Women
and children are the most vulnerable in time of crisis - WFP Director
The
economy was in shambles before Rawlings came - Addow
Gender
inequalities militating against women -NCWD
Media
women are capable of discovering their full potentials - Gifty
Mills
swears in 17 elevated judges
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
Mrs
Stephanie Sullivan, First Secretary of the American Embassy, on Tuesday urged
women's groups, human rights organisations and individuals to collaborate their
efforts to change society's attitudes that impede the advancement of women and
influence favourable public policy.
"At the dawn of the new millennium,
we can take pride in the strides women, and by extension societies, have made
around the world. But there is still much work to be done. The problem is no
longer knowing what must be done, but actually doing the right thing."
Mrs Sullivan, who also heads the
Political Affairs section of the US Embassy, said these when she launched the
Educational Action Programme for the Women's Network of Amnesty International,
Ghana, at a ceremony to commemorate the International Women's Day, which falls
on Wednesday.
It is under the theme: "Women's
Rights are Human Rights, the Struggle Persists." The local theme is
"Women uniting for peace against HIV/AIDS."
Mrs Sullivan stressed the important role
education plays in the campaign for gender equity and implored women to use the
Internet to educate people, share information and lobby for laws that protect
women to be enforced.
"Signatures and ratification aside,
however, we know that rights don't happen in law; they don't just happen on
paper. It is not just the government that enforces rights. A law can be passed
banning a practice, but unless people's hearts and mind change, that law does
not have meaning. Networking is an important means of changing societal
attitudes."
Mrs Sullivan said through networking,
awareness has been created about the plight of Afghan women galvanising human
rights advocates from all over the world to petition the United Nations to
intervene for justice to prevail.
"Last week at the annual meeting of
the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the United States introduced a
Resolution on the Situation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan. The draft
resolution attracted 11 co-sponsors, including Ghana.
"The draft resolution would have the
UN Economic and Social Council condemn the continuing grave violations of the
human rights of the women and girls in Afghanistan, including restrictions on
women's access to health care, education, employment outside the home and
freedom of movement."
Since the
Talaban militia took over the administration of Afghanistan in 1996 women have
not been allowed to work or even go out in public without their male relatives.
Professional women such as doctors, teachers and lawyers have been forced out
their jobs and girls are not allowed to go to school.
Some women
have been killed for allegedly violating some of these decrees.
Mrs
Sullivan stressed the need for democracy to be strengthened so that women's
rights would be upheld.
"For
women to advance, democracy must advance as well. The rights that we hold
precious as human beings - freedom of conscience, religion, association - can
be protected and expanded if there is a vibrant civil society, if there is democracy
in which those rights are embedded."
She, therefore, called for support for
institutions such as labour unions, NGOs and a free and responsible press.
Mrs Sullivan said the American government
was supporting some women's projects in Ghana, including public education, to
eliminate traditional practices, which are harmful to women. These include
Trokosi, Female Genital Mutilation and the Witches Home at Gambaga.
There are also micro financing packages,
support for family planning programmes and girls' education as well as computer
literacy programmes.
Madam Theresa Tagoe, Member of Parliament
for Ablekuma South, who chaired the function, said efforts should be
strengthened at having women in gainful employment so that they would not engage
in negative activities as their means of livelihood.
She said Ghana needs to assess her
performance at achieving gender equity after the Beijing conference to see
which areas are to be improved.
Ms Wendy Asiamah, Coordinator of Women's
Network, said educational programmes would cover all sections of society,
especially school children.
She said the lip service often paid calls
to level the ground for both men and women should be translated into action.
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
Three-quarters
of people around the world who need food aid because of war, natural disaster
or extreme poverty are women and children, the Executive Director of United
Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Ms Catherine Bertini has said.
She
described the ratio as "an unacceptable reality that we need to address
more effectively," adding that in any humanitarian crisis, women and
children always constitute the majority of those threatened by hunger and
starvation.
Ms Bertini
was speaking on the eve of the UN's International Women's Day, according to a
release issued in Accra by Ms Eva Hodell, WFP Representative in Ghana.
The Executive Director said women and children account for eight
out of 10 victims of political violence.
Last year, the WFP helped to feed 88
million people, a large majority of who were women and children.
Ms Bertini said it is time to break this
insidious cycle and urged "UN agencies and the entire international
community to develop strategies that will empower women in both crisis
situations and in situations where the cycle of generations of poverty and
hunger traps women and their families in destitution".
She said WFP has instituted measures to
empower women, which include distributing 80 per cent of its food relief to
women and 50 per cent of its food for educational programmes in a country to
girls.
These goals, which are part of WFP's
commitments to women, were formulated at the UN Four Conference on women in
Beijing in 1995 and have a fulfilment date of 2001.
Ms Bertini said, "by giving women
more control over food and other aid, as well as greater means to become
self-sufficient, we are taking the most efficient route to helping families
cope in any crisis.
"Because 80 per cent of WFP's
operations are emergencies, the plan for each new crisis takes into account the
needs and priorities of the women victims.
"Wherever possible, food aid is put
directly into the hands of a woman, because she will ensure that what food she
gets will be consumed in her household rather than sold or traded".
The Executive Director said women, who
are the majority of farmers and food-gatherers in many developing countries,
are also recognised as having a crucial role to play in the recovery phase of
an emergency.
"When violence strikes, women and
their children are the first to suffer," Ms Bertini said, adding, "for
both moral reasons, and for practical, problem-solving reasons, women must be
first in line for humanitarian aid."
In Ghana, WFP in co-operation with the
Ministry of Education started a girl's education project in 15 districts in the
three Northern Regions in March 1999.
The project is designed to support the
government's Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme.
WFP assistance within the programme is to
encourage girls, who for economic and social reasons do not have the
opportunity to attend school.
After one year of implementation, the
project is supporting the enrolment of 8,750 girls in primary and junior
secondary schools in selected communities.
This figure is expected to increase to
12,950 in the second year of the programme and to 32,200 by the end of the
fifth year.
Prior to the education project, a
supplementary feeding, health nutrition and education programme was started in
1995.
It provides assistance to 24,000
malnourished children and 14,000 pregnant and nursing mothers in the three
Northern, Ashanti and Western regions.
The project, which provides cooked meals
for children under five years, has encouraged pregnant women to attend
antenatal clinics, regularly, while nursing mothers send their children for
weighing.
This has enabled women in the
participating communities to undertake their daily activities of farming and
marketing and at the same time to be reassured that their children are being
cared for properly.
GRi../
Gomoa Abora (Central Region) 8 March 2000
The Eastern
Regional Minister, Ms Patience Addow has urged the elderly to tell the youth
about the abysmal situation of the country's economy before President Jerry
John Rawlings came to power.
This is
necessary if the youth are to make informed decisions on party affiliation and
vote casting.
She was speaking at the end-of-year
get-together organised for members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
from Gomoa West at Abora, near Apam.
The get-together coincided with the 50th
birthday of Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Member of Parliament for the area and a Deputy
Minister for Employment and Social Welfare.
Miss Addow said Ghanaians should admit
that great progress has been made under PNDC/NDC governments and vote the party
back into power to continue its good work.
She appealed to Ghanaians to elect more
women into Parliament, explaining that as mothers, women have more sympathy for
people.
Mr Kow Anyanful, Gomoa District Chief
Executive said the best birthday present the people of the area could give to
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe is to return her to Parliament.
GRi../
Dr Arthur calls for African-American support for the development of
Africa.
Accra (Greater Accra) 7 March 2000
Dr Don
Arthur, architect of the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra on Tuesday called on
African Americans to share their tremendous experience and organisational
abilities with their counterparts in Africa.
"Africa
is still being exploited and it needs people like you who are well informed and
disciplined to come down with your expertise to help the continent to be
self-reliant".
Dr Arthur was addressing members of the
Association of Black Women in Higher Education (ABWHE), Chicago Chapter, when
they toured the Mausoleum and laid a wreath in memory of the late President of
Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
The visit forms part of the Chapter's 10
years anniversary celebrations under the theme "Millennial Metamorphosis:
Women of the African Diaspora Restoring Ancestral Ties.''
They said they have returned to the
continent of their origin to affirm their African roots, and contribute to the
strengthening of the future of the people of Africa.
Dr Arthur said, "Nkrumah wants us to
prove to the whole world that Africa can manage its own affairs", but this
vision was cut short when he was ousted.
He said the visit is significant, at a
time when Ghana is celebrating her 43rd Independence Anniversary celebrations,
which Nkrumah fought for and achieved. He thanked the women members for their
support.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
Recent
studies indicate that persistent gender inequalities in the Ghanaian society
continue to militate against efforts to improve conditions of women.
A statement
issued in Accra by the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD) on the
eve of the International Women's Day said such inequalities continue to limit
women's capabilities and constrain their ability to participate in and
contribute to the political, social and economic development of the country.
This year's
theme is "Women Uniting for Peace and Against HIV/AIDS."
The
statement said this year's celebration is very significant since year 2000 also
marks the 25th anniversary of the NCWD as well as Ghana's participation in a
world march of women on the theme "Poverty and Violence Against
Women."
It noted
that women are very crucial to the mainstay of every society. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
they produce 60 to 80 per cent of basic foodstuffs.
“Yet in all
cultures throughout the world, they continue to be victims of domination and
discrimination...and account for a greater percentage of illiterate
population."
As a result
of these, women have become the focus of various conferences held at
international, regional, sub-regional and national levels to sensitise and
conscientise governments, policy makers and the entire society on the need to
improve the situation of women.
It said
that these and the Beijing conference have increased knowledge about violence
against women.
"However, unequal power relations
still persist in the family, the workplace, the community and in the society at
large, and making girls and women victims of physical, sexual and psychological
violence."
The
statement said the continual use of girls and women as objects of sex in beauty
pageants, the media and the practice of cultural norms that deny women sexual
rights, results in high incidence of rape, murder and marital rape.
It also
exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Peace, the
statement observed, is inextricably linked with equality between women and men
and development but the low status of women generally excludes them from
decision-making processes within the family, community and the government.
"They, therefore, have little or no
say in conflicts that arise from injustice, tribalism and religious
intolerance... but during conflicts, they suffer all terror and uncertainty of
forceful relocation.
"The underlying factor of women's
poverty and violence against women is gender inequality."
The NCWD called on everyone to denounce
violence against women. "Each man,
each woman,
from the highest to the lowest in the society should denounce long held
oppressive practices against women."
It added
that without progress in the situation of women, the laudable objectives of
Vision 2020, the government's blueprint for socio-economic development, are
quite unattainable.
The statement invited the public to
attend a rally to be organised by the NCWD in collaboration with all women's
groups at the Cultural Centre in Kumasi on March eight and a similar one in
Berekum in the Brong Ahafo region on March 28.
The programme lined up for the national
celebration of the Day in Kumasi includes a press briefing, courtesy call on
the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, a march from Manhyia through Adum to the
Cultural centre and a talk and video show on STDs and HIV/AIDS.
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
Mrs Gifty
Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the Ghana Journalists Association, said on Tuesday
that women in the media are capable of discovering their full potentials if
working conditions are made more conducive.
In a
statement issued in Accra on the eve of the International Women's Day on the
theme "Women uniting for peace and against HIV/AIDS" she said in the
last two years, there have been significant appointments of women to top
positions in both state-owned and private media.
"However,
considering the level of women participation in the sector and their general
output, one can only consider those gestures as droplets in the ocean."
She,
therefore, requested all media houses, especially personnel at management
level, to spend some time in the day to ponder over the causes and effects of
the gender inequity in the Ghanaian media.
Mrs
Affenyi-Dadzie said it is imperative that the media involve women in their
operations as much as possible, in order to take a fair account of the
interests and concerns of the whole society.
This is in
view of the crucial role that the media plays in any development process, by
its power and influence to inform and educate and in shaping opinions.
A deeper women's participation in the
media, she noted, would enhance the balance and expand the coverage of areas as
politics, sports and economics, often considered traditional to men.
Such a move would also consolidate the
focus on social issues such as healthcare, childcare and consumer rights.
The GJA President called on women in the
media to reflect upon their work and
apply the
necessary remedies that would further increase output and enhance their image
as all difficulties at workplaces cannot be attributed to old traditions and
male chauvinism.
Mrs Affenyi-Dadzie extended her best
wishes to all women in the media on behalf of the GJA whether journalists,
artists or technicians, for their hard work and dedication to duty.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
President
Jerry John Rawlings on Tuesday painted a bright picture of prospects of a major
oil discovery in Ghana and appealed to exploration companies to redouble their
efforts.
"I
urge companies which are already working here to continue their efforts
diligently because the signs of good potentials are there," said the
President at the opening of the Fifth Oil and Gas Conference at the Accra
International Conference Centre.
The conference, organised by the Ghana
National Petroleum Corporation, has brought together major players in the oil
and gas industry to talk about exploration, production, trade and finance.
President Rawlings said almost all of
Ghana's offshore area is currently licensed to companies that have committed
themselves to significant levels of investment.
Also pleasing is the interest now being
shown in the country's deep waters following the successes in finding giant oil
fields in deep waters offshore Nigeria, Angola as well as Equatorial Guinea and
across the Atlantic in Brazil.
"I would also like to invite more
investors to join in these exploration activities," he said.
President Rawlings said it must be borne
in mind that finding and producing oil is not an instant remedy for all
economic problems.
Indeed, the volatile nature of oil prices
has often caused havoc to the economies of countries which have become
dependent on the commodity to the neglect of their important sectors such as
agriculture.
"We may also find the root causes of
some political and social conflicts in the very wealth that oil is supposed to
generate."
On investment, President Rawlings noted
that in Africa, the holding of general elections is often used as an excuse for
a wait-and-see attitude by international agencies as well as investors.
"The pressing issues confronting us
in Ghana cannot wait and both the government and the opposition remain
committed to pursuing the path of national development in a fiscally prudent
manner.
"We, therefore, hope that all our
partners can come on board without hesitating just because of the forthcoming
elections".
President Rawlings spoke about Africa's
rich petroleum resources and noted that most often when conferences are held in
Europe and Africa on oil and gas, Africa is not represented.
"That approach must belong to the
past. In its place, we must ensure that governments and communities in Africa
participate in decisions regarding resources on the continent."
He said even before the recent spate of
mega-mergers in the oil industry, there were oil companies whose turnovers far
exceeded the gross national product of many African countries.
In some cases, these oil companies depend
significantly on production from countries in Africa.
The President appealed to investors from
oil producing countries in Africa such as Nigeria and Angola to invest in
sister countries which are engaged in oil exploration.
"They should bear in mind that
growth in intra-African trade and investment will be an essential element in
transforming the fortunes of our continent in the 21st century."
Dr Frank Abu, Minister of Mines and
Energy, welcomed the participation of the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) in the Oil and Gas Conference.
He said he was happy that the
international oil companies are showing great interest in the industry on the
continent and that gas was being emphasised at the Accra conference.
"We have become very appreciative of
the importance of gas in meeting energy needs throughout the world, and
particularly in our sub-region."
Ghana is
looking for partners in developing the gas industry, particularly in houses and
industry, until the anxiously awaited gas pipeline project comes into stream by
2002.
The Oil and Gas Conference has become a
cardinal event on the oil and gas calendar in Africa at which players of the
industry in Africa are able to interact effectively.
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 March 2000
Vice
President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday swore-in 17 judges elevated to the
high court and the regional tribunals and urged them to be transparent and
firm.
The judges, including three women, were
elevated from the circuit court on 1 January this year, by the President on the
recommendations of the Judicial Council.
They are Mr Justice Raphael Dackerr
Anku-Kraka Getor, Madam Justice Mariama Owusu, Mr Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie,
Mr Justice Victor Cyril Doegah and Mrs Justice Helena Abban.
The others are Mr Justice Yaw Appau, Mr
Justice Winfred Kpentey, Mr Justice Victor Dotse Ofoe, Mr Justice Charles
Korsia Nyewolema and Mr Justice Senyo Dzamefe.
The rest are Mrs Justice Francisca
Owusu-Arhin, Mr Justice Michael Miheaye Kwasi Woanyah, Mr Justice Joseph Kpakpo
Abrahams, Mr Justice Wisdom Korku Hubert Addoh, Mr Justice Kobena Adoe Acquaye,
Mr Justice Joseph Abanga and Mr Justice Charles Louis Quist.
They took
the oath of allegiance and the judicial oath.
Vice-President
Mills told them that their elevation was based on merit and urged them to work
without fear or favour in order to change the perception of critics of the
bench.
"To whom much is given, much is
expected," Prof. Mills said, urging the judges to always remember to serve
the ordinary people and engender confidence in people brought before them.
He pledged the Executive's support to
enable them to work efficiently.
Mills
Judges 2 Accra
While congratulating the judges, Chief
Justice Isaac Abban challenged them to justify their inclusion by working hard
to dispose of cases as fast as they could.
He asked them to avoid the tendency of
granting unnecessary adjournments of cases brought before them and delaying in
writing their judgements. He reminded them that the law provides for sanctions
against judges who are found to be delaying judgements for far too long.
Mr Abban said recently, he was forced to
invoke the sanctions against a member of the bench who, after realising the
effects, did what was expected of him.
Mr Acquaye Addo, Solicitor-General,
exhorted the judges to clear the backlog of cases that seemed to have bogged
down the courts in recent times.
He urged them to let their justice be
according to the laws of the land in order to win the trust of all.
Mr Justice Ofoe, Mad Justice Owusu, Mr
Justice Doegah, Mrs Justice Owusu-Arhin and Mr Justice Abrahams took turns to
thank the appointing authorities for the confidence reposed in them.
They pledged to work relentlessly to
justify the trust reposed in them.
Justice Ofoe called for expanded
facilities, especially more courtrooms, for the bench.
GRi../
Cape Coast (Central Region) 8 March 2000
Three
students of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Monday drowned at the
Ultimate Beach, near the Oyster Bay Hotel, on the Cape Coast-Elmina road where
they had gone for recreational activities to celebrate Ghana's 43rd
Independence Anniversary.
They are Mr
Andy Andoh, 25, a final-year Social Science student, Mr Samuel Nii Baddo, also
aged 25, a second-year Arts student, and Miss Genevieve Donkor, 22, a
second-year Social Science student.
Briefing
newsmen, the Central Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police
B.K. Agbenyega, said Andy and Samuel, out-going President and in-coming
Vice-President respectively of the UCC branch of the Ghana Fellowship
Evangelical Students (GHAFES), had gone to the beach together with Genevieve
and other students at about 3:30 p.m.
He said while a group of students was
swimming, Andy and Samuel saw Genevieve being carried away by strong waves and
went to her rescue.
The two were also carried away by the
waves, prompting their colleagues to rush to the hotel to inform lifeguards who
managed to bring out Genevieve and Samuel, who were unconscious, but could not
find Andy.
Mr Agbenyeaga said Samuel and Genevieve
were then rushed to the Cape Coast Central Hospital for treatment but were
pronounced dead on arrival.
Andy's body was found washed ashore on
Tuesday morning at about 7:30 at the beach where the incident took place.
Meanwhile,
the three bodies have been deposited at the Cape Coast Central Hospital
mortuary.
The police
say they do not suspect any foul play but are conducting further investigations
into the incident.
Mr
Agbenyega appealed to the public to stay clear of that stretch of beach along
the road because it is not safe for swimming.
GRi../