal migration to other countries, especially Europe.
The computers and accessories, costing €58,000, were received by the Director of the GIS, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, at a ceremony in Accra
The Head of the Migration Desk at the Office of the Director-General of Migration and International Relationship at the Ministry of Interior, Spain, Mr Vincent Garcia Sanjuan, made the presentation of the computers and its accessories.
He said Spain encouraged legal migration through a policy of collaboration and co-operation with third countries, especially West African countries, through the contracting of foreign workers at the point of origin.
He said in the framework of international co-operation, Spain participated in a very active way in all European Union programmes against illegal migration, as well as with other international organisations, as the country was a pioneer in the signing of bilateral and mutual agreements.
He said it was the duty of authorities to fight illegal migration to reduce or eliminate the action of organised groups who perpetuated that crime.
The Charge d’Affairs of Spain in Ghana, Mrs Rebecca Chantel Guinea Stal, said her country would continue to collaborate with Ghana to help stop illegal migration.
Ms Adjei said Ghana had benefited and continued to benefit from support from the Spanish government in the fight against illegal migration.
She said aside from capacity building programmes, her outfit had also benefited from 14 digital border surveillance equipment for 14 major border crossing points in the country at a cost of two million euros from the Spanish government.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Spanish government has presented 26 computers and accessories to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to facilitate the establishment of a new Centre of Expertise on Migration and Identity Documents.
The donation formed part of the Spanish government’s support for Ghana to fight illegal migration to other countries, especially Europe.
The computers and accessories, costing €58,000, were received by the Director of the GIS, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, at a ceremony in Accra
The Head of the Migration Desk at the Office of the Director-General of Migration and International Relationship at the Ministry of Interior, Spain, Mr Vincent Garcia Sanjuan, made the presentation of the computers and its accessories.
He said Spain encouraged legal migration through a policy of collaboration and co-operation with third countries, especially West African countries, through the contracting of foreign workers at the point of origin.
He said in the framework of international co-operation, Spain participated in a very active way in all European Union programmes against illegal migration, as well as with other international organisations, as the country was a pioneer in the signing of bilateral and mutual agreements.
He said it was the duty of authorities to fight illegal migration to reduce or eliminate the action of organised groups who perpetuated that crime.
The Charge d’Affairs of Spain in Ghana, Mrs Rebecca Chantel Guinea Stal, said her country would continue to collaborate with Ghana to help stop illegal migration.
Ms Adjei said Ghana had benefited and continued to benefit from support from the Spanish government in the fight against illegal migration.
She said aside from capacity building programmes, her outfit had also benefited from 14 digital border surveillance equipment for 14 major border crossing points in the country at a cost of two million euros from the Spanish government.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Women - Invaluable partners in national dev’t
Daily Graohic, Pg. 11. Saturday, March 07/10
Compiled by: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
GHANA’s Fourth Republic can be considered as being more gender-friendly than any other regime in the history of the country. It has made history in many ways with the appointment of many females to top decision-making positions in the country.
The Speaker of Parliament, Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, who was born on March 26, 1937, is a retired Supreme Court Judge. She is the first female Speaker in Ghana. According to Ghana’s constitution, she is the third in the order of precedence in the country and comes after the President and Vice President of the Republic.
She became a Supreme Court Judge in 1991 from where she continued to dispense justice for more than 13 years until she retired voluntarily from active service in 2004.
There is also the first female Chief Justice of Ghana, Georgina Theodora Wood, who was born on June 8, 1947. She had her basic education at Bishop Girls and Methodist Schools, Dodowa. She then attended Mmofraturo Girls School, Kumasi, from 1958 to 1960. Georgina Wood's secondary education was at Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, which she completed in 1966. She proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, where she was awarded the L.L.B. in 1970. She then attended the Ghana Law School after which she was called to the bar.
She also did the Post-graduate Officers Training Course at the Ghana Police College. Georgina Wood worked with the Ghana Police Service as a deputy superintendent and public prosecutor for three years. She later joined the Judicial Service as a District Magistrate in 1974. She rose through the Circuit and High Courts to become the presiding judge of the Appeal Court in 1991.
She is a judge and also a former police prosecution officer. She is the first woman to occupy the position of a Chief Justice in the country.
She was nominated for the position in May 2007. On June 1, 2007, Parliament approved her nomination.
The first female Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, until recently, was the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division for the Commonwealth Secretariat – a position she assumed in November 2003. She has a vast experience with the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice, specifically in administering various facets of intellectual property law, international law, human rights and gender in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
She was Chief State Attorney and head of the International Law Division of the Ministry of Justice. She established the intellectual property course and taught it on a part-time basis at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon, from 1990 to 2000.
The Director of Immigration, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, was appointed in September 2002. She is the first female Director of the Ghana Immigration Service. She joined the Service as an administrative assistant in 1988.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua was born on April 23, 1958 at Hohoe in the Volta Region. She is the Member of Parliament for North Dayi and is also the first female Minister for Youth and Sports.
She trained as a journalist and worked with the Weekly Spectator newspaper in Accra as the Features Editor. She took a prostgraduate course in Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, completing in 1990.
She was appointed the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs by President J.E. Atta Mills in 2009 and moved to the Sports Ministry this year as the first female to occupy that ministerial position, which is largely perceived as the preserve of men.
She has been the Technical Advisor to the National Council on Women and Development, and Media Consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)— 1995.
Other women have also achieved success in other fields, including Akua Kuenyehia. She was born in 1947 and has been a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague, Netherlands since 2003 and until March 2009, she was the First Vice-president of the Court. She is one of three female African judges at the ICC.
She was educated at the University of Ghana, Legon and Oxford University and she has spent most of her professional career teaching at the University of Ghana, becoming the Dean of the Faculty of Law, and as a visiting professor at other institutions internationally.
She was the Dean of the Faculty of Law when she was elected as a judge. During her time in the university, she taught criminal law, gender and the law, international human rights law and public international law.
She is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. She has experience as a solicitor, advocate and human rights expert, and in criminal law and procedure. She also has experience as an administrator and has expertise in gender and the law, international human rights issues and was a member of the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, is a renowned Ghanaian writer and poet, who was born on March 23, 1942 at Abeadzi Kyiakor in the Central Region. She graduated from the University of Ghana in 1964.
She has taught in universities for many years in Kenya and the United States of America (USA). In 1974 she was a consulting professor to the Phelps-Stokes Fund's Ethnic Studies Programme in Washington.
She gained recognition as a writer with her first publication in 1965, “The Dilemma of a Ghost,” which she published when she was 23 years. She won the Commonwealth Writers Prize with her second novel, ‘Changes: A love story’.
In 1970 she wrote ‘Anowa: No Sweetness Here’. She later wrote ‘Our sister kill joy: Reflections from a black-eyed squint, in 1977. In 1982 she was appointed as the Minister of Education but after 18 months, when she realised that she couldn't achieve her aims, she resigned.
Among some of the books she authored are ‘Someone talking to sometime’, ‘The Eagle and the Chicken’, ‘Birds and other poems’, ‘The girl who can and other stories’. She explored the social conscience of her African peers through her writing, speaking, and teaching endeavours.
She has won many literary awards, including the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa) for Changes- A Love Story. She also won the Nelson Mandela Prize for Poetry in 1987 for ‘Someone Talking to Something’.
Prof. Abena Dolphyne, the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon. She is also a former chairperson of the Methodist University College and a conference member of the Methodist Church.
She was a Professor of Linguistics and wrote two books in Twi (an Akan dialect in Ghana). The book introduces a non-Twi beginner to the spoken language. The Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana, Legon, has its library named after her in recognition of the role she played as the first Ghanaian female professor and pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana. She is the Chairperson of the IDEG Governing Council.
Prof. Marian Ewurama Addy, a retired professor of Biochemistry, was in 2008 appointed the First President/Vice Chancellor of the Anglican University College of Technology (ANGUTECH), making her the first female Vice Chancellor in Ghana.
Prof. Addy had her basic education at the Government Girls’ School, Kumasi, now Yaa Achiaa Junior High School and the St. Anne’s Anglican School, Sekondi. Her secondary education was at the St. Monica’s Secondary School, Mampong Ashanti and the Holy Child Secondary School, Cape Coast.
She had her tertiary education at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1966, where she came out with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Botany (Special, with Chemistry as ancillary), and the Pennsylvania State University, where she obtained Masters and Doctorate degrees in Biochemistry in 1968 and 1971 respectively.
Prof. Addy is a Professor of Biochemistry. She taught at the Howard University College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and the University of Ghana as a Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor at the Department of Biochemistry.
She was the Head, Department of Biochemistry, University of Ghana, Legon and First Head, Chemical Pathology Unit, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
She was a Chair and member of a number of research and technical committees and a Director of Programmes, Science Education Programme for Africa (SEPA).
Prof. Addy taught at the Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden, the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, the New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, the Foreign Faculty Mentor, and Minority International Research Training (MIRT) programme.
She is a member of the World Health Organisation ( WHO) Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine, Chair, Policy Committee on Developing Countries of the International Council for Science (ICSU, member, Executive Committee, International Network of Engineers and Scientists and Advisors, International Foundation for Science, Stockholm, Sweden.
She has received several awards such as the Millennium Excellence Award for Educational Development, UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science in 1999, Africa-America Institute (AAI)’s Distinguished Alumna for Excellence in 1998 and the Marketing Woman of the Year, for marketing science in 1995.
She was the first Executive Secretary of the Western Africa Network of Natural Products Research Scientists (WANNPRES).
Her experiences in academia are mainly in teaching biochemistry, both basic and applied, to undergraduate, post-graduate, dental and medical students at the University of Ghana, Legon, and at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC. Her main area of research is the science of herbal preparations used by Traditional Medical Practitioners, especially their safety, efficacy and how they work.
She was a member of the Kwami Committee, a Technical Committee on Polytechnic Education set up by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), to study and make recommendations that would guide the NCTE to formulate policies and advise government on polytechnic education.
She was the first Quiz Mistress of the popular weekly televised National Science and Mathematics Quiz programme, primarily aimed at improving the learning of science and mathematics for secondary school students. She hosted the programme for seven years.
Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana, Legon. She was born in Kumasi, and was educated at the Wesley Girls' High School, Cape Coast, the University of Ghana (LLB (Hons), 1974), the University of Dar es Salaam (LLM, 1978) and Indiana University, Bloomington (Ph.D. Anthropology, 2000).
After her university education at the University of Ghana, Legon, she was appointed a Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies in 1979, and promoted Senior Research Fellow later on. She worked in that capacity till she left in 1992 for the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, for a Ph.D. in Anthropology. After her Ph.D. degree in Anthropology from that university, she was promoted to Associate Professor in 1997 and became Director of the institute in 2000. In 2005, she was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was appointed a full professor in 2006.
She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Association of African Universities (AAU) and of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). She is also a member of the Governing Board of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), a Board Member of the African Gender Institute and a member of the Steering Committee of SEPHIS, the South-South Exchange Programme on the History of Development.
She was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005 and has received a number of other awards and fellowships, including the University of Ghana’s Meritorious Service Award for 2007, as well as Ghana’s Order of the Volta (Officer Class) in July 2008.
In 2004, she was co-winner with Dr Kojo Saffu (Brock University, Ontario, Canada) of the USA National Women's Business Council Best Paper in Women's Entrepreneurship Award for their paper on “Strategic Capabilities of Ghanaian Female Business Owners and the Performance of Their Ventures,” presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Johannesburg, South Africa. She is active in the women’s movement in Ghana.
Compiled by: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
GHANA’s Fourth Republic can be considered as being more gender-friendly than any other regime in the history of the country. It has made history in many ways with the appointment of many females to top decision-making positions in the country.
The Speaker of Parliament, Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, who was born on March 26, 1937, is a retired Supreme Court Judge. She is the first female Speaker in Ghana. According to Ghana’s constitution, she is the third in the order of precedence in the country and comes after the President and Vice President of the Republic.
She became a Supreme Court Judge in 1991 from where she continued to dispense justice for more than 13 years until she retired voluntarily from active service in 2004.
There is also the first female Chief Justice of Ghana, Georgina Theodora Wood, who was born on June 8, 1947. She had her basic education at Bishop Girls and Methodist Schools, Dodowa. She then attended Mmofraturo Girls School, Kumasi, from 1958 to 1960. Georgina Wood's secondary education was at Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, which she completed in 1966. She proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, where she was awarded the L.L.B. in 1970. She then attended the Ghana Law School after which she was called to the bar.
She also did the Post-graduate Officers Training Course at the Ghana Police College. Georgina Wood worked with the Ghana Police Service as a deputy superintendent and public prosecutor for three years. She later joined the Judicial Service as a District Magistrate in 1974. She rose through the Circuit and High Courts to become the presiding judge of the Appeal Court in 1991.
She is a judge and also a former police prosecution officer. She is the first woman to occupy the position of a Chief Justice in the country.
She was nominated for the position in May 2007. On June 1, 2007, Parliament approved her nomination.
The first female Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, until recently, was the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division for the Commonwealth Secretariat – a position she assumed in November 2003. She has a vast experience with the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice, specifically in administering various facets of intellectual property law, international law, human rights and gender in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
She was Chief State Attorney and head of the International Law Division of the Ministry of Justice. She established the intellectual property course and taught it on a part-time basis at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon, from 1990 to 2000.
The Director of Immigration, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, was appointed in September 2002. She is the first female Director of the Ghana Immigration Service. She joined the Service as an administrative assistant in 1988.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua was born on April 23, 1958 at Hohoe in the Volta Region. She is the Member of Parliament for North Dayi and is also the first female Minister for Youth and Sports.
She trained as a journalist and worked with the Weekly Spectator newspaper in Accra as the Features Editor. She took a prostgraduate course in Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, completing in 1990.
She was appointed the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs by President J.E. Atta Mills in 2009 and moved to the Sports Ministry this year as the first female to occupy that ministerial position, which is largely perceived as the preserve of men.
She has been the Technical Advisor to the National Council on Women and Development, and Media Consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)— 1995.
Other women have also achieved success in other fields, including Akua Kuenyehia. She was born in 1947 and has been a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague, Netherlands since 2003 and until March 2009, she was the First Vice-president of the Court. She is one of three female African judges at the ICC.
She was educated at the University of Ghana, Legon and Oxford University and she has spent most of her professional career teaching at the University of Ghana, becoming the Dean of the Faculty of Law, and as a visiting professor at other institutions internationally.
She was the Dean of the Faculty of Law when she was elected as a judge. During her time in the university, she taught criminal law, gender and the law, international human rights law and public international law.
She is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. She has experience as a solicitor, advocate and human rights expert, and in criminal law and procedure. She also has experience as an administrator and has expertise in gender and the law, international human rights issues and was a member of the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, is a renowned Ghanaian writer and poet, who was born on March 23, 1942 at Abeadzi Kyiakor in the Central Region. She graduated from the University of Ghana in 1964.
She has taught in universities for many years in Kenya and the United States of America (USA). In 1974 she was a consulting professor to the Phelps-Stokes Fund's Ethnic Studies Programme in Washington.
She gained recognition as a writer with her first publication in 1965, “The Dilemma of a Ghost,” which she published when she was 23 years. She won the Commonwealth Writers Prize with her second novel, ‘Changes: A love story’.
In 1970 she wrote ‘Anowa: No Sweetness Here’. She later wrote ‘Our sister kill joy: Reflections from a black-eyed squint, in 1977. In 1982 she was appointed as the Minister of Education but after 18 months, when she realised that she couldn't achieve her aims, she resigned.
Among some of the books she authored are ‘Someone talking to sometime’, ‘The Eagle and the Chicken’, ‘Birds and other poems’, ‘The girl who can and other stories’. She explored the social conscience of her African peers through her writing, speaking, and teaching endeavours.
She has won many literary awards, including the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa) for Changes- A Love Story. She also won the Nelson Mandela Prize for Poetry in 1987 for ‘Someone Talking to Something’.
Prof. Abena Dolphyne, the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon. She is also a former chairperson of the Methodist University College and a conference member of the Methodist Church.
She was a Professor of Linguistics and wrote two books in Twi (an Akan dialect in Ghana). The book introduces a non-Twi beginner to the spoken language. The Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana, Legon, has its library named after her in recognition of the role she played as the first Ghanaian female professor and pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana. She is the Chairperson of the IDEG Governing Council.
Prof. Marian Ewurama Addy, a retired professor of Biochemistry, was in 2008 appointed the First President/Vice Chancellor of the Anglican University College of Technology (ANGUTECH), making her the first female Vice Chancellor in Ghana.
Prof. Addy had her basic education at the Government Girls’ School, Kumasi, now Yaa Achiaa Junior High School and the St. Anne’s Anglican School, Sekondi. Her secondary education was at the St. Monica’s Secondary School, Mampong Ashanti and the Holy Child Secondary School, Cape Coast.
She had her tertiary education at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1966, where she came out with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Botany (Special, with Chemistry as ancillary), and the Pennsylvania State University, where she obtained Masters and Doctorate degrees in Biochemistry in 1968 and 1971 respectively.
Prof. Addy is a Professor of Biochemistry. She taught at the Howard University College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and the University of Ghana as a Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor at the Department of Biochemistry.
She was the Head, Department of Biochemistry, University of Ghana, Legon and First Head, Chemical Pathology Unit, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
She was a Chair and member of a number of research and technical committees and a Director of Programmes, Science Education Programme for Africa (SEPA).
Prof. Addy taught at the Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden, the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, the New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, the Foreign Faculty Mentor, and Minority International Research Training (MIRT) programme.
She is a member of the World Health Organisation ( WHO) Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine, Chair, Policy Committee on Developing Countries of the International Council for Science (ICSU, member, Executive Committee, International Network of Engineers and Scientists and Advisors, International Foundation for Science, Stockholm, Sweden.
She has received several awards such as the Millennium Excellence Award for Educational Development, UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science in 1999, Africa-America Institute (AAI)’s Distinguished Alumna for Excellence in 1998 and the Marketing Woman of the Year, for marketing science in 1995.
She was the first Executive Secretary of the Western Africa Network of Natural Products Research Scientists (WANNPRES).
Her experiences in academia are mainly in teaching biochemistry, both basic and applied, to undergraduate, post-graduate, dental and medical students at the University of Ghana, Legon, and at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC. Her main area of research is the science of herbal preparations used by Traditional Medical Practitioners, especially their safety, efficacy and how they work.
She was a member of the Kwami Committee, a Technical Committee on Polytechnic Education set up by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), to study and make recommendations that would guide the NCTE to formulate policies and advise government on polytechnic education.
She was the first Quiz Mistress of the popular weekly televised National Science and Mathematics Quiz programme, primarily aimed at improving the learning of science and mathematics for secondary school students. She hosted the programme for seven years.
Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana, Legon. She was born in Kumasi, and was educated at the Wesley Girls' High School, Cape Coast, the University of Ghana (LLB (Hons), 1974), the University of Dar es Salaam (LLM, 1978) and Indiana University, Bloomington (Ph.D. Anthropology, 2000).
After her university education at the University of Ghana, Legon, she was appointed a Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies in 1979, and promoted Senior Research Fellow later on. She worked in that capacity till she left in 1992 for the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, for a Ph.D. in Anthropology. After her Ph.D. degree in Anthropology from that university, she was promoted to Associate Professor in 1997 and became Director of the institute in 2000. In 2005, she was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was appointed a full professor in 2006.
She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Association of African Universities (AAU) and of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). She is also a member of the Governing Board of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), a Board Member of the African Gender Institute and a member of the Steering Committee of SEPHIS, the South-South Exchange Programme on the History of Development.
She was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005 and has received a number of other awards and fellowships, including the University of Ghana’s Meritorious Service Award for 2007, as well as Ghana’s Order of the Volta (Officer Class) in July 2008.
In 2004, she was co-winner with Dr Kojo Saffu (Brock University, Ontario, Canada) of the USA National Women's Business Council Best Paper in Women's Entrepreneurship Award for their paper on “Strategic Capabilities of Ghanaian Female Business Owners and the Performance of Their Ventures,” presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Johannesburg, South Africa. She is active in the women’s movement in Ghana.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Women were dynamic • In Independence struggle
Daily Graphic. Pg.27 Friday, March 05/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Women in Ghana from the pre to the post-independence era’s have contributed in diverse ways towards the development of the country. Over the years, through systematic educational and empowerment programmes championed by civil society organisations, women have gradually moved from their traditionally ascribed and gender stereotyped roles into roles as professionals, bread winners and role models.
Society has for years experienced significant transformations in the experiences and positions of women in Ghana's history from independence to date thus women are no longer primarily in their domestic roles as caregivers, housewives and homemakers, but have taken on various careers and have chalked up enviable successes in their chosen fields. Some examples of such accomplished women in recent times are Akua Kwenyehia, a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prof. Ama Atta Aidoo, a renowned writer and poet, Prof. Abena Dolphyne, first female Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) University of Ghana, among others.
However, before the advent of women advocates to see more women in the limelight, some women distinguished themselves and therefore gained popular recognition.
One such woman who distinguished herself and her name has become a household one is Yaa Asantewaa, born in 1840 and died on October 17, 1921. She was the Queen Mother of Ejisu and in 1900 she led the Ashanti rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool against British colonialism.
When the British exiled her grandson in the Seychelles along with the King of Asante, Otumfuo Nana Prempeh I, and the British governor-general of the Gold Coast, Frederick Hodgson, demanded for the Golden Stool, the symbol of the Asante nation, the men feared to voice their displeasure and she is quoted to have said: “Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it was in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: If you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”
With these words, she is said to have taken on leadership of the Ashanti Uprising of 1900, gaining the support of some of the other Asante nobility.
This brutality was the instigation for the Yaa Asantewaa War for Independence, which began on March 28, 1900. Yaa Asantewaa mobilised the Asante troops and for three months laid siege to the British mission at the fort of Kumasi. The British had to bring in several thousand troops and artillery to break the siege. Also, in retaliation, the British troops plundered the villages, killed much of the population, confiscated their lands and left the remaining population dependent upon the British for survival. They also captured Yaa Asantewaa whom they exiled along with her close companions to the Seychelles Islands off Africa's east coast, while most of the captured chiefs became prisoners-of-war. Yaa Asantewaa remained in exile until her death 20 years later.
After Yaa Asantewaa one other woman who has held the flag of womanhood high is Mrs Theodosia Salome Okoh, born on June 13, 1922 in Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The originator and designer of the Ghana flag, she has seen all the various historical transitions of this country. That is, from British colonial rule through the Gold Coast to modern Ghana.
Responding to an advertisement placed in the Gold Coast newspapers for the designing of a National Flag, she decided to choose the colours red, gold and green and the five-pointed Black Star.
"The red stripe represents the blood our forefathers shed for us during Ghana's struggle for independence, gold represents our rich mineral resources, green for the green belt on which the country lies and also the vast forests and cash crops which we grow, while the black star is our identity as black people and also symbolises African freedom," she explained.
It was adopted as the national flag at 12 noon on March 6, 1957, and was hoisted at a colourful and emotional ceremony held at the Old Parliament House.
In appreciation for her creative work for the nation, she was presented with a medal.
Also partly in recognition of what she had done for the nation, in 1992 she received the entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG) Mahogany award for designing the national flag. In 1996 she received a Grand Medal from the State during the 40th independence celebration of the country. In 1997 she also received the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) award for designing the national flag and in 2004 she received an award from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for her role in building a national hockey pitch.
A woman who has blazed the industrial storm in Ghana to become a force to reckon with is the late Dr Esther Ocloo of Nkulenu Industries Limited.
The Cambridge Biographical Society named her as one of the foremost women leaders of the 20th century.
She has contributed in no small measure towards Ghana's economic independence and economic empowerment of women. In her over 40 years’ involvement in human resources development, she founded non-governmental organisations (NGOs) focusing on ways and means of creating jobs for the unemployed youth through the establishment of a farm for the youth and African women entrepreneurial training centre for training unemployed girls and women in employable skills and upgrading the skills of women entrepreneurs.
She started her factory with six shillings in the year 1942.
In the early 1990's she received an award from the African Leadership Prize for Sustainable end of hunger, which aims at encouraging and supporting local initiative in food production, processing and preservation.
She was the first Ghanaian woman to be appointed Executive Chairman, National Food and Nutrition Board of Ghana (1964-1966).
She was a member of the advisory Board, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a consultant to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, as well as a co-ordinator of the Africa Women in Development from 1982-1987.
She also became a Chairperson, UN Committee for International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW) from 1985 to 1989.
She served on many boards and councils and also became the first Chairperson of Board of Directors of the Women's World Banking International, New York, USA from 1979 to 1985.
She was honoured and received various awards by institutions including the Ghana Millennium Excellence Awards for Women and Gender Balance Development - 1999.
She is said to have contested the 1969 parliamentary elections on the Progress Party (PP) ticket for the West Danyi Constituency in the Volta Region but did not win. She was also a one-time member of the Council of State. She died at the age of 83.
Ghana's first female scientist, Dr Mrs Leticia Obeng, an educationalist, is also worth mentioning.
Dr Leticia Obeng, First Woman Scientist in Zoology, is an unsung heroine, born on January 10, 1925 at Anum in the Eastern Region.
She is a product of Achimota School from 1939 to 1946 when she took the London University International Examination. Since there was no university in the then Gold Coast, those who passed that examination had to continue their university education abroad.
She was employed at the University College of Science and Technology, where she headed the Zoology department.
She left the university and became the first and only scientist to be recruited into the National Research Council, which is now the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She was also the first Ghanaian woman to establish a new research institute, Institute of Aquatic Biology, for the Ghana Academy of Sciences in 1964.
She later enrolled at the University of Liverpool for her PhD in 1962 where she obtained her doctorate degree. For her thesis, Dr Obeng investigated into the life cycle of the Simulium fly popularly called the black fly, which transmits the worm that causes onchocerciasis or river blindness. This made her the first Ghanaian female to obtain a PhD in Simuliidae from the Liverpool University in the United Kingdom.
She also worked at the Volta Lake Research Project, where she co-managed for four years and looked at a number of environmental issues related to the lake.
The United Nations invited her to take part in the 1972 UN Human and Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
From 1974 to 1985, Dr Obeng was appointed the Director at the Regional Office for Africa of the United Nations Environment Programme, initiator and co-ordinator of the African Sub-Regional Environment Programmes and also held the position of a senior Programme Officer in charge of water for five years.
She has received numerous awards and been honoured both nationally and internationally. She was the first female recipient of the CSIR Award for Distinguished Career and Service to Science and Technology in 1997. She also has the CSIR Laboratory, "The Dr Leticia Obeng Block", named after her and "Service to Science and Technology" award was bestowed on her in 1997.
In 1998, she received the first national award for Science and Technology, Biological Sciences, and was the first female Executive Member of the Council of the Africa Leadership Forum.
In 2006, Dr Obeng was selected among the few Ghanaian women to receive the National Award of the "Star of Ghana” in 2006, she was also unanimously appointed as the first female President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has a number of publications to her credit and they include "Man-made Lake"; "Environmental Management"; "Volta Lake Ecology", "Environmental Problem of Africa"; "Health Hazards Of Agricultural Projects"; "Dr Ephraim Amu - A Portrait of Cultured Patriotism" and "Parasites: The Sly and Sneak Enemies Inside You".
In 2007 she became the Chair of the Global Water Partnership (GWP).
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Women in Ghana from the pre to the post-independence era’s have contributed in diverse ways towards the development of the country. Over the years, through systematic educational and empowerment programmes championed by civil society organisations, women have gradually moved from their traditionally ascribed and gender stereotyped roles into roles as professionals, bread winners and role models.
Society has for years experienced significant transformations in the experiences and positions of women in Ghana's history from independence to date thus women are no longer primarily in their domestic roles as caregivers, housewives and homemakers, but have taken on various careers and have chalked up enviable successes in their chosen fields. Some examples of such accomplished women in recent times are Akua Kwenyehia, a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prof. Ama Atta Aidoo, a renowned writer and poet, Prof. Abena Dolphyne, first female Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) University of Ghana, among others.
However, before the advent of women advocates to see more women in the limelight, some women distinguished themselves and therefore gained popular recognition.
One such woman who distinguished herself and her name has become a household one is Yaa Asantewaa, born in 1840 and died on October 17, 1921. She was the Queen Mother of Ejisu and in 1900 she led the Ashanti rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool against British colonialism.
When the British exiled her grandson in the Seychelles along with the King of Asante, Otumfuo Nana Prempeh I, and the British governor-general of the Gold Coast, Frederick Hodgson, demanded for the Golden Stool, the symbol of the Asante nation, the men feared to voice their displeasure and she is quoted to have said: “Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it was in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: If you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”
With these words, she is said to have taken on leadership of the Ashanti Uprising of 1900, gaining the support of some of the other Asante nobility.
This brutality was the instigation for the Yaa Asantewaa War for Independence, which began on March 28, 1900. Yaa Asantewaa mobilised the Asante troops and for three months laid siege to the British mission at the fort of Kumasi. The British had to bring in several thousand troops and artillery to break the siege. Also, in retaliation, the British troops plundered the villages, killed much of the population, confiscated their lands and left the remaining population dependent upon the British for survival. They also captured Yaa Asantewaa whom they exiled along with her close companions to the Seychelles Islands off Africa's east coast, while most of the captured chiefs became prisoners-of-war. Yaa Asantewaa remained in exile until her death 20 years later.
After Yaa Asantewaa one other woman who has held the flag of womanhood high is Mrs Theodosia Salome Okoh, born on June 13, 1922 in Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The originator and designer of the Ghana flag, she has seen all the various historical transitions of this country. That is, from British colonial rule through the Gold Coast to modern Ghana.
Responding to an advertisement placed in the Gold Coast newspapers for the designing of a National Flag, she decided to choose the colours red, gold and green and the five-pointed Black Star.
"The red stripe represents the blood our forefathers shed for us during Ghana's struggle for independence, gold represents our rich mineral resources, green for the green belt on which the country lies and also the vast forests and cash crops which we grow, while the black star is our identity as black people and also symbolises African freedom," she explained.
It was adopted as the national flag at 12 noon on March 6, 1957, and was hoisted at a colourful and emotional ceremony held at the Old Parliament House.
In appreciation for her creative work for the nation, she was presented with a medal.
Also partly in recognition of what she had done for the nation, in 1992 she received the entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG) Mahogany award for designing the national flag. In 1996 she received a Grand Medal from the State during the 40th independence celebration of the country. In 1997 she also received the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) award for designing the national flag and in 2004 she received an award from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for her role in building a national hockey pitch.
A woman who has blazed the industrial storm in Ghana to become a force to reckon with is the late Dr Esther Ocloo of Nkulenu Industries Limited.
The Cambridge Biographical Society named her as one of the foremost women leaders of the 20th century.
She has contributed in no small measure towards Ghana's economic independence and economic empowerment of women. In her over 40 years’ involvement in human resources development, she founded non-governmental organisations (NGOs) focusing on ways and means of creating jobs for the unemployed youth through the establishment of a farm for the youth and African women entrepreneurial training centre for training unemployed girls and women in employable skills and upgrading the skills of women entrepreneurs.
She started her factory with six shillings in the year 1942.
In the early 1990's she received an award from the African Leadership Prize for Sustainable end of hunger, which aims at encouraging and supporting local initiative in food production, processing and preservation.
She was the first Ghanaian woman to be appointed Executive Chairman, National Food and Nutrition Board of Ghana (1964-1966).
She was a member of the advisory Board, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a consultant to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, as well as a co-ordinator of the Africa Women in Development from 1982-1987.
She also became a Chairperson, UN Committee for International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW) from 1985 to 1989.
She served on many boards and councils and also became the first Chairperson of Board of Directors of the Women's World Banking International, New York, USA from 1979 to 1985.
She was honoured and received various awards by institutions including the Ghana Millennium Excellence Awards for Women and Gender Balance Development - 1999.
She is said to have contested the 1969 parliamentary elections on the Progress Party (PP) ticket for the West Danyi Constituency in the Volta Region but did not win. She was also a one-time member of the Council of State. She died at the age of 83.
Ghana's first female scientist, Dr Mrs Leticia Obeng, an educationalist, is also worth mentioning.
Dr Leticia Obeng, First Woman Scientist in Zoology, is an unsung heroine, born on January 10, 1925 at Anum in the Eastern Region.
She is a product of Achimota School from 1939 to 1946 when she took the London University International Examination. Since there was no university in the then Gold Coast, those who passed that examination had to continue their university education abroad.
She was employed at the University College of Science and Technology, where she headed the Zoology department.
She left the university and became the first and only scientist to be recruited into the National Research Council, which is now the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She was also the first Ghanaian woman to establish a new research institute, Institute of Aquatic Biology, for the Ghana Academy of Sciences in 1964.
She later enrolled at the University of Liverpool for her PhD in 1962 where she obtained her doctorate degree. For her thesis, Dr Obeng investigated into the life cycle of the Simulium fly popularly called the black fly, which transmits the worm that causes onchocerciasis or river blindness. This made her the first Ghanaian female to obtain a PhD in Simuliidae from the Liverpool University in the United Kingdom.
She also worked at the Volta Lake Research Project, where she co-managed for four years and looked at a number of environmental issues related to the lake.
The United Nations invited her to take part in the 1972 UN Human and Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
From 1974 to 1985, Dr Obeng was appointed the Director at the Regional Office for Africa of the United Nations Environment Programme, initiator and co-ordinator of the African Sub-Regional Environment Programmes and also held the position of a senior Programme Officer in charge of water for five years.
She has received numerous awards and been honoured both nationally and internationally. She was the first female recipient of the CSIR Award for Distinguished Career and Service to Science and Technology in 1997. She also has the CSIR Laboratory, "The Dr Leticia Obeng Block", named after her and "Service to Science and Technology" award was bestowed on her in 1997.
In 1998, she received the first national award for Science and Technology, Biological Sciences, and was the first female Executive Member of the Council of the Africa Leadership Forum.
In 2006, Dr Obeng was selected among the few Ghanaian women to receive the National Award of the "Star of Ghana” in 2006, she was also unanimously appointed as the first female President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has a number of publications to her credit and they include "Man-made Lake"; "Environmental Management"; "Volta Lake Ecology", "Environmental Problem of Africa"; "Health Hazards Of Agricultural Projects"; "Dr Ephraim Amu - A Portrait of Cultured Patriotism" and "Parasites: The Sly and Sneak Enemies Inside You".
In 2007 she became the Chair of the Global Water Partnership (GWP).
Thursday, March 4, 2010
First lady launches immunisation day
Daily Graphic (spread). Wed. March 03/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has launched this year’s national polio immunisation days with a call on parents to patronise the routine immunisation to ensure that their children are protected against the disease.
“The end of polio is at sight so let us re-kindle our spirits and efforts to deal with the final blow to polio disease. Our children should not die; our children should not be crippled,” she said.
In all a total of 5.1 million children aged between zero and five years are expected to be vaccinated nationwide against the disease.
Polio is an acute viral disease that is easily spread from human to human contact through contaminated food or water and can kill or cripple children for life.
The First Lady launched the exercise in Accra of which the first round will begin from March 5 to March 7, 2010 with a second round from April 23 to 25, 2010 across the country.
Ghana, from September 2003 to August 2008, recorded no case of wild polio virus in the country until November 2008 when eight cases were reported in the Northern Region. However, till date no case has been recorded again.
According to the First Lady the eradication of polio from the country is a subject that ought to receive the utmost attention in preventive health care, adding that “as we all know, polio, one of the childhood killer diseases, has no cure but a vaccine, which has been in existence since 1963, can prevent a child from being affected“.
“It would therefore be very unacceptable to witness children in this modern era being killed or incapacitated by polio,” she noted.
Mrs Mills said Ghana had made considerable progress since the inception of the Polio Eradication Initiative in 1996, adding that the government remained committed to supporting the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in carrying out activities to achieve complete eradication both for campaigns and routine immunisation.
She expressed the government’s appreciation to donor partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), who have all contributed immensely to the polio eradication efforts in the country.
Giving an overview of polio situation in the country, Dr K. O. Antwi-Agyei said the rationale for the 2010 National Immunisation Days (NIDs) was to synchronise the exercise in 14 West African countries to ensure that the entire sub-region was free from the disease.
He encouraged parents to ensure that their children were immunised, saying that repeated doses of the vaccine was beneficial as it protected the children who lived in poor environments where the polio virus thrived.
According to him, a Vitamin A supplement would be added to the second round of the exercise for children between the ages of six months and five years.
A WHO Representative, Dr Daniel Kertesz, who spoke on behalf of all donor partners, said the NID was a collective responsibility which must be undertaken by all to ensure that children received the vaccine for their well-being.
He said the fight against polio required that countries worked together for total eradication, saying that polio could not be eradicated unless every child was vaccinated.
The Chairman of the Ghana National Polio Plus of Rotary International (GNPPC), Mr Winfred A. Mensah, said Rotary had committed a total of $1,150,000 globally to help in the eradication of polio.
He said Rotary had supported the eradication of polio from 125 countries with only four countries, which he referred to as the “PAIN” countries, namely Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, being the only countries yet to be free from the disease.
He said Rotary, as part of its effort, had also launched a polio free poster and a mobile phone test project where people could text “polio” to 1962 for a fee of GH¢1 in a bid to support the immunisation exercise.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, who chaired the launch, said the country could not afford to lose all the gains that it had made in the eradication processes.
He said the Ministry of Health adopted the mass campaign in addition to routine eradication to ensure that the country was free from the polio virus in the near future.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has launched this year’s national polio immunisation days with a call on parents to patronise the routine immunisation to ensure that their children are protected against the disease.
“The end of polio is at sight so let us re-kindle our spirits and efforts to deal with the final blow to polio disease. Our children should not die; our children should not be crippled,” she said.
In all a total of 5.1 million children aged between zero and five years are expected to be vaccinated nationwide against the disease.
Polio is an acute viral disease that is easily spread from human to human contact through contaminated food or water and can kill or cripple children for life.
The First Lady launched the exercise in Accra of which the first round will begin from March 5 to March 7, 2010 with a second round from April 23 to 25, 2010 across the country.
Ghana, from September 2003 to August 2008, recorded no case of wild polio virus in the country until November 2008 when eight cases were reported in the Northern Region. However, till date no case has been recorded again.
According to the First Lady the eradication of polio from the country is a subject that ought to receive the utmost attention in preventive health care, adding that “as we all know, polio, one of the childhood killer diseases, has no cure but a vaccine, which has been in existence since 1963, can prevent a child from being affected“.
“It would therefore be very unacceptable to witness children in this modern era being killed or incapacitated by polio,” she noted.
Mrs Mills said Ghana had made considerable progress since the inception of the Polio Eradication Initiative in 1996, adding that the government remained committed to supporting the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in carrying out activities to achieve complete eradication both for campaigns and routine immunisation.
She expressed the government’s appreciation to donor partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), who have all contributed immensely to the polio eradication efforts in the country.
Giving an overview of polio situation in the country, Dr K. O. Antwi-Agyei said the rationale for the 2010 National Immunisation Days (NIDs) was to synchronise the exercise in 14 West African countries to ensure that the entire sub-region was free from the disease.
He encouraged parents to ensure that their children were immunised, saying that repeated doses of the vaccine was beneficial as it protected the children who lived in poor environments where the polio virus thrived.
According to him, a Vitamin A supplement would be added to the second round of the exercise for children between the ages of six months and five years.
A WHO Representative, Dr Daniel Kertesz, who spoke on behalf of all donor partners, said the NID was a collective responsibility which must be undertaken by all to ensure that children received the vaccine for their well-being.
He said the fight against polio required that countries worked together for total eradication, saying that polio could not be eradicated unless every child was vaccinated.
The Chairman of the Ghana National Polio Plus of Rotary International (GNPPC), Mr Winfred A. Mensah, said Rotary had committed a total of $1,150,000 globally to help in the eradication of polio.
He said Rotary had supported the eradication of polio from 125 countries with only four countries, which he referred to as the “PAIN” countries, namely Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, being the only countries yet to be free from the disease.
He said Rotary, as part of its effort, had also launched a polio free poster and a mobile phone test project where people could text “polio” to 1962 for a fee of GH¢1 in a bid to support the immunisation exercise.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, who chaired the launch, said the country could not afford to lose all the gains that it had made in the eradication processes.
He said the Ministry of Health adopted the mass campaign in addition to routine eradication to ensure that the country was free from the polio virus in the near future.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Christine Churcher - woman of many parts
Daily Graphic. Pg 11. Sat. Feb 27/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A TRIED and tested politician and one of the few women who championed the cause of gender equality in Ghana’s Parliament is Ms Christine Churcher.
At the time when women advocates complained there were only a handful of women in decision-making positions, she was one of the few who were at the helm of affairs.
A former Minister of Environment and Science and a Minister of State in charge of Education, Ms Churcher contributed a lot to ensuring that more girl-children were sent to school.
A former senior prefect of Mfantsiman Girls School and a Junior Common Room (JCR) President, Volta Hall, University of Ghana, Legon, Ms Churcher, when she was appointed the Minister for Environment and Science was very active in policy issues such as sound management of chemicals, the African Stockpiles programme and oceans and coastal management and compliance.
With her organisational skills which won her the Cape Coast Constituency seat on three consecutive ocassions in 1996, 2000 and 2004, she is now vying for the position of the National Women’s Organiser.
Her vision is to ensure that women in her party are not marginalised so as to be represented at all levels in the party.
Her desire for women in the NPP is to ensure that their potentials are not under utilised but harnessed for the growth of the party by ensuring that they are placed side by side with their male counterparts in the 2010 general elections.
A former Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council on Women and Development, Ms Churcher’s aim is to provide the right leadership training skills to women in the NPP so as to build their capacities to make them effective in both party activities and in their personal lives.
A women’s advocate herself, she is aiming at providing women with the right leadership in the NPP that would propel them to greater heights with the conviction that the potential of women in the party can be unearthed for greater benefits.
Her motivation is that with her organisational skills and expertise, NPP women from across the country can work together to bring the party back to power in 2012.
Since she began her campaign to be elected as the women’s organiser, Ms Churcher has appealed to women within the party to give her the mandate so that she can, together with them, change the hitherto traditional roles of women in the party, saying that “the NPP can no longer take for granted the role of its women if it wanted to re-capture power in 2012.
Her campaign message is that she has every confidence in the capabilities of women in her party, and that all they needed was a strong advocate who would give them a voice at the table where decisions are made in the party.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A TRIED and tested politician and one of the few women who championed the cause of gender equality in Ghana’s Parliament is Ms Christine Churcher.
At the time when women advocates complained there were only a handful of women in decision-making positions, she was one of the few who were at the helm of affairs.
A former Minister of Environment and Science and a Minister of State in charge of Education, Ms Churcher contributed a lot to ensuring that more girl-children were sent to school.
A former senior prefect of Mfantsiman Girls School and a Junior Common Room (JCR) President, Volta Hall, University of Ghana, Legon, Ms Churcher, when she was appointed the Minister for Environment and Science was very active in policy issues such as sound management of chemicals, the African Stockpiles programme and oceans and coastal management and compliance.
With her organisational skills which won her the Cape Coast Constituency seat on three consecutive ocassions in 1996, 2000 and 2004, she is now vying for the position of the National Women’s Organiser.
Her vision is to ensure that women in her party are not marginalised so as to be represented at all levels in the party.
Her desire for women in the NPP is to ensure that their potentials are not under utilised but harnessed for the growth of the party by ensuring that they are placed side by side with their male counterparts in the 2010 general elections.
A former Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council on Women and Development, Ms Churcher’s aim is to provide the right leadership training skills to women in the NPP so as to build their capacities to make them effective in both party activities and in their personal lives.
A women’s advocate herself, she is aiming at providing women with the right leadership in the NPP that would propel them to greater heights with the conviction that the potential of women in the party can be unearthed for greater benefits.
Her motivation is that with her organisational skills and expertise, NPP women from across the country can work together to bring the party back to power in 2012.
Since she began her campaign to be elected as the women’s organiser, Ms Churcher has appealed to women within the party to give her the mandate so that she can, together with them, change the hitherto traditional roles of women in the party, saying that “the NPP can no longer take for granted the role of its women if it wanted to re-capture power in 2012.
Her campaign message is that she has every confidence in the capabilities of women in her party, and that all they needed was a strong advocate who would give them a voice at the table where decisions are made in the party.
Strengthen fight against human trafficking
Daily Graphic, Pg 11. Sat. Feb. 27/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
HUMAN trafficking, a modern day slavery, has become an international problem affecting millions of people around the world.
In Ghana, aside the international trafficking of the educated to perform informal jobs, the internal trafficking of children to work in fishing or farming communities is a challenge, coupled with the luring of women to engage in prostitution or forced marriages in neighbouring countries or in Europe.
Many children in Ghana are given away by their parents on the pretext of going to stay with a relative but they end up working in the fishing or farming industry under tough conditions.
These children are exploited by their managers or foster parents and are made to carry heavy loads on the farm or dive into the rivers, especially into the Lake Volta, where this activity is most prevalent, to disentangle nets from tree stumps, among other difficult tasks.
Many international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) together with the government has devised many strategies to ensure that the issue of human trafficking became a thing of the past.
Several laws such as the ILO Convention 182 which states that “Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency”, and locally such as the Human Trafficking Act 2005 (Act 694), the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732), the Children’s Act 560 and the Criminal Amendment Code has been ratified to help end human trafficking in the country.
Also the work of the Ghana Anti-human Trafficking Unit under the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Attorney General’s Department is a landmark achievement for criminal justice respondents in the country. This intelligence-led investigation, has led to the arrest and subsequent prosecution of members of organised and international human trafficking rings.
Recently, three Chinese and a Ghanaian suspected of being part of a ring trafficking Chinese women into Ghana for prostitution were arrested and prosecuted.
Also a couple in Cape Coast who received trafficked children for purposes of engaging them to work for them were arrested and prosecuted.
Several other moves have been made to help halt migration across the country, a recent one was by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in collaboration with Rescue Foundation, where a national database on human trafficking has been established 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.
In this regard, an 18-member national steering committee, made up of individuals from both government and non-governmental agencies, have been put in place to oversee the compilation of the database and to ensure an effective co-ordination and the gathering of data.
The objective of the project 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 areas of trafficked persons.
Despite all the efforts being made, 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.
It is for this reason that a meeting with law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, officials from ministries departments and agencies, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations was held in Accra over the week to assess the country’s progress in combating human trafficking.
The meeting which was the second to be organised on an annual basis is aimed at challenging participants to review and assess the progress made under a capacity building programme for law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to combat human trafficking and irregular migration through and from Ghana.
Under the capacity building programme, the Royal Danish Embassy has trained 18 judges as resource persons in the area of trafficking and irregular migration with an additional 25 judges who participated in a training workshop which strengthened their knowledge and expertise to prosecute, convict and sentence traffickers.
Also a group of 25 law enforcement officers and prosecutors, involving officials from the AG’s department, the Police Service, Immigration Service, Ghana Navy and officials from the Customs Excise and Preventive Service are also in the process of being trained.
Also through the effort of the embassy, nine law enforcement and judicial officials were taken to the United Kingdom where they visited the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the Crime Prosecution Services, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the UK Border Agency and the Home Office, all in an attempt for them to acquaint themselves with UK policies and best practises put in place to counter trafficking.
The Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ghana, Ms Dyane Epstein, says “in spite of all these implemented activities, the work remains unfinished. We should be under no illusion that we have stopped combating human trafficking, be it in Ghana or elsewhere in the world”.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
HUMAN trafficking, a modern day slavery, has become an international problem affecting millions of people around the world.
In Ghana, aside the international trafficking of the educated to perform informal jobs, the internal trafficking of children to work in fishing or farming communities is a challenge, coupled with the luring of women to engage in prostitution or forced marriages in neighbouring countries or in Europe.
Many children in Ghana are given away by their parents on the pretext of going to stay with a relative but they end up working in the fishing or farming industry under tough conditions.
These children are exploited by their managers or foster parents and are made to carry heavy loads on the farm or dive into the rivers, especially into the Lake Volta, where this activity is most prevalent, to disentangle nets from tree stumps, among other difficult tasks.
Many international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) together with the government has devised many strategies to ensure that the issue of human trafficking became a thing of the past.
Several laws such as the ILO Convention 182 which states that “Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency”, and locally such as the Human Trafficking Act 2005 (Act 694), the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732), the Children’s Act 560 and the Criminal Amendment Code has been ratified to help end human trafficking in the country.
Also the work of the Ghana Anti-human Trafficking Unit under the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Attorney General’s Department is a landmark achievement for criminal justice respondents in the country. This intelligence-led investigation, has led to the arrest and subsequent prosecution of members of organised and international human trafficking rings.
Recently, three Chinese and a Ghanaian suspected of being part of a ring trafficking Chinese women into Ghana for prostitution were arrested and prosecuted.
Also a couple in Cape Coast who received trafficked children for purposes of engaging them to work for them were arrested and prosecuted.
Several other moves have been made to help halt migration across the country, a recent one was by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in collaboration with Rescue Foundation, where a national database on human trafficking has been established 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.
In this regard, an 18-member national steering committee, made up of individuals from both government and non-governmental agencies, have been put in place to oversee the compilation of the database and to ensure an effective co-ordination and the gathering of data.
The objective of the project 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 areas of trafficked persons.
Despite all the efforts being made, 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.
It is for this reason that a meeting with law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, officials from ministries departments and agencies, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations was held in Accra over the week to assess the country’s progress in combating human trafficking.
The meeting which was the second to be organised on an annual basis is aimed at challenging participants to review and assess the progress made under a capacity building programme for law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to combat human trafficking and irregular migration through and from Ghana.
Under the capacity building programme, the Royal Danish Embassy has trained 18 judges as resource persons in the area of trafficking and irregular migration with an additional 25 judges who participated in a training workshop which strengthened their knowledge and expertise to prosecute, convict and sentence traffickers.
Also a group of 25 law enforcement officers and prosecutors, involving officials from the AG’s department, the Police Service, Immigration Service, Ghana Navy and officials from the Customs Excise and Preventive Service are also in the process of being trained.
Also through the effort of the embassy, nine law enforcement and judicial officials were taken to the United Kingdom where they visited the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the Crime Prosecution Services, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the UK Border Agency and the Home Office, all in an attempt for them to acquaint themselves with UK policies and best practises put in place to counter trafficking.
The Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ghana, Ms Dyane Epstein, says “in spite of all these implemented activities, the work remains unfinished. We should be under no illusion that we have stopped combating human trafficking, be it in Ghana or elsewhere in the world”.
World marketing forum ends
Daily Graphic, Pg. 33 Wed. Feb. 24/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
This year’s World Marketing Forum 2010 held in Accra, attracted 150 participants from various corporate organisations to share ideas on ways to put the marketing profession on a higher pedestal.
The participants came from the banking industry, commerce, trade, the academia, marketing consultants, among others. Also in attendance was Professor Martin Reynolds, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean, Ashcraft International Business School at the Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom; Mr Martyn Mensah, Managing Director, Kasapreko Company Ltd, and Professor Svend Hollensen of Global Marketing Network (GMN).
Organised by the GMN in association with StratAfrique, the key speakers at the forum included Professor Roger Palmer, Head of Management School, Henley Business School, and Mr Kofi Amegashie, Executive Chairman, StratAfrique.
Earlier, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Nicholas Westcott, launched the Global Marketing Network (GMN), Ghana, a professional membership association for marketing and business professionals which will award masters qualification for marketing. The network is affiliated to the Anglia Ruskin University.
The network is a worldwide professional membership association of marketing and business professionals designed to provide marketing and business professionals with the most current knowledge, needed to help them take advantage of new opportunities.
Mr Mensah, who is also the Honorary President of GMN Ghana, said the forum, which brought together professors and academicians, was aimed at supporting young marketing officers to learn at first-hand some of the achievements of successful marketers.
According to him, GMN’s ambition was to put marketers back into the boardrooms where critical decisions were taken.
He said unlike other professions where practitioners could rise to higher levels, marketing officers on the other hand had a ceiling where they could not go beyond.
This, he said, was going change with the launch of GMN Ghana where professional marketers could acquire skills to become top executive in any business set-up.
Mr Kofi Amegashie said marketing as a profession needed to be properly understood, saying that unlike others, it was a profession which could not be easily codified or defined by a set of rules and prescriptions.
According to him, marketing had certain enduring fundamentals and there was a growing and constantly evolving body of knowledge that underpinned everything that a professional marketer did.
He added that marketing, much more than any other area of business, required practitioners to constantly update themselves and to enrich practice by drawing from experiences from all over the world.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
This year’s World Marketing Forum 2010 held in Accra, attracted 150 participants from various corporate organisations to share ideas on ways to put the marketing profession on a higher pedestal.
The participants came from the banking industry, commerce, trade, the academia, marketing consultants, among others. Also in attendance was Professor Martin Reynolds, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean, Ashcraft International Business School at the Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom; Mr Martyn Mensah, Managing Director, Kasapreko Company Ltd, and Professor Svend Hollensen of Global Marketing Network (GMN).
Organised by the GMN in association with StratAfrique, the key speakers at the forum included Professor Roger Palmer, Head of Management School, Henley Business School, and Mr Kofi Amegashie, Executive Chairman, StratAfrique.
Earlier, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Nicholas Westcott, launched the Global Marketing Network (GMN), Ghana, a professional membership association for marketing and business professionals which will award masters qualification for marketing. The network is affiliated to the Anglia Ruskin University.
The network is a worldwide professional membership association of marketing and business professionals designed to provide marketing and business professionals with the most current knowledge, needed to help them take advantage of new opportunities.
Mr Mensah, who is also the Honorary President of GMN Ghana, said the forum, which brought together professors and academicians, was aimed at supporting young marketing officers to learn at first-hand some of the achievements of successful marketers.
According to him, GMN’s ambition was to put marketers back into the boardrooms where critical decisions were taken.
He said unlike other professions where practitioners could rise to higher levels, marketing officers on the other hand had a ceiling where they could not go beyond.
This, he said, was going change with the launch of GMN Ghana where professional marketers could acquire skills to become top executive in any business set-up.
Mr Kofi Amegashie said marketing as a profession needed to be properly understood, saying that unlike others, it was a profession which could not be easily codified or defined by a set of rules and prescriptions.
According to him, marketing had certain enduring fundamentals and there was a growing and constantly evolving body of knowledge that underpinned everything that a professional marketer did.
He added that marketing, much more than any other area of business, required practitioners to constantly update themselves and to enrich practice by drawing from experiences from all over the world.
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