Women deserve equal rights and justice – UDS Lecturer

A senior Lecturer of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Michael Ayamga has reiterated the need for women to be adequately resourced and empowered to assume their rightful positions in governance at all levels.

According to him, majority of women have been neglected in decision-making for far too long because of patriarchy (male dominance), hence the need for total liberation.

Dr. Michael Ayamga raised this concern at a symposium in Tamale organized by ActionAid Ghana international as part of activities lined up for the 2018 International Women’s Day celebration.

He described women as change agents who deserved equal rights and justice to integrate with society.

He recommended the location of basic amenities near communities to reduce the burden of women accomplishing unpaid care work (domestic chores).

“The siting of basic amenities such as potable water sources, schools, hospitals and markets far away from communities further increases the burden of unpaid care work.”

“The lack of basic amenities in rural communities also made it impossible for majority of women to engage in economic and other social activities that would advance their progress in life,” he stressed.

Dr. Michael Ayamga added that, “Lack of water sources increase the burden of unpaid care work and women spend several hours walking long distances to fetch water. If you want to reduce unpaid care work it means that you have to invest in water harvesting systems and community water systems so that it reduces the labour burden of fetching water.”

He posited that women spent an average of 10 hours of their working day doing unpaid care work.

“It is a critical development issue especially when women constitute about 51 percent of the country’s population.”

“Women are poor because they do not have enough time to engage in income earning ventures, promote their development and leadership potentials. So what we need to do to address the issue of unpaid care work is to consider the distribution of and redistribution of unpaid care work among family members such as wife, husband, aunties and uncles.”

A Project Officer of ActionAid-Ghana International, Safura Abdallah, told Citi News there was steady improvement in the issue of unpaid care work in some of ActionAid’s project communities.

She said many people downplayed the issue of unpaid care work as a serious problem or a major priority.

“I urge the stakeholders to come on board to push for a paradigm shift in the ways household chores are distributed in many Ghanaian homes.”

Madam Safura implored the participants to serve as Ambassadors of change in their localities.

“I am hopeful that participants of the meeting will continue with the advocacy at their workplaces by adopting measures that will help reduce the burden of unpaid care work on women.”

Taking care of the house as well as childbearing is considered the preserve of women in Ghana.

However, these duties mostly go unpaid for leaving majority of women constantly stuck in poverty.

Thus, unpaid care work refers to the services that women provide in their homes and communities including preparing food, collecting firewood and water, and taking care of children, the sick and aged, among others.

A report by ActionAid-Ghana International estimated that if unpaid care works were assigned monetary value, it would constitute between ten and twenty percent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product.

Unpaid care work is generally unrecognised and undervalued by policy-makers and the legislature according to the report.

The International Women’s Day, usually celebrated on March 8, is a day set aside to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women all over the world.

The 2018 International Women’s’ Day celebration was themed, “Pressing for Progress: a push for gender equality worldwide.”

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A senior Lecturer of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Michael Ayamga has reiterated the need for women to be adequately resourced and empowered to assume their rightful positions in governance at all levels. According to him, majority of women have been neglected in decision-making for far too long because of patriarchy (male dominance), ...

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