Daily Graphic, Pg 17, Thurs. April 16/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SOME female Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on donor agencies, women groups and gender advocates to support more women with funds and logistics to encourage them take active interest in local governance.
They said the district assemblies served as good grounds for grooming women to push them to into national level politics and also participate in decision-making at various levels, adding that, that was necessary to increase the number of women in parliament.
They made the statement at a reception held for female MPs and women in leadership positions in the country by the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), under its ‘We know politics project’, in Accra.
Some of the women, who recounted their experiences during the electioneering before they were elected as MPs, described their experiences as unpleasant, and pointed out that, the situation scared most women to stay out of politics.
The MP for Jomoro, Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah, recounted how she had to look for funds to support her foot soldiers and how some contestants in the election made everything possible to thwart her efforts.
The MP for Lower West Akim, Ms Gifty Kleenam, who is a farmer, said she was motivated to enter politics because she had a lot to offer her people who are mostly into citrus farming, saying that her aim is to provide employment for most of the youth by training them to add value to whatever they produced from their farms.
The MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem and former Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament, Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, said women in parliament have achieved a lot for their various communities and appealed to the media to focus more on some of their achievements.
She said parliament for a long time, had been dominated by men, stressing that the few women who found themselves in the House have to work hard to contribute to debates and move motions or play major roles on the floor of the House.
The MP for Ayawaso West Wogon, Ms Frema Osei Opare on her part, called for more support for women in parliament, saying that most often, they were unable to get access to research materials to enable them make meaningful contributions on the floor of the House.
The Minister for Trade and Industries, Ms Hanna Tetteh, called on women to put aside partisan politics and forge ahead as one people with a common goal saying, that is the only way that issues concerning women and children will be effectively addressed.
“If we really mean what we say about promoting women in politics than we must move beyond party lines” she said.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua said through collaboration with other women oriented organisations, the issues of women and children could be tackled effectively saying that her ministry was ready to collaborate and work with women’s groups to achieve their aim.
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr (Mrs) Esther Ofei Aboagye, who reviewed women’s participation in the 2008 general election, said the outcome was not encouraging as the number of women has reduced from 25 in the previous House to 20.
She said there was the need for a vigorous efforts from both NGO’s and government to help increase the number of women in the House, saying that women’s participation was vital to the overall development of the country.
A former Council of State Member, Mrs Gifty Afenyie- Dadzie, who gave a brief remark of some of the challenges that women entrepreneurs go through, said although it was difficult in the beginning, one had to combine the work in the office and at home effectively.
Mrs Afenyie- Dadzie, who is the Vice-president of the First African Forex Bureau, called on women to build up confidence in everything they did, polish their skills and always remember that there are people who looks up to them.
The Director of Programmes of the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), Ms Sarah Mukasa gave the assurance that her organisation was ready to help with women oriented initiatives and therefore called on the female MPs to take advantage of the AWDF programmes to help develop their communities.
The Board Chairperson of WiLDAF, Dr Cherub Antwi-Nsiah, said the interaction provided an opportunity to link the female MPs with other women in decision-making positions to consult on issues of common interest, as well as interact with some partners in development agencies.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Fighting maternal mortality-MDG campaign coalition launches poster
Daily Graphic, Pg. 11. Tuesday, April 14/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Ghana Millennium Development Goal (MDG) campaign coalition has launched a poster aimed at educating people on maternal mortality issues.
The move forms part of efforts to promote women’s access to quality health care and enhance the attainment of MDG5, which aims at reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015 globally.
Dubbed 'Nye Bloaa', (translated to mean ‘make noise’) the poster is a social call on people to put in more effort to help reduce the maternal mortality ratio in the country. The caption of the poster, which was originally developed in Swahili and dubbed ‘Piga Debee’, literally translated to mean ‘to shout’, was adopted by the MDG campaign coalition.
In Ghana it is estimated that 210 women out of every 100,000 die from pregnancy related cases and the MDG5 aims to improve maternal health under two targets. One is to reduce maternal deaths and the other to provide universal access to reproductive health. However, according to health experts, little progress has been made over the past two decades.
It is further estimated that every year more than 500,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth and over 50 million suffer from poor reproductive health. Many pregnant women in developing countries have little or no access to health services or trained professionals like midwives, and according to health experts, changing this station will be the difference between life and death for many mothers and their unborn children.
It is said that most women die because there is not enough skilled, regular and emergency care. Although some women have access to skilled birth care in some parts of the world such as in developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that one in 16 women stand the risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth over a lifetime, compared with about one in 2,800 women in the developed world.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua, the Minster for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the poster on behalf of the coalition at a public forum on the theme “Reducing maternal mortality, a women's right”, organised by the Ghana MDGs Campaign under the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) in Accra.
She said “women faced various challenges mainly due to their disadvantaged situation of lower education and poverty which resulted in lack of self-confidence to assert what is their basic right in the area of reproductive health rights.”
According to her, MOWAC acknowledges that achieving the MDG5 is central to the achievement of all the other MDGs, stressing that the country’s inability to achieve MDG5 would hamper other critical efforts necessary for the achievement of the other MDGs.
She said majority of women who died through child birth or pregnancy were adolescent girls and this was because “we have failed to provide them with adequate adolescent friendly services and information about their sexuality to enable them take decisions concerning their lives and well-being”.
She therefore stressed the need for collaboration between religious bodies and organisations to establish youth friendly faculties to enable the youth take decisions and make informed choices concerning their lives and for their well-being.
She said although some churches were not in favour of contraceptive usage, the reality was that church members were not abstaining from sex while some married couples in the church do not want to practise family planning.
“I believe we can save lives and promote life by planning our families to prevent unwanted pregnancies which are likely to result in unsafe abortions. The demands for religious doctrines notwithstanding, we should be able in our rationality to appreciate the proven benefits of science in safe contraceptive methods”, she added.
A gynaecologist at the La General Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, mentioned some of the immediate causes of maternal mortality as haemorrhage, which according to him, contributes to 25 per cent of maternal deaths; pregnancy induced hypertension, 17 per cent; infection 22 per cent; obstructed labour 11 per cent; unsafe abortion 13 per cent, while other causes account for 22 per cent.
He said most of these deaths, which are associated with remote socio-cultural causes such as the status of women, cultural practices, religion, education, economic and environmental/infrastructure were preventable.
The Executive Secretary of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecilia Lordonu, who also gave a presentation on maternal mortality said although ante-natal and delivery services were free, women still did not have easy access to such facilities.
According to her most women were losing their lives because they were still patronising the services of traditional birth attendance (TBAs), some of whom lacked professional competence. She therefore called on the government to ensure that TBAs were given professional training as a way of helping to reduce the country’s maternal mortality.
Mrs Lordonu also mentioned some customs and traditional practices as contributory factors to maternal mortality and that in some rural communities, custom demanded that women had to seek permission from their husbands before they attended ante-natal care.
The General Secretary of the CCG, Reverend Fred Deegbe, said there was the need for more women to be educated on their reproductive rights, adding that when women are given such education, other members of the family, including their children and husbands also benefit.
He said the causes of maternal mortality were known and, therefore, there was the need for proactive measures to reduce it.
Rev. Alfred Kwabi of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) campaign of the Ghana MDG Secretariat, said the level of infant mortality in the country was unacceptable and called for a concerted effort to address it.
He called on the Ministry of Health to intensify efforts to ensure that every pregnant woman seeks ante-natal care, through the provision of more ante-natal care centres across the country.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Ghana Millennium Development Goal (MDG) campaign coalition has launched a poster aimed at educating people on maternal mortality issues.
The move forms part of efforts to promote women’s access to quality health care and enhance the attainment of MDG5, which aims at reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015 globally.
Dubbed 'Nye Bloaa', (translated to mean ‘make noise’) the poster is a social call on people to put in more effort to help reduce the maternal mortality ratio in the country. The caption of the poster, which was originally developed in Swahili and dubbed ‘Piga Debee’, literally translated to mean ‘to shout’, was adopted by the MDG campaign coalition.
In Ghana it is estimated that 210 women out of every 100,000 die from pregnancy related cases and the MDG5 aims to improve maternal health under two targets. One is to reduce maternal deaths and the other to provide universal access to reproductive health. However, according to health experts, little progress has been made over the past two decades.
It is further estimated that every year more than 500,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth and over 50 million suffer from poor reproductive health. Many pregnant women in developing countries have little or no access to health services or trained professionals like midwives, and according to health experts, changing this station will be the difference between life and death for many mothers and their unborn children.
It is said that most women die because there is not enough skilled, regular and emergency care. Although some women have access to skilled birth care in some parts of the world such as in developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that one in 16 women stand the risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth over a lifetime, compared with about one in 2,800 women in the developed world.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua, the Minster for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the poster on behalf of the coalition at a public forum on the theme “Reducing maternal mortality, a women's right”, organised by the Ghana MDGs Campaign under the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) in Accra.
She said “women faced various challenges mainly due to their disadvantaged situation of lower education and poverty which resulted in lack of self-confidence to assert what is their basic right in the area of reproductive health rights.”
According to her, MOWAC acknowledges that achieving the MDG5 is central to the achievement of all the other MDGs, stressing that the country’s inability to achieve MDG5 would hamper other critical efforts necessary for the achievement of the other MDGs.
She said majority of women who died through child birth or pregnancy were adolescent girls and this was because “we have failed to provide them with adequate adolescent friendly services and information about their sexuality to enable them take decisions concerning their lives and well-being”.
She therefore stressed the need for collaboration between religious bodies and organisations to establish youth friendly faculties to enable the youth take decisions and make informed choices concerning their lives and for their well-being.
She said although some churches were not in favour of contraceptive usage, the reality was that church members were not abstaining from sex while some married couples in the church do not want to practise family planning.
“I believe we can save lives and promote life by planning our families to prevent unwanted pregnancies which are likely to result in unsafe abortions. The demands for religious doctrines notwithstanding, we should be able in our rationality to appreciate the proven benefits of science in safe contraceptive methods”, she added.
A gynaecologist at the La General Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, mentioned some of the immediate causes of maternal mortality as haemorrhage, which according to him, contributes to 25 per cent of maternal deaths; pregnancy induced hypertension, 17 per cent; infection 22 per cent; obstructed labour 11 per cent; unsafe abortion 13 per cent, while other causes account for 22 per cent.
He said most of these deaths, which are associated with remote socio-cultural causes such as the status of women, cultural practices, religion, education, economic and environmental/infrastructure were preventable.
The Executive Secretary of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecilia Lordonu, who also gave a presentation on maternal mortality said although ante-natal and delivery services were free, women still did not have easy access to such facilities.
According to her most women were losing their lives because they were still patronising the services of traditional birth attendance (TBAs), some of whom lacked professional competence. She therefore called on the government to ensure that TBAs were given professional training as a way of helping to reduce the country’s maternal mortality.
Mrs Lordonu also mentioned some customs and traditional practices as contributory factors to maternal mortality and that in some rural communities, custom demanded that women had to seek permission from their husbands before they attended ante-natal care.
The General Secretary of the CCG, Reverend Fred Deegbe, said there was the need for more women to be educated on their reproductive rights, adding that when women are given such education, other members of the family, including their children and husbands also benefit.
He said the causes of maternal mortality were known and, therefore, there was the need for proactive measures to reduce it.
Rev. Alfred Kwabi of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) campaign of the Ghana MDG Secretariat, said the level of infant mortality in the country was unacceptable and called for a concerted effort to address it.
He called on the Ministry of Health to intensify efforts to ensure that every pregnant woman seeks ante-natal care, through the provision of more ante-natal care centres across the country.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Speed up passage of Co-operative Bill
Daily Graphic, Pg. 44, Mon. April 06/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Co-operative Movement of Ghana (CMG) has appealed to parliament to speed up the passage of the Co-operative Bill to meet the peculiar needs of co-operative societies.
Making the call at a seminar organised in Accra by the CMG for members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises in Accra, members of the CMG maintained that, if passed, the Co-operative Law would replace the existing NLC Decree of 1968, which, according to the CMG, has outlived its usefulness.
According to the CMG, “the NLC Decree does not meet the peculiar needs of co-operatives that are evolving, and it does not meet the current macro-economic environment and therefore does not promote growth of the co-operatives”.
According to the President of CMG, Mrs Aba Smith, the co-operative system has become so viable, especially in its contribution to community development, that it has become an enterprise to reckon with.
She said poverty remained the biggest challenge to the development of Ghana and it was the aspiration of the CMG to generate wealth and improve the lives of people, stressing that “co-operatives can work together with the government, to help reduce poverty”.
She further stated that a collaboration between the co-operative movement and government would help improve business confidence in the informal sector, which employs majority of people in the country.
“If this joint venture is achieved together, I hope we would collectively create wealth for our people and therefore push the private sector forward and make it truly the engine of growth.”
She therefore appealed to the parliamentarians to combine their efforts to ensure the speedy development of co-operatives and the passage of the Co-operative Bill into law for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
The General Secretary of the CMG, Mr Albert Prempeh, who briefed the parliamentarians on the past, present and future of the CMG, said it presently had 4,320 societies, 128 district unions, 34 regional unions and 16 national associations, saying that the Co-operative Council was the supra national apex body of the movement, which is currently made up of 14 national associations and unions.
According to him, the government has been supportive to co-operative development, but however pointed out that there were some areas where government actions were inimical to the development of the movement and cited the takeover of the Ghana Co-operative Bank by the Bank of Ghana in 1986, among others.
The parliamentarians in their submissions on some of the issues raised by the CMG, called on the CMG to work at ensuring a better recognition of the movement in the country.
They also called on the executive of the movement to furnish members of the committee with specifics on what the draft bill was about so that they could study and make meaningful contributions when it was brought before the House.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Co-operative Movement of Ghana (CMG) has appealed to parliament to speed up the passage of the Co-operative Bill to meet the peculiar needs of co-operative societies.
Making the call at a seminar organised in Accra by the CMG for members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises in Accra, members of the CMG maintained that, if passed, the Co-operative Law would replace the existing NLC Decree of 1968, which, according to the CMG, has outlived its usefulness.
According to the CMG, “the NLC Decree does not meet the peculiar needs of co-operatives that are evolving, and it does not meet the current macro-economic environment and therefore does not promote growth of the co-operatives”.
According to the President of CMG, Mrs Aba Smith, the co-operative system has become so viable, especially in its contribution to community development, that it has become an enterprise to reckon with.
She said poverty remained the biggest challenge to the development of Ghana and it was the aspiration of the CMG to generate wealth and improve the lives of people, stressing that “co-operatives can work together with the government, to help reduce poverty”.
She further stated that a collaboration between the co-operative movement and government would help improve business confidence in the informal sector, which employs majority of people in the country.
“If this joint venture is achieved together, I hope we would collectively create wealth for our people and therefore push the private sector forward and make it truly the engine of growth.”
She therefore appealed to the parliamentarians to combine their efforts to ensure the speedy development of co-operatives and the passage of the Co-operative Bill into law for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
The General Secretary of the CMG, Mr Albert Prempeh, who briefed the parliamentarians on the past, present and future of the CMG, said it presently had 4,320 societies, 128 district unions, 34 regional unions and 16 national associations, saying that the Co-operative Council was the supra national apex body of the movement, which is currently made up of 14 national associations and unions.
According to him, the government has been supportive to co-operative development, but however pointed out that there were some areas where government actions were inimical to the development of the movement and cited the takeover of the Ghana Co-operative Bank by the Bank of Ghana in 1986, among others.
The parliamentarians in their submissions on some of the issues raised by the CMG, called on the CMG to work at ensuring a better recognition of the movement in the country.
They also called on the executive of the movement to furnish members of the committee with specifics on what the draft bill was about so that they could study and make meaningful contributions when it was brought before the House.
Minister interracts with employees
Daily Graphic, pg. 13. Fri. April 04/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, has paid a working visit to the Department of Women and Children to interact with the staff to know their problems and challenges.
The minister said the 2009 budget of the ministry had made provisions for the construction of an office complex for the ministry to be completed within a two-year period to offer accommodation to all departments and implementing agencies under the ministry.
She said the ministry was finalising a scheme of service to re-outline the specific roles of the two departments, as well as help address concerns of its employees, and to streamline their activities to make them more effective.
At the Department of Children, the minister was received by its acting director, Mr Peter Eduful, who briefed her on some of the problems hindering the progress of the department.
According to him, the department which was poorly resourced financially, also lacked equipment such as computers, and that made it difficult for the staff to meet their annual targets.
He also called for capacity building and skills training for the staff, saying that since issues concerning children demanded special skills there was the need for the staff to be trained adequately to live up to their task.
Some of the staff also raised concerns such as poor remuneration, poor working environment and lack of motivation.
The minister in response said the ministry had appealed to some of its partners for computers and other logistics, and therefore promised that when ever they were made available, she would ensure that the department got its share.
She said the children’s park, which was also under the department, would be given a face-lift by a private developer to ensure that it attracted more revenue for the department.
At the Department of Women, the minister praised the acting Director of the Department, Mrs Francesca Pobee-Hayford, for ensuring commitment and hard work on the part of the staff and encouraged them to continue to exhibit seriousness at all levels to help in the advancement of the status of women in the country.
She said her aim was to work to help better the lot of women and, therefore called on the department to help her achieve that.
She called on the staff to desist from any lackadaisical attitudes and work as a team and share ideas to achieve the objectives of the department and the ministry as a whole.
At both departments the minister stressed the need for them to keep records of their activities for continuity, and also called for attitudinal change on the part of the members of staff.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, has paid a working visit to the Department of Women and Children to interact with the staff to know their problems and challenges.
The minister said the 2009 budget of the ministry had made provisions for the construction of an office complex for the ministry to be completed within a two-year period to offer accommodation to all departments and implementing agencies under the ministry.
She said the ministry was finalising a scheme of service to re-outline the specific roles of the two departments, as well as help address concerns of its employees, and to streamline their activities to make them more effective.
At the Department of Children, the minister was received by its acting director, Mr Peter Eduful, who briefed her on some of the problems hindering the progress of the department.
According to him, the department which was poorly resourced financially, also lacked equipment such as computers, and that made it difficult for the staff to meet their annual targets.
He also called for capacity building and skills training for the staff, saying that since issues concerning children demanded special skills there was the need for the staff to be trained adequately to live up to their task.
Some of the staff also raised concerns such as poor remuneration, poor working environment and lack of motivation.
The minister in response said the ministry had appealed to some of its partners for computers and other logistics, and therefore promised that when ever they were made available, she would ensure that the department got its share.
She said the children’s park, which was also under the department, would be given a face-lift by a private developer to ensure that it attracted more revenue for the department.
At the Department of Women, the minister praised the acting Director of the Department, Mrs Francesca Pobee-Hayford, for ensuring commitment and hard work on the part of the staff and encouraged them to continue to exhibit seriousness at all levels to help in the advancement of the status of women in the country.
She said her aim was to work to help better the lot of women and, therefore called on the department to help her achieve that.
She called on the staff to desist from any lackadaisical attitudes and work as a team and share ideas to achieve the objectives of the department and the ministry as a whole.
At both departments the minister stressed the need for them to keep records of their activities for continuity, and also called for attitudinal change on the part of the members of staff.
Monday, March 30, 2009
China committed to support Ghana
Daily Graphic, Pg. 19, Sat. March 27/09
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, has reaffirmed his government’s commitment to support Ghana with both infrastructure and technical needs that will help the country to develop in all spheres.
According to him, China and Ghana has been friends for many years and it is part of his government’s aspiration to further promote the friendship and co-operation that exist between the two countries.
The ambassador said this when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, at the ministry yesterday.
He said although the current global recession had affected economies in most countries, China was still committed to fulfilling its pledge of helping Ghana with development projects.
He mentioned some of the projects being executed by China in Ghana as the Bui Dam project and the building of schools and hospitals in different parts of the country.
He congratulated the minister on her appointment, saying that her ministry was important to the socio-economic development of the country and stressed China’s readiness to support activities of the ministry.
He said women played important roles in the development of China’s economy and advised that if women in Ghana were empowered they would be able to play a central role in developing the country.
He also congratulated Ghanaians on the 2008 elections, saying that although it was keenly contested, it was basically peaceful, free and fair.
Ms Dansua thanked the Chinese Government for the cordial relations with Ghana over the decades.
She called for more assistance in the areas of skills training for women and scholarships for the youth.
She said women constituted over 50 per cent of the country’s population while children formed 30 per cent, and therefore, there was the need for the two countries to partner each other to develop the competence base of women and children in order that at the end it would lead to the overall development of the country.
The minister appealed to China to support women farmers in the country with agro-processing equipment in order to stop the wastage that normally occurred during bumper harvests.
She noted that the government over the years had taken steps to enhance the status of women in the country and expressed the present government’s determination to continue in that direction.
Ms Dansua later presented a documentation of some of the conventions and protocols that Ghana had acceded to over the years to the ambassador and said they were all aimed at protecting the rights of women and children in the country.
She called on the ambassador to use his good offices to help the ministry to be well equipped in terms of computers and the development of the human resource base in order that they would be able to live up to the task for which it was established.
Ms Dansua also introduced to the ambassador the Deputy Minister for MOWAC, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, and other members of staff including the Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Edduful, the acting Director of the Department of Women, Mrs Francesca Pobe-Hayford, and the Chief Director of the ministry, Mr Valentine Kuzuume.
Story & Picture: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Yu Wenzhe, has reaffirmed his government’s commitment to support Ghana with both infrastructure and technical needs that will help the country to develop in all spheres.
According to him, China and Ghana has been friends for many years and it is part of his government’s aspiration to further promote the friendship and co-operation that exist between the two countries.
The ambassador said this when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, at the ministry yesterday.
He said although the current global recession had affected economies in most countries, China was still committed to fulfilling its pledge of helping Ghana with development projects.
He mentioned some of the projects being executed by China in Ghana as the Bui Dam project and the building of schools and hospitals in different parts of the country.
He congratulated the minister on her appointment, saying that her ministry was important to the socio-economic development of the country and stressed China’s readiness to support activities of the ministry.
He said women played important roles in the development of China’s economy and advised that if women in Ghana were empowered they would be able to play a central role in developing the country.
He also congratulated Ghanaians on the 2008 elections, saying that although it was keenly contested, it was basically peaceful, free and fair.
Ms Dansua thanked the Chinese Government for the cordial relations with Ghana over the decades.
She called for more assistance in the areas of skills training for women and scholarships for the youth.
She said women constituted over 50 per cent of the country’s population while children formed 30 per cent, and therefore, there was the need for the two countries to partner each other to develop the competence base of women and children in order that at the end it would lead to the overall development of the country.
The minister appealed to China to support women farmers in the country with agro-processing equipment in order to stop the wastage that normally occurred during bumper harvests.
She noted that the government over the years had taken steps to enhance the status of women in the country and expressed the present government’s determination to continue in that direction.
Ms Dansua later presented a documentation of some of the conventions and protocols that Ghana had acceded to over the years to the ambassador and said they were all aimed at protecting the rights of women and children in the country.
She called on the ambassador to use his good offices to help the ministry to be well equipped in terms of computers and the development of the human resource base in order that they would be able to live up to the task for which it was established.
Ms Dansua also introduced to the ambassador the Deputy Minister for MOWAC, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, and other members of staff including the Director of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Edduful, the acting Director of the Department of Women, Mrs Francesca Pobe-Hayford, and the Chief Director of the ministry, Mr Valentine Kuzuume.
Wesley Girls class of '83 honours minister
Daily Graphic, pg 11, Thurs. March 26/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
When a group of women made up of the 1983 alumni of the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast in the Central Region gathered at the Ghana Village of the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra at the weekend to celebrate the achievements of one of their mates, it was full of joy and excitement.
The programme was organised in honour of Ms Hanna Tetteh, a member of the year group who has been appointed as the Minister of Trade and Industries.
In the company of the current Headmistress of the school, Mrs Betty Djokoto, and Dr Mrs Rosina Acheampong, a past headmistress who headed the school at the time the group was in school, the old girls treated their former colleague to a buffet lunch amidst singing and dancing, reminiscing of their days in school.
After the lunch, the ladies — who are mostly lawyers, businesswomen and bankers — presented the minister with a citation and a plague with her picture and the crest of their former school embossed on it.
Excerpts from the citation read that “Hanna has always moved straight for her goal — She does not shimmy or hedge like some, or need the affirmation of friends or colleagues before making her choices. Her tenacity, flair, razor-sharp intelligence and level-headedness have brought her this far and will serve her very well in her ministerial role”.
It also said that “the WGHS class of ‘83 is among the privileged few who saw the beginnings of our illustrious sister whose meteoric rise we celebrate today. Just over 30 years ago, our unlikely group of ‘homos’ was thrown together for good or ill. Ours has been a long and interesting ride filled with laughter, tears, fun and escapades that can only be disclosed for a sizeable fee”.
Dr Mrs Acheampong, advised Ms Tetteh to always ensure that she was guided by the strict training that she acquired from her alma mater.
She also called on her to ensure that her school’s motto “Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the king” becomes her guiding principle in whatever she does as a minister of state.
Dr Acheampong said the school was proud for training some of the best women in the country and Africa as a whole.
Ms Tetteh in her response said she was humbled by the show of affection from her former classmates and hoped that she would be able to count on them whenever she needed their support.
She said the ministry that she was heading was one of the most important and pledged to work hard to justify the trust reposed in her.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
When a group of women made up of the 1983 alumni of the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast in the Central Region gathered at the Ghana Village of the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra at the weekend to celebrate the achievements of one of their mates, it was full of joy and excitement.
The programme was organised in honour of Ms Hanna Tetteh, a member of the year group who has been appointed as the Minister of Trade and Industries.
In the company of the current Headmistress of the school, Mrs Betty Djokoto, and Dr Mrs Rosina Acheampong, a past headmistress who headed the school at the time the group was in school, the old girls treated their former colleague to a buffet lunch amidst singing and dancing, reminiscing of their days in school.
After the lunch, the ladies — who are mostly lawyers, businesswomen and bankers — presented the minister with a citation and a plague with her picture and the crest of their former school embossed on it.
Excerpts from the citation read that “Hanna has always moved straight for her goal — She does not shimmy or hedge like some, or need the affirmation of friends or colleagues before making her choices. Her tenacity, flair, razor-sharp intelligence and level-headedness have brought her this far and will serve her very well in her ministerial role”.
It also said that “the WGHS class of ‘83 is among the privileged few who saw the beginnings of our illustrious sister whose meteoric rise we celebrate today. Just over 30 years ago, our unlikely group of ‘homos’ was thrown together for good or ill. Ours has been a long and interesting ride filled with laughter, tears, fun and escapades that can only be disclosed for a sizeable fee”.
Dr Mrs Acheampong, advised Ms Tetteh to always ensure that she was guided by the strict training that she acquired from her alma mater.
She also called on her to ensure that her school’s motto “Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the king” becomes her guiding principle in whatever she does as a minister of state.
Dr Acheampong said the school was proud for training some of the best women in the country and Africa as a whole.
Ms Tetteh in her response said she was humbled by the show of affection from her former classmates and hoped that she would be able to count on them whenever she needed their support.
She said the ministry that she was heading was one of the most important and pledged to work hard to justify the trust reposed in her.
‘Lets address problems of unplanned settlements’
Daily Graphic Pg 20, Thurs. March 26/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has called for effective strategies to address the problems associated with unplanned settlements.
She noted that such unplanned settlements resulted in the creation of slums, poor housing conditions, congestion, air and water pollution, unsanitary living conditions and other related problems.
Launching the National Population Council (NPC) Fact Sheet Five on Population and Development in Accra, she noted that the major challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, particularly the growth of large cities, with its attendant problems of slums, unemployment, poor sanitation and crime, might threaten the aspirations of the country to reach a middle-income status by 2020.
According to fact sheet, projections by the NPC reveal that the country’s urban population will hit 51.5 per cent next year, a situation which will make the country an urbanised one.
The last population census in 2000 indicated that the urban population of the country was 43.8 per cent and that was further projected to hit 62.9 per cent by 2025.
Mrs Ayitey said even though urbanisation provided opportunities for poverty reduction and sustainable development, there was the need for serious considerations to be committed to proposals made in fact sheet five in order to fashion out effective strategies to address critical socio-economic and development issues that arose with urbanisation.
The minister bemoaned the fact that 42 per cent of households in the urban centres obtained water from unprotected sources such as wells, with 16 per cent from boreholes, while 25 per cent of the population also dumped their solid waste indiscriminately, with another 58 per cent using public dumping facilities or resorting to burning and burying of their waste at their backyards.
She said 95 per cent of the country’s total population also disposed of their liquid waste at unaproved places.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, who chaired the programme, said there was the need for the country to document both the positive and negative sides of urbanisation to know the cost benefit.
She also called for more collaboration between the NPC and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) so that the two could come up with periodic data to inform policy decisions.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative, Mr Makane Kane, in an address, said his outfit, which has been working with the NPC since 1994, was mostly concerned about how the fact sheets would be put to use.
The Executive Director of the NPC, Mrs Esther Apewokin, said a forum on population issues that would tackle urbanisation and development, as well as other critical issues concerning urbanisation, was to be organised later in the year.
The Deputy Director of the NPC, Mr Steve Grey, who presented highlights of the fact sheet, mentioned some of the causes of urbanisation as natural increase and migration, especially from rural to urban centres due to lack of quality education, job opportunities, lack of social amenities, poor infrastructure development, among others.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has called for effective strategies to address the problems associated with unplanned settlements.
She noted that such unplanned settlements resulted in the creation of slums, poor housing conditions, congestion, air and water pollution, unsanitary living conditions and other related problems.
Launching the National Population Council (NPC) Fact Sheet Five on Population and Development in Accra, she noted that the major challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, particularly the growth of large cities, with its attendant problems of slums, unemployment, poor sanitation and crime, might threaten the aspirations of the country to reach a middle-income status by 2020.
According to fact sheet, projections by the NPC reveal that the country’s urban population will hit 51.5 per cent next year, a situation which will make the country an urbanised one.
The last population census in 2000 indicated that the urban population of the country was 43.8 per cent and that was further projected to hit 62.9 per cent by 2025.
Mrs Ayitey said even though urbanisation provided opportunities for poverty reduction and sustainable development, there was the need for serious considerations to be committed to proposals made in fact sheet five in order to fashion out effective strategies to address critical socio-economic and development issues that arose with urbanisation.
The minister bemoaned the fact that 42 per cent of households in the urban centres obtained water from unprotected sources such as wells, with 16 per cent from boreholes, while 25 per cent of the population also dumped their solid waste indiscriminately, with another 58 per cent using public dumping facilities or resorting to burning and burying of their waste at their backyards.
She said 95 per cent of the country’s total population also disposed of their liquid waste at unaproved places.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, who chaired the programme, said there was the need for the country to document both the positive and negative sides of urbanisation to know the cost benefit.
She also called for more collaboration between the NPC and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) so that the two could come up with periodic data to inform policy decisions.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative, Mr Makane Kane, in an address, said his outfit, which has been working with the NPC since 1994, was mostly concerned about how the fact sheets would be put to use.
The Executive Director of the NPC, Mrs Esther Apewokin, said a forum on population issues that would tackle urbanisation and development, as well as other critical issues concerning urbanisation, was to be organised later in the year.
The Deputy Director of the NPC, Mr Steve Grey, who presented highlights of the fact sheet, mentioned some of the causes of urbanisation as natural increase and migration, especially from rural to urban centres due to lack of quality education, job opportunities, lack of social amenities, poor infrastructure development, among others.
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