Men urged to support their wives in household chores

By Anthony Apubeo, GNA

Bongo (U/E), Aug. 31, GNA – Husbands have been urged to support their wives to do household chores to enable the women to engage in other productive economic activities.

Such assistance would relieve the women of extreme stress, promote healthy living and ensure proper adherence to best sanitation practices.

The call was made by stakeholders at Bongo in the Upper East Region during a men’s cooking competition organized on Friday by the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a gender-based advocacy organization in collaboration with Water Aid Ghana, water and sanitation organization.

It was organized for six selected communities, Aberinga-Biisi, Zorko-Kodorogo, Feo-Asebre, Yidongo, Asaloko and Apelinga in the Bongo District and each community was represented by the assemblyman for the Electoral Area.

The men showcased their cooking skills in ‘Tuozaafi’ with okro soup and ‘Konkogre’, a local porridge; and the entire effort was to sensitize members of the public particularly men on the importance of helping women in their household chores to promote healthy and economic growth.

Speaking at the event Ms Fati Abigail Abdulai, the Executive Director, WOM, said research has shown that women work twice as men daily but their labour was usually unrecognized by society.

She said unpaid care work at home such as cooking, fetching of water, cleaning, washing, caring for the family, among others significantly reduced the economic productivity of women and their contribution to the growth of the national economy.

To enhance women empowerment, promote women’s rights, and gender equality, Ms Abdulai said, there is the urgent need for men to take steps to support the women to reduce the domestic workload on them.

This, the Executive Director said, would not only enable women to increase their economic independence and productivity but also increase their participation in decision making and their contributions to the family and society in general.

Ms Fauzia Aliu, the Policy Officer, Water Aid Ghana, said due to the burden of household chores on women, they tend to forget about sanitation practices, thereby exposing them to all kinds of diseases.

Pognaba Christiana Nge, the Paramount Queen Mother of the Bongo Traditional Council, said the plight of a woman engaging in unpaid care work gets worse when the she is either pregnant or breast feeding.

She said it is the responsibility of both the men and women to engage in activities that promotes healthy homes and called on the men to support their wives at home.

Mr Seidu Musah, Assemblyman for Adabori-Biisi/Akunduo Electoral Area, who represented Apelinga Community and won the contest, said love in a relationship or family goes beyond just saying ‘I love you’ but it involves supporting the woman in whatever she does.

He said there is joy in assisting one’s wife to do household chores and appealed to his fellow men to emulate his example by supporting their wives to enable them have good rest and engage in productive activities.

The chiefs and people who graced the occasion lauded the initiative by WOM and Water Aid Ghana to promote men involvement in domestic activities adding that it would motivate other men to understand the need to assist their wives to do unpaid care work at home.

GNA

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