Ghanaian women told to support crusade for gender equality

Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, Deputy Minister of Women and Children Affairs, has called on women to support the crusade for gender equality and empowerment in the bid to eliminate the obstacles they face in life.

She said there was the need for women to recommit themselves to participate fully in the national development process.

“We can only make a better case when we rise up, endure and make changes where the feminisation of poverty and illiteracy and the socio-economic and political injustice against women become a thing of the past,” she said.

Hajia Boya Gariba, made the called at the inauguration of the University Students Association of Ghana Women’s Commission on the theme “Enhancing peaceful elections: the role of the university woman” in Accra at the weekend.

She said women all over the world has proven their capacity to stand shoulder to shoulder  with men in charting the course of human history, saying the full contribution of women was critical in pushing forward the national development agenda.

Hajia Boya Gariba said although Ghana has had a long history of active participation of women in national politics, their numbers remain unacceptably low despite their overwhelming majority in the national population.

She noted that the high illiteracy amongst women was the major reason why they continue to lag behind, adding that with the increasing number of women in the tertiary institutions, the time had come for women to expand and demand a fair share of the national cake.

Hajia Gariba urged the commission to serve as a powerful advocacy and educational tool to benefit the nation and encourage stakeholders to work more assiduously towards achieving social, economic and political justice for all women in every corner of the country.

Source: GNA