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The First lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, addressed the Spouses Programme of the Elysee Summit for Peace in Africa, in Paris, and called on governments, the United Nations, the Africa Union and other international organisations, to ensure that perpetrators of sexual violence against women in conflict situations were punished. 

She said there must be institutions and structures to hold individuals and organisations accountable for their actions and impose punishments, provide adequate and timely remedies for victims  and survivors.

Addressing the summit, which was chaired by the First Lady of France, Ms Valerie Trierweiller, Mrs Mahama noted that if perpetrators were not punished, crime would flourish, women’s right would continue to be violated and past crimes would persist. 

Young Urban Women

A project dubbed: “Young Urban Women (YUW),” which is expected to improve the lives of  2,000 young women  within  one and  half years, was launched jointly by the Ark Foundation and ActionAid Ghana in Kpobiman in the Ga West District, Accra, to support deprived women living in poverty in the urban areas.

Kpobiman in the Ga West District was chosen because of its high rate of population in the Greater Accra Region.

The targeted groups for the project include school dropouts, young brides, members of girls’ clubs, young female parliamentarians, schoolchildren and others.

The project was first introduced in the Northern Region  and will soon be extended to other regions.

From November 25 to December 10, the global community marked 16 days of activism against gender violence. The event is an international campaign, originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. 

Ending on Human Rights Day, the campaign hopes to raise awareness of gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels.

Last year’s theme was,  “Let’s challenge militarism and end violence against women.”

Affirmative Action Bill

The Institute of Economic affairs (IEA-Ghana), in a bid to ensure that Ghana takes a bold step towards attaining gender parity and equality, initiated a project to address the under-representation of women in the political decision-making process.

The project — Integrated Support Programme for the Inclusive Reform and Democratic Dialogue (INSPIRED) — is in collaboration with the EU-funded European Partnerships for Democracy (PD) and it is envisaged that through this process, the basis for broad-based concensus will be created to enhance the sustainability of cooperative initiatives in a given policy area.

As part of the INSPIRED project, the IEA established a Working Group composed of a broad range of stakeholders with an interest in the issue of under-representation of women in political decision-making.

The Working Group has worked to propose key recommendations for consideration by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as input into the Affirmative Action Bill currently being drafted by the ministry.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, addressed a national stakeholders’ workshop on fighting under-representation of women in political decision-making in Ghana, organised by the IEA in Accra in September.

She said the government had accepted the Constitutional Review commission’s recommendations for a constitutional amendment for Parliament to enact, within 12 months of the coming into force of the amendment of the 1992 Constitution, an Affirmative Action Act that guaranteed 30 per cent representation of women in all public institutions and offices as far as possible and also accepted that the recommended Affirmative Action Act should deal with all types of discrimination against vulnerable groups and minorities.

Child survival

A new report released on September 13, dubbed,  “Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed Progress Report 2013”, indicated that “despite rapid progress in reducing child deaths since 1990, the world is failing to renew the promise for the most vulnerable citizens” – its children.

In July, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection  waded into arguments by some people who were calling on the government to increase the age for which a person may legally enter into marriage, from the present 18 years to 23 years.

A statement  issued on behalf of the ministry by Matilda Tettey of the Communications and Media Unit indicated that 23 years might  not be desirable because it could not guarantee that at that age, a person would be fully prepared for marriage as argued. 

Women Deliver conference

The largest global conference on maternal health, dubbed, ‘Women Deliver,’ which brings together advocates from around the world to call for action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women, was held in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June.

The conference, the third to be held, attracted over 3,000 participants from 150 countries, comprising experts, ministers of state and advocates, including some First Ladies.

It was organised by Women Deliver, a global advocacy organisation which works globally to generate political commitment and resource investments to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health. 

On the occasion of the 2013 Mother’s Day, which fell on May 12, the Gender and Children’s Page spoke  to  a number of widows at Mallam, Accra, to share their stories of the hardships they go through to provide for the needs of their families.

Their contention was that once a mother is dead, there is no hope because of the fear of loss of care, love and affection, but when a father is lost, there is hope that a mother would be there to cater for the children left behind.

Maternal Health Channel

In February,  the government launched: The Maternal Health Channel  TV series aimed at complementing a concerted national effort to inform, educate and stimulate interest in maternal health issues.

The programme is also to help to find urgent solutions to the tragedy of death and disabilities of pregnant women. The TV series is aired on Ghana Television and TV3 Network on Thursdays and Fridays, respectively.

President Mahama, whose speech was ready on his behalf by Ms Hannah Tetteh,  the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, commended the Kingdom of the Netherlands and other partners such as UNICEF, UNFPA, Ghana Coalition of NGOs on Maternal Health, Creative Storm and Ghana Health Service for sponsoring the TV series.

He stressed the need to ensure the safety of all pregnant women to avoid their needless deaths in an effort to bring new lives to the world.

The  ‘Mama Ye’  Ghana Campaign, initiated by Evidence for Action (E4A), a multi-year programme which aims to improve maternal and new-born survival across five sub-Saharan African countries, namely Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone,  Malawi and Ghana, was also launched in February.

Funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development,  ‘MamaYe’  focuses on using a strategic combination of evidence, advocacy and accountability to save lives.

National Gender Policy

In January,  the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, formerly Ministry of  Women and Children’s Affairs held a day’s regional validation workshop on the draft National Gender Policy (NGP) to fine-tune it to meet current needs of the society.

The workshop, held in Tamale, was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund, World Food Programme and UN Women, and brought together civil society organisations and representatives from various ministries, departments and agencies in the region.

The draft policy has been developed from inputs collated from five regions including Northern, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions with the aim to stem out gender-based marginalisation and discrimination perpetrated mostly against women in the society.