THE first phase of the National Fibre Backbone Network has been completed.
The network which covers Accra through the southern part of the country to Tamale and ends at Ho will provide affordable bandwidth cost to service providers as well as increase the quality of service they render.
This was made known by a deputy Director at the Ministry of Communications, Mr Desmond Boateng, when he deputised for the Minister of Communications, Dr Aggrey Ntim, at the 5th Awards and certification ceremony of the Global Teenager Project (GTP) in Accra.
The project, launched in 1999, is aimed at empowering young people to have access to information and communications technology education.
He also announced the ministry’s facilitation of Community Information Centres (CICs) aimed at affording communities, especially the youth, to participate in the ICT era.
He said the government being well aware that education was the bedrock of human development, continued to demonstrate its commitment to address the challenges of the social and economic pressures of the youthful population, saying “a youthful population is an asset to any nation provided their potential are harnessed and directed”.
Mr Boateng said the government also recognised that an educated youth would facilitate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and addressed the socio-economic development of the country.
To this end, he said the deployment and application of ICTs had been fully incorporated into the new educational reform agenda to generate a highly skilled youth that could help accelerate socio-economic growth.
A Director at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, Ms Hilda Hagan, who read a speech on behalf of the sector minister, Prof. Dominic Fobih, said Ghana had made significant strides in its education system as a result of various reforms, policies and laws, saying that the reforms had also placed emphasis on vocational, technical and agricultural education with more emphasis on ICT.
He said “ICT without doubt has become crucial for the survival of the global world. Indeed, the ICT revolution is having a tremendous impact on the rapid development of world economies and making national economies more interdependent than they were some years back”.
This, he said, was a result of the fact that growth was induced by the flow of information and this realisation, he added, had led most economies into knowledge based ones.
“This realisation has also dawned on developing countries and which are rigorously pursuing the use of ICT as a platform for socio-economic development” he said.
The Director General of the Ghana-Kofi Annan ICT Centre, Ms Dorothy Gordon, who chaired the ceremony called on the students and their teachers to endeavour to learn and acquire new and more cost effective technologies in their studies.
The project Manager of GTP, Mr Ebenezer Malcolm, in a welcome address said the project would from 2008 train more students and teachers in ICT to promote sound ICT education in the country.
Awards and certificates were presented to some students and teachers who excelled in the work of the project.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
NVTI to introduce three compulsory subjects (Edu Pg) Dec /28/07
THE National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) will from January 2008 introduce three compulsory subjects to make its products more marketable.
The subjects are Mathematics, English and Entrepreneurial Skills which hitherto were optional. They will now be formalised and trainees would be assessed as part of their vocational training qualifications from June 2009.
The Director of the NVTI, Mr Stephen B. Amponsah, who made this known at a media briefing in Accra, said the three subjects would also make its products self-reliant and enable them to pursue higher learning in tertiary institutions.
He said the decision became necessary after a careful research was conducted into the teaching and learning of technical and vocational skills in the country.
He said the research exposed the challenges of students who went into vocational training and, therefore, the Mathematics and English subjects had been structured in a way that they would compare favourably with those taught in Senior High Schools.
He said Mathematics would be taught in the first one and a half years of the students’ entry into any vocational training centre while the other two subjects would be taught for the whole four years of the students education.
Mr Amponsah said the quest to improve vocational training as a result of the socio-economic orientation of society had made it necessary for the institute to respond accordingly, saying that the introduction of the three subjects formed part of the requirements of the new educational reform, which, according to him, responded to the country’s quest to improve skills training.
He noted that currently there were 38 government-owned NVTIs across the country with over 600 privately-owned institutions. Most instructors for the 38 institutions had so far been trained for all the three subjects and the private institutions were also making their instructors available for training.
Presently, Mr Amponsah said, the NVTI conducted external examinations for over 30,000 vocational training granduands and 8,000 secretarial graduands in 81 areas annually.
The subjects are Mathematics, English and Entrepreneurial Skills which hitherto were optional. They will now be formalised and trainees would be assessed as part of their vocational training qualifications from June 2009.
The Director of the NVTI, Mr Stephen B. Amponsah, who made this known at a media briefing in Accra, said the three subjects would also make its products self-reliant and enable them to pursue higher learning in tertiary institutions.
He said the decision became necessary after a careful research was conducted into the teaching and learning of technical and vocational skills in the country.
He said the research exposed the challenges of students who went into vocational training and, therefore, the Mathematics and English subjects had been structured in a way that they would compare favourably with those taught in Senior High Schools.
He said Mathematics would be taught in the first one and a half years of the students’ entry into any vocational training centre while the other two subjects would be taught for the whole four years of the students education.
Mr Amponsah said the quest to improve vocational training as a result of the socio-economic orientation of society had made it necessary for the institute to respond accordingly, saying that the introduction of the three subjects formed part of the requirements of the new educational reform, which, according to him, responded to the country’s quest to improve skills training.
He noted that currently there were 38 government-owned NVTIs across the country with over 600 privately-owned institutions. Most instructors for the 38 institutions had so far been trained for all the three subjects and the private institutions were also making their instructors available for training.
Presently, Mr Amponsah said, the NVTI conducted external examinations for over 30,000 vocational training granduands and 8,000 secretarial graduands in 81 areas annually.
Deegbe condemns political (pol page) Dec/14/07
THE General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Reverend Fred Deegbe has condemned the blatant display of affluence on the part of some political party presidential aspirants during their campaigns in the face of abject poverty among many Ghanains.
He said the wanton display of wealth among the aspirants was a mark of insensitivity on their part to the plight of many poor Ghanaians, adding that it was unacceptable in the face of poverty among the general public.
Rev. Deegbe said this in an interview in Accra today with the Daily Graphic where he said although he was not against people campaigning to win political positions, but the rate at which some presidential aspirants were spending lavishly was not sending good signals to the electorate.
He said the process could also make the election loose their essense of electing the choice of the people and make people vote according to how much they receiveed.
Wondering why one would want to “splash so much money on a primary election”, Rev. Deegbe then retorted that no one knows what else will happen when such aspirants win the elections.
He stated that the display of wealth by such politicians would also reinforce the perception that politicians were seeking to assume positions not to better the lives of the people but to enrich themselves.
Commenting on the display of gigantic bill boards mounted in front of the University of Ghana, Legon prior to the holding of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) congress which comes off on December 22, 2007, Rev. Deegbe said commuters along the road just look at the boards and chuckle in amazement.
The aspirants he said were not being modest in their campaign saying that the trend of the campaign prior to the primaries was rather disturbing and warned that the method adopted if not checked may backfire to the detriment of the party.
He said the wanton display of wealth among the aspirants was a mark of insensitivity on their part to the plight of many poor Ghanaians, adding that it was unacceptable in the face of poverty among the general public.
Rev. Deegbe said this in an interview in Accra today with the Daily Graphic where he said although he was not against people campaigning to win political positions, but the rate at which some presidential aspirants were spending lavishly was not sending good signals to the electorate.
He said the process could also make the election loose their essense of electing the choice of the people and make people vote according to how much they receiveed.
Wondering why one would want to “splash so much money on a primary election”, Rev. Deegbe then retorted that no one knows what else will happen when such aspirants win the elections.
He stated that the display of wealth by such politicians would also reinforce the perception that politicians were seeking to assume positions not to better the lives of the people but to enrich themselves.
Commenting on the display of gigantic bill boards mounted in front of the University of Ghana, Legon prior to the holding of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) congress which comes off on December 22, 2007, Rev. Deegbe said commuters along the road just look at the boards and chuckle in amazement.
The aspirants he said were not being modest in their campaign saying that the trend of the campaign prior to the primaries was rather disturbing and warned that the method adopted if not checked may backfire to the detriment of the party.
We recorded low sales during Christmas- Say market women Pg 11 Dec 3,2007
A number of market women who constitute the bulk of traders in Accra said they recorded low sales during the Christmas festivities.
The women, who were interviewed at four major markets in Accra, namely Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie, Makola and Dome, said although the prices of goods were comparable to those of the previous year, sale of their items slowed down considerably.
They said although people thronged the markets in their numbers, they did not buy the various items in large quantities as they used to do in the past.
At the Kaneshie Market, Sister Dede who sells tomatoes at the market said most of her customers bought not more than a basket of tomatoes which she said cost GH¢3.50
She said although the price was a bit higher last year during the festivities, people bought at least two baskets as most of them stored them for use later.
Okailey who sells vegetables at the Kaneshie market said sales had been bad for her as well.
She said she used to sell ear-rings but went into the sale of vegetables in December last year after she was introduced to it by a friend and indicated that, business was then good.
According to her, however, this year she had regretted for not supplementing her business with other things such as spices, a strategy she said most people had adopted.
At the Dome market, although the place looked vibrant, most of the plantain sellers who were interviewed said people only asked of the prices of the commodity without buying.
A plantain seller, Auntie Akua, said she had to reduce her prices for most of her regular customers since that was the only way she could convince them to buy.
She said although she sold most of her plantains, she was not content with the amount of money she had.
At the Makola No.1 market, the story was the same as one market woman screamed at this reporter when asked how business was doing. She made a statement in Ga which translates to mean that, “They are not buying, they are not buying, just as you have also come to ask about prices, that is what they all do”.
At the Agbogbloshie market where most people prefer to buy their foodstuff in bulk because prices there were cheaper, market women were seen doing brisk business as people were seen hoarding away tomatoes, plantain, cassava and other foodstuffs during the holidays.
When asked how business was doing, Awonye who is a trader in foodstuffs said for her, business was good as people were buying in bulk.
She said although it was not so the previous week people were buying more plantain, cassava, garden eggs and cocoyam and she was the only person who gave this reporter a smile when she was being interviewed.
The situation also did not favour people who dealt in fowls as they also complained that sales were not encouraging.
When asked how many fowls they sold in a day during this Christmas festivities, one dealer in livestock said he sold a maximum of five birds in a day and said this was not the business he was expecting to do.
One fowl depending on the size, sold between GH¢8 and GH¢15 and people they said were complaining that it was expensive.
The women, who were interviewed at four major markets in Accra, namely Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie, Makola and Dome, said although the prices of goods were comparable to those of the previous year, sale of their items slowed down considerably.
They said although people thronged the markets in their numbers, they did not buy the various items in large quantities as they used to do in the past.
At the Kaneshie Market, Sister Dede who sells tomatoes at the market said most of her customers bought not more than a basket of tomatoes which she said cost GH¢3.50
She said although the price was a bit higher last year during the festivities, people bought at least two baskets as most of them stored them for use later.
Okailey who sells vegetables at the Kaneshie market said sales had been bad for her as well.
She said she used to sell ear-rings but went into the sale of vegetables in December last year after she was introduced to it by a friend and indicated that, business was then good.
According to her, however, this year she had regretted for not supplementing her business with other things such as spices, a strategy she said most people had adopted.
At the Dome market, although the place looked vibrant, most of the plantain sellers who were interviewed said people only asked of the prices of the commodity without buying.
A plantain seller, Auntie Akua, said she had to reduce her prices for most of her regular customers since that was the only way she could convince them to buy.
She said although she sold most of her plantains, she was not content with the amount of money she had.
At the Makola No.1 market, the story was the same as one market woman screamed at this reporter when asked how business was doing. She made a statement in Ga which translates to mean that, “They are not buying, they are not buying, just as you have also come to ask about prices, that is what they all do”.
At the Agbogbloshie market where most people prefer to buy their foodstuff in bulk because prices there were cheaper, market women were seen doing brisk business as people were seen hoarding away tomatoes, plantain, cassava and other foodstuffs during the holidays.
When asked how business was doing, Awonye who is a trader in foodstuffs said for her, business was good as people were buying in bulk.
She said although it was not so the previous week people were buying more plantain, cassava, garden eggs and cocoyam and she was the only person who gave this reporter a smile when she was being interviewed.
The situation also did not favour people who dealt in fowls as they also complained that sales were not encouraging.
When asked how many fowls they sold in a day during this Christmas festivities, one dealer in livestock said he sold a maximum of five birds in a day and said this was not the business he was expecting to do.
One fowl depending on the size, sold between GH¢8 and GH¢15 and people they said were complaining that it was expensive.
Patience finds delight in sewing for men (W'mens Pg) Dec 27, 2007
WITH an all-male clientele, Ms Patience Newman of Patnew Designs is a lady who finds delight in designing men's outfit.
Her designs range from suits to long and short sleeved shirts, boubou and caftans, casual, executive to church wear, as well as outfits for special occasions such as engagement, wedding and naming ceremonies.
One may think that it is only women who have special needs for different occasions but at the showroom of Patnew Designs located at North Kaneshie, near Big Boss she has a wide range of men’s outfits from which men can select what they want for any special occasion.
With an ambition to be a lawyer as she was growing up, Pat, as she is affectionately called, had to divert her course as pressing family needs made it impossible for her to pursue her dream.
She therefore decided some 17 years ago to go into trading and established her company called Patnew Ventures of which the designing outfit is a subsidiary.
With only two months experience as an apprentice, Pat started sewing cloths for friends of her father and brothers and that was what made her decide to go into the sewing of men’s clothing.
She also explained that she concentrated on the sewing of male outfits because according to her, that sold faster. She has trained about 28 people in the fashion business.
With her workshop located at Exhibition in Dansoman, Pat has employed 12 people who assist her at the workshop and they produce about 50 different types of men outfits a day.
She gets her fabrics from a supplier in the United States of America (USA) and buys some on the local market. She mentioned her preferred fabrics as cotton and African prints such as Woodin, GTP and ATL, all of which she buys on the local market.
At the showroom of Patnew Designs, a man can also purchase watches, neck ties, shoes and other basic necessities for any occasion.
She markets her wears not only in Accra but also takes them to other places such as the Western and Ashanti regions and hopes to explore the international market in the near future.
Pat says she is ambitious and plans to expand her business but complains about problems with the acquisition of loans, which she says is not flexible. She, however, indicated that she intends to establish a one-stop shop where people can walk in and have all that they desire in the next few years.
She also operates a cleaning service and an interior decoration outfit and she hopes to add a restaurant and salon.
Pat described sewing as “the greatest job on earth” explaining that people always want to have new clothing. She, therefore, advised people who have the flair to go into sewing and designing without any hesitation.
• Ms Patience Newman arranging some of her accessories at the showroom.
Her designs range from suits to long and short sleeved shirts, boubou and caftans, casual, executive to church wear, as well as outfits for special occasions such as engagement, wedding and naming ceremonies.
One may think that it is only women who have special needs for different occasions but at the showroom of Patnew Designs located at North Kaneshie, near Big Boss she has a wide range of men’s outfits from which men can select what they want for any special occasion.
With an ambition to be a lawyer as she was growing up, Pat, as she is affectionately called, had to divert her course as pressing family needs made it impossible for her to pursue her dream.
She therefore decided some 17 years ago to go into trading and established her company called Patnew Ventures of which the designing outfit is a subsidiary.
With only two months experience as an apprentice, Pat started sewing cloths for friends of her father and brothers and that was what made her decide to go into the sewing of men’s clothing.
She also explained that she concentrated on the sewing of male outfits because according to her, that sold faster. She has trained about 28 people in the fashion business.
With her workshop located at Exhibition in Dansoman, Pat has employed 12 people who assist her at the workshop and they produce about 50 different types of men outfits a day.
She gets her fabrics from a supplier in the United States of America (USA) and buys some on the local market. She mentioned her preferred fabrics as cotton and African prints such as Woodin, GTP and ATL, all of which she buys on the local market.
At the showroom of Patnew Designs, a man can also purchase watches, neck ties, shoes and other basic necessities for any occasion.
She markets her wears not only in Accra but also takes them to other places such as the Western and Ashanti regions and hopes to explore the international market in the near future.
Pat says she is ambitious and plans to expand her business but complains about problems with the acquisition of loans, which she says is not flexible. She, however, indicated that she intends to establish a one-stop shop where people can walk in and have all that they desire in the next few years.
She also operates a cleaning service and an interior decoration outfit and she hopes to add a restaurant and salon.
Pat described sewing as “the greatest job on earth” explaining that people always want to have new clothing. She, therefore, advised people who have the flair to go into sewing and designing without any hesitation.
• Ms Patience Newman arranging some of her accessories at the showroom.
File women as running mates - Gender activists tell political parties Dec/27/07
GENDER activists have challenged aspirants of the various political parties contesting in the 2008 general elections to choose women as their running mates.
This, they maintained, will be a big step towards improving the status of women.
They made the statement at the end of their annual review meeting in Accra during which the status of women for the year 2007 was reviewed.
Recounting activities to improve the status of women from the passage of the Domestic Violence Law (DV Law) through the celebration of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee to the appointment of the country’s first female judge after 50 years of independence, the activists graded the overall status of women in the country as encouraging but added that there was still more room for improvement.
Organised by the Network for Women’s Right in Ghana (NETRIGHT) in Accra, the review programme, which is the fifth to be organised by the Network, brought together women’s groups, gender activists, market women and some organisations and institutions.
Reviewing the status of women, Dr Audrey Gadzekpo said women’s contribution in the country for the past years should be firmly documented in the history of the country.
She said over the years, the contribution of women to the political struggle of the country had been relegated to the background and that she said was evidently clear in the celebration of the Ghana@50.
Describing the neglect of women in the jubilee programme as an “omission to national memory”, Dr Gadzekpo said women contributed significantly to the national struggle, especially during the Convention People’s Party (CPP) era.
She mentioned Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, first female Chief Justice, Mrs Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, for Rule of Law in Liberia ,Second in Command to Liberia, Ms Louise Carol Okine, first Female President of the Students’ Representative Council of the University of Ghana, Legon and Mrs Angela Naa Sarqua Okine who combined studies at the Ghana Law School with work and managed to sweep seven awards when lawyers were called to the Bar, as some women who excelled in the year under review.
She commended the government and gender activists who worked tirelessly to bring to fruition the passage of the DV Law and called for similar support for the establishment of an institutionalisation framework for its implementation.
She called on government to strengthen the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and equip it to be able to champion the task of formulating a gender responsive budget for ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s) as well as take up more gender responsive roles.
Touching on the flood disaster which affected the Northern Region of the country in August this year, Dr Gadzekpo said the disaster exposed the vulnerability of the people by affecting the poorest of the poor, most of whom she said were women.
She however commended efforts made by the government and various organisations to assist the flood victims.
She also raised the issue of the Accra Metropolitan Authority’s (AMA) demolition of structures belonging to some market women in and around the Tema Station in Accra, saying that the exercise was a shock to women groups and gender activists.
She said the livelihood of the women who mostly were the bread winners of their families were taken away from them, and indicated that they would monitor the AMA to ensure that they lived up to their promise of resettling the affected women.
She further touched on the issue of forced marriages in the country and cited two examples where teenagers from the northern part of the country were given into marriage and was happy that the law was dealing with the perpetrators of both crimes.
On the international scene she said women were making significant strives despite the fact that they continued to be victimised across the globe.
On the outlook for 2008, Dr Gadzekpo called on activists to be more viable to get more women to contest the 2008 presidential and general elections, and also called on political parties to field more women candidates, especially in their strongholds.
She also called on political leaders to be abreast with issues raised in the Women’s Manifesto and initiate measures to address them to help better the lot of women in the country.
The NETRIGHT, as a show of solidarity to the Tema market women, presented GH¢100 to support the women and their families and also awarded five to individuals, organisations and institutions for excelling in their quest for gender mainstreaming.
This, they maintained, will be a big step towards improving the status of women.
They made the statement at the end of their annual review meeting in Accra during which the status of women for the year 2007 was reviewed.
Recounting activities to improve the status of women from the passage of the Domestic Violence Law (DV Law) through the celebration of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee to the appointment of the country’s first female judge after 50 years of independence, the activists graded the overall status of women in the country as encouraging but added that there was still more room for improvement.
Organised by the Network for Women’s Right in Ghana (NETRIGHT) in Accra, the review programme, which is the fifth to be organised by the Network, brought together women’s groups, gender activists, market women and some organisations and institutions.
Reviewing the status of women, Dr Audrey Gadzekpo said women’s contribution in the country for the past years should be firmly documented in the history of the country.
She said over the years, the contribution of women to the political struggle of the country had been relegated to the background and that she said was evidently clear in the celebration of the Ghana@50.
Describing the neglect of women in the jubilee programme as an “omission to national memory”, Dr Gadzekpo said women contributed significantly to the national struggle, especially during the Convention People’s Party (CPP) era.
She mentioned Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, first female Chief Justice, Mrs Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, for Rule of Law in Liberia ,Second in Command to Liberia, Ms Louise Carol Okine, first Female President of the Students’ Representative Council of the University of Ghana, Legon and Mrs Angela Naa Sarqua Okine who combined studies at the Ghana Law School with work and managed to sweep seven awards when lawyers were called to the Bar, as some women who excelled in the year under review.
She commended the government and gender activists who worked tirelessly to bring to fruition the passage of the DV Law and called for similar support for the establishment of an institutionalisation framework for its implementation.
She called on government to strengthen the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and equip it to be able to champion the task of formulating a gender responsive budget for ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s) as well as take up more gender responsive roles.
Touching on the flood disaster which affected the Northern Region of the country in August this year, Dr Gadzekpo said the disaster exposed the vulnerability of the people by affecting the poorest of the poor, most of whom she said were women.
She however commended efforts made by the government and various organisations to assist the flood victims.
She also raised the issue of the Accra Metropolitan Authority’s (AMA) demolition of structures belonging to some market women in and around the Tema Station in Accra, saying that the exercise was a shock to women groups and gender activists.
She said the livelihood of the women who mostly were the bread winners of their families were taken away from them, and indicated that they would monitor the AMA to ensure that they lived up to their promise of resettling the affected women.
She further touched on the issue of forced marriages in the country and cited two examples where teenagers from the northern part of the country were given into marriage and was happy that the law was dealing with the perpetrators of both crimes.
On the international scene she said women were making significant strives despite the fact that they continued to be victimised across the globe.
On the outlook for 2008, Dr Gadzekpo called on activists to be more viable to get more women to contest the 2008 presidential and general elections, and also called on political parties to field more women candidates, especially in their strongholds.
She also called on political leaders to be abreast with issues raised in the Women’s Manifesto and initiate measures to address them to help better the lot of women in the country.
The NETRIGHT, as a show of solidarity to the Tema market women, presented GH¢100 to support the women and their families and also awarded five to individuals, organisations and institutions for excelling in their quest for gender mainstreaming.
Stakeholders dialogue on Gender Budgeting Dec/31/07
The proposed Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative is aimed at giving a further boost to women’s participation in the taking of economic decisions.
When introduced, Ghana will be the 41st country in the world to have adopted such an initiative, which is to be implemented soon.
This, according to those who initiated the system, would help strengthen women’s participation in economic decision-making through their engagement in budgetary processes, as well as enhance the incorporation of gender into economic governance and leadership processes.
To this end, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country have been called upon to change their organisational culture to accommodate gender responsive budgeting in their programmes.
At a stakeholders seminar on Gender Budgeting Initiative (GBI) organised by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) and the National Development Planning Committee (NDPC) in Accra on Thursday, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, announced that her outfit had developed a gender mainstreaming and budgeting tool kit to train desk officers of MDA’s under the pilot programme.
The need for a GBI became necessary after Cabinet approved the adoption of a gender responsive budgeting guideline for all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the 2008 budget.
The approval, which was in response to a memorandum of understanding submitted by Hajia Mahama, also gave policy direction for all the MDAs to take into account critical gender equality, equity and women empowerment concerns at all levels of activity planning and resource allocation.
Outlining the objectives of the seminar, she said it was aimed at enlightening the stakeholders to understand gender responsive budgeting and its role in the accelerated growth and poverty reduction agenda of the country.
The seminar, she said, was also to expose policy makers, planners and resource allocation institutions to the enormous benefits of gender responsive budgeting.
She also said stakeholders at the seminar were also expected to familiarise themselves with the step-by-step approaches involved in the gender responsive budgeting process, as well as draw lessons from good practices and challenges of other countries.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Ghana, Mr Daouda Toure, in an address said gender budgeting was important to the work of the UNDP and the entire UN system in its efforts to support governments to achieve sustainable and equitable human development, especially with regards to commitments made to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Gender budgeting he said, would ensure that budget allocated reflected the differential needs of men and women based on an analysis of the needs of each group.
When implemented, Mr Toure said gender budgeting would also help citizens to hold governments accountable for their commitment to gender equality and women’s human rights.
He further explained that the budget, as one of a country’s most important economic instruments, expressed a government’s relationship with its people and could also be used in ways that demonstrated national commitment to empower citizens as well as promote opportunities and self development.
Adopting a gender responsive budget, according to him, was also a reflection of the political will within a country to confront the socio-cultural, economic and development challenges the country faces .
Mr Antwi Baffour who represented the Deputy Minister of MOFEP, Prof Gyan-Baffour, said one crucial prerequisite for the acceleration of a gender responsive budget was gender mainstreaming.
He said in furtherance of that objective, the government had ensured that the National Development Policy Framework ,Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) was engendered with specific focus on strategies to address gender inequality, women empowerment, vulnerability and excluded social groups.
Mentioning some of the benefits that the government expected to gain from a gender responsive budget, he said adopting that system would encourage gender perspective in national planning and budgeting process to ensure that the different needs of various social groups; men and women, and particularly the poorest of the poor, most of whom he said were women, were taken into account in the national development policy planning, programme design and resource allocation.
Gender responsive budgeting, he said, would also help the government to probe into whether men and women fared differently under existing revenue and expenditure patterns, thereby providing the government the opportunity to understand and appreciate how various social groups responded differently to development policy change over time.
He said it would also help the government to appreciate the need to adjust its priorities and resource allocation in line with its commitment to achieving gender equality under the MDGs.
A Capacity Building and Gender Consultant, Mrs Patience Agyare Kwabia, who made a presentation on ‘Operational definition of gender budgeting and its benefits to Ghana’s accelerated growth and development’ said the introduction of such an initiative would help break the cycle of what she described as ‘neutral budgets’ which did not specify benefits for men, women and children.
• Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister MOWAC, addressing the seminar. With her are, the Chief Director of MOWAC, Mr Valentine Kuuzume (left), and Mr Antwi Baffour from MOFEP who deputised for the Deputy Minister of Finance, Prof Gyan- Baffour.
When introduced, Ghana will be the 41st country in the world to have adopted such an initiative, which is to be implemented soon.
This, according to those who initiated the system, would help strengthen women’s participation in economic decision-making through their engagement in budgetary processes, as well as enhance the incorporation of gender into economic governance and leadership processes.
To this end, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country have been called upon to change their organisational culture to accommodate gender responsive budgeting in their programmes.
At a stakeholders seminar on Gender Budgeting Initiative (GBI) organised by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) and the National Development Planning Committee (NDPC) in Accra on Thursday, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, announced that her outfit had developed a gender mainstreaming and budgeting tool kit to train desk officers of MDA’s under the pilot programme.
The need for a GBI became necessary after Cabinet approved the adoption of a gender responsive budgeting guideline for all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the 2008 budget.
The approval, which was in response to a memorandum of understanding submitted by Hajia Mahama, also gave policy direction for all the MDAs to take into account critical gender equality, equity and women empowerment concerns at all levels of activity planning and resource allocation.
Outlining the objectives of the seminar, she said it was aimed at enlightening the stakeholders to understand gender responsive budgeting and its role in the accelerated growth and poverty reduction agenda of the country.
The seminar, she said, was also to expose policy makers, planners and resource allocation institutions to the enormous benefits of gender responsive budgeting.
She also said stakeholders at the seminar were also expected to familiarise themselves with the step-by-step approaches involved in the gender responsive budgeting process, as well as draw lessons from good practices and challenges of other countries.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Ghana, Mr Daouda Toure, in an address said gender budgeting was important to the work of the UNDP and the entire UN system in its efforts to support governments to achieve sustainable and equitable human development, especially with regards to commitments made to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Gender budgeting he said, would ensure that budget allocated reflected the differential needs of men and women based on an analysis of the needs of each group.
When implemented, Mr Toure said gender budgeting would also help citizens to hold governments accountable for their commitment to gender equality and women’s human rights.
He further explained that the budget, as one of a country’s most important economic instruments, expressed a government’s relationship with its people and could also be used in ways that demonstrated national commitment to empower citizens as well as promote opportunities and self development.
Adopting a gender responsive budget, according to him, was also a reflection of the political will within a country to confront the socio-cultural, economic and development challenges the country faces .
Mr Antwi Baffour who represented the Deputy Minister of MOFEP, Prof Gyan-Baffour, said one crucial prerequisite for the acceleration of a gender responsive budget was gender mainstreaming.
He said in furtherance of that objective, the government had ensured that the National Development Policy Framework ,Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) was engendered with specific focus on strategies to address gender inequality, women empowerment, vulnerability and excluded social groups.
Mentioning some of the benefits that the government expected to gain from a gender responsive budget, he said adopting that system would encourage gender perspective in national planning and budgeting process to ensure that the different needs of various social groups; men and women, and particularly the poorest of the poor, most of whom he said were women, were taken into account in the national development policy planning, programme design and resource allocation.
Gender responsive budgeting, he said, would also help the government to probe into whether men and women fared differently under existing revenue and expenditure patterns, thereby providing the government the opportunity to understand and appreciate how various social groups responded differently to development policy change over time.
He said it would also help the government to appreciate the need to adjust its priorities and resource allocation in line with its commitment to achieving gender equality under the MDGs.
A Capacity Building and Gender Consultant, Mrs Patience Agyare Kwabia, who made a presentation on ‘Operational definition of gender budgeting and its benefits to Ghana’s accelerated growth and development’ said the introduction of such an initiative would help break the cycle of what she described as ‘neutral budgets’ which did not specify benefits for men, women and children.
• Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister MOWAC, addressing the seminar. With her are, the Chief Director of MOWAC, Mr Valentine Kuuzume (left), and Mr Antwi Baffour from MOFEP who deputised for the Deputy Minister of Finance, Prof Gyan- Baffour.
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