By
Bertha Badu-Agyei/Francis Duku
Nsutam, (E/R) Oct. 18, GNA – Plan
International Ghana has unveiled the “Girls Get Equal” Campaign at Nsutam in
the Eastern Region, with a call on all stakeholders to work hard to eliminate
cultural practices and stereotypes that impede the development of girls to
become independent citizens.
The Country Director of Plan International
Ghana, Mr Solomon Tesfamariam, in the launch statement, said so long as girls
were held back through discrimination and exclusion, holistic national
development would continue to suffer challenges.
Thus impeding girls’ access to education and
retention in school; their access to quality healthcare; and decent
livelihoods, among others, would be a disservice to a significant proportion of
the population.
He, therefore, urged all stakeholders,
including the media, traditional authorities, teachers and parents to strive to
make the development of the girl-child a priority to ensure that none,
irrespective of status or creed, failed to develop her potentials to the
fullest.
The “Girls Get Equal” is a five-year global
campaign, aimed at optimal investments in Girl’s Power Activism and Leadership.
It is estimated that by the end of the
Campaign, about five million girls in
the Eastern Region would have been reached and empowered holistically to be
able to contribute to national development.
The Queen mother of the Akuapem Traditional
area, Nana Afua Nketiaa Obuo, advised parents and guardians to train the
girl-child in the same way they trained their boys by giving them the chance go
to school to develop their talents and strengths.
She observed that often girls were trained to
be soft because it was generally perceived that they would end up in the
kitchen, saying, that the mentality, which had undermined the overall
development of females must change.
The Okuapemhemea stated that the cliché: “What
men can do women can do better” was, however, a misconception because it gave
the impression that girls were inferior to boys and must, therefore, strive to
achieve what the latter could do.
She said the performance of boys should not be
used as the yardstick for evaluating girls because God created a males and
females to have some distinct features and abilities for a reason.
The President of the Ghana Journalists
Association, Mr Rowland Affail Monney, said harmful socio-cultural practices,
stereotypes and social exclusions must all be eliminated with a concerted
effort to ensure gender parity at all levels of society.
He said the GJA believed that gender parity
was the way to go in ensuring the holistic development of the nation, hence the
GJA had introduced a maiden award category for the Best Female Journalist at
the 2018 Edition of the prestigious GJA Awards Ceremony, which would be held on
October 27.
The GJA President assured Plan Ghana of the
media’s support for the Campaign and appealed to media houses to use their
platform to correct and educate the public on the stereotypes and negative
perception of the public on women.
GNA