MOWAC

THE Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) has revived the celebration of Women’s Week as part of efforts by the government to create an awareness on women’s rights and encourage women’s participation in decision-making procedures and relevant activities, crucial to women’s welfare.
Activities highlighting this year’s event, include a float through the principal streets of Accra, which was organised on April 17, a press conference, clean-up exercises in the regions and districts, the launch of the Annie Jiaggie Memorial lectures and a forum to climax the programme today (Tuesday).
In line with the requirement which emanated from the United Nations General Assembly in 1975, during which the UN designated that year as International Women's Year, and the following decade devoted to sustain National, Regional and International efforts to implement the World Plan of Action, which emanated from the UN Conference on Women in Mexico, Ghana established the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD), in 1975.
Since then, Women's Week had been marked in Ghana by week-long activities in every April to commemorate the establishment of the women's machinery, until 2001, when it was stopped.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Monday, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, called on men to live up to their parental responsibility by supporting their spouses in the upbringing of the children.
She attributed the increasing cases of anti-social vices involving children to parental irresponsibility particularly on the part of men.
She said if men lived up to their obligations in the families, child streetism coupled with child prostitution could be abated.
Ms Dansua said this at a press conference in Accra yesterday to commemorate this year’s women’s week celebration and also used the opportunity to launch the “Annie Jiagge Memorial Lectures”.
She said most men tended to idle about when they realised that their wives were industrious and hardworking.
She therefore appealed to men to support such women in the upbringing of their children.
Explaining the “Annie Jiagge Lecture”, Ms Dansua described the late Supreme Court Judge as an instrumentalist who helped in setting up the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD) in the country.
She said the late Justice also set the stage for United Nations Treaties and Conventions which spearheaded the empowerment of women.
Ms Sena Dansua said world conferences on women had contributed to the progressive strengthening of the legal, economic , social and political spheres and roles of African women.
According to her, the African Union General Assembly, following up proposals made at an extraordinary meeting of ministers of gender and women affairs in December 2008 IN Maseru, Lesotho declared “2010-2020” as an African Women’s Decade.
She said the African Women’s Decade offered the opportunity to link up with women at the grass-roots and also focus on the implementation of all, protocols, treaties and conventions adopted by member states.
She said as part of preparations towards the African Women’s Decade, meetings would be held for ministers of gender machineries in Gambia in the first week of May and November this year, to finalise frameworks and propose strategies, including benchmarks and mechanisms to ensure the enforcement of decisions taken regarding the decade.
Ms Dansua said these developments would require the development of adequate data and indicators and the building of capacities of national and women and gender machineries.
In an open forum after the conference the minister gave the press the opportunity to ask questions concerning women and children.
Responding to questions posed by some journalists during the press conference, the minister said her ministry would work relentlessly with child-related organisations, departments and agencies to address the increasing rate of child trafficking and child prostitution in the country.