By
Fatima Anafu- Astanga
Bolgatanga, Nov. 21,
GNA – Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in the five regions of the North have
held a consultative meeting to review the progress of the implementation of the
Beijing global policy on achieving gender equality and women’s rights.
The meeting held in
Bolgatanga was aimed at identifying achievements made after the Beijing meeting
in 1995 and participants discussed gaps in the implementation of the policy
both by Government and CSOs, and the way-forward.
The one day review
meeting, which was organized by the Network for Women’s Rights (NETRIGHT) and
the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM) was funded by the African Women’s
Development Fund (AWDF).
Participants
discussed a draft report on the critical areas worked on by thematic working
groups from the CSOs and access interventions made by government and CSOs in
the implementation of the identified critical areas in the advancement of
women’s rights.
Ms Abigail Fati
Abdulai, the Executive Director of WOM, said the outcome of the meeting would
also enable the CSOs to make a parallel report in March 2020 during a UN
conference.
Speaking in an
interview with the Ghana News Agency on the side lines of the meeting, Ms
Abdulai said the representations at the meeting in Bolgatanga were a force to
reckon with in the march towards global equality for women, “this meeting is
also serving as a learning platform for some of the participants, and will
create opportunities for other organization to understand the gaps in the
policies”.
The Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action (BfPA) was adopted by 189 countries
including Ghana in 1995, where 12 critical areas of concern with respect to
women and the achievement of gender equality were identified.
Some of the critical
areas identified included, women and poverty, women and economy, Education and
training of women and girls, violence against women, and women and armed
conflict.
The other areas were
human rights of women, women in power and decision making, women and media,
women and environment and institutional mechanism for the advancement of women.
GNA
