A section of women in Business and Head porters in Accra have benefited from a capacity building training meant to improve their administrative management skills and opportunities available toimprove their economic status.
The workshop brought together participants from the Nima Market, Mallam Atta market, Agbobloshie market,Newtown market, fish mongers, the Greater Accra Market Associations among other interest groups.
It was organized by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Africa Office in collaboration with the Africa Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD) and supported by the kingdomof Netherlands.
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The programme formed part of a project on Equal Right and Economic Empowerment of Women aimed at advocating for increased equal rights and economic empowerment of women in Ghana.
Addressing participants, Mary Adjeley Nartey, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) explained that the Commission has the duty to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms in Ghana.
Ms Nartey emphasized the need for everything to be done in a manner that does not infringe on human right, highlighting on the need to the respect the provisions on right to life, education, work, movement among others.
She indicated that in most surveys conducted in and outside the country regarding gender, “you will realize that women are lagging behind. Gender inequality against women is an issued that we need to address.”
“We are not addressing women empowerment in terms of women rights and leaving men behind. We actually need the men to come along to partner with us to help us achieve this aim, it is something that we are involving the men,” she added
She expected the beneficiaries of the training to go out and disseminate the information and be ambassadors of change to educate other women. She also encouragedthem to empower themselves with the knowledge they have acquired so that their businesses would be enhanced.
The training, she said, had been rolled out in the northern and middle parts of the country.
Ms Mina Mensah, Head of the CHRI Africa Office, said the fight for women’s right is an ongoing issue and it will continue until gender equality is achieved.
Ms Mensah noted, “Everybody is looking at women’s rights as if it is a women’s issues, but you see it is not a women’s issue.., it is a human right issue; because if women are empowered society is empowered ; so that is the reason behind all these that we are doing.” She advised participants to take the training seriously as would inureto their own benefit.
On her part, Hon. Mercy Naa Afrowa Needjan, President, Greater Accra Markets Association who was a participant at the event lauded the civil society organizations for bringing the women together for the purpose of empowering them.
She advised women not to overly depend on the income and resources of theirhusbands, but they should try to works hard to support the family.
As a woman, she said, “the first empowerment is to be self-employed and be independent in whatever you do and we need to be enlighten to be able to manage your affairs ourselves.
Source: Publicagendagh.com
