Women encouraged to take leadership positions
A HIGH-level meeting to raise awareness on the need to encourage women to take leadership positions to address the gender, equity and inclusion dimensions of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) has been organised in Accra.
The meeting, organised by Water Aid Ghana (WAG), was to emphasise the need for women to take up leadership roles in their communities and at national levels to shape WASH outcomes for improved development.
This is in view of the realisation that Ghana is making little progress towards the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health and sanitation despite the good progress made towards safe water supply. Sanitation, which has been identified as a cross-cutting factor in the MDGs, has also been related to obstacles constraining progress to the attainment of the MDGs.
The Regional Head of Water Aid West Africa, Madam Mariame Dem, noted that, there was the need to mainstream inclusion and equity in the allocation of resources used in addressing the WASH sector issues.
This, she said, would help stakeholders consider the most vulnerable in the society, which includes women and children, in their bid to address issues in the WASH sector.
The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Mrs Sherry Aryettey, noted that three factors which were climate change, rapid urbanisation and the spatial planning of cities, were affecting the availability of water in the country.
According to her, global warming had affected the quantity and quality of water in the country.
With respect to urbanisation, Mrs Aryettey noted that, by 2015 about 50 per cent of the rural population were expected to move to the urban areas and pointed out that the problem of unsanitary conditions in the country was as a result of poor planning of the cities, towns and communities.
The Acting Director of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Naa Demedeme, noted that, since 1990, efforts in the form of policies and strategies, had been made to improve to sanitation and access to water.
Among these, he said, were the Environmental Sanitation Policy, the National Environmental Sanitation Strategy (NESSAP), the District Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan (DESSAP), the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Compact and the Rural Sanitation Strategy.
However, he said, in spite of all these , the country was still off-track towards achieving improved sanitation due to insufficient political prioritisation and lack of accountability.
The meeting was used as a platform to analyse government policies and customary laws which influenced gender mainstreaming in the WASH sector in order to set a legislative agenda which could be used to redress the issues identified.
Among some of the dignitaries present at the meeting were the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Ms Hannah Bissiw, the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah and a former assemblywoman for Sabon Zongo, Ms Jane Oku, as well as other women in leadership positions.
The meeting, organised by Water Aid Ghana (WAG), was to emphasise the need for women to take up leadership roles in their communities and at national levels to shape WASH outcomes for improved development.
This is in view of the realisation that Ghana is making little progress towards the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health and sanitation despite the good progress made towards safe water supply. Sanitation, which has been identified as a cross-cutting factor in the MDGs, has also been related to obstacles constraining progress to the attainment of the MDGs.
The Regional Head of Water Aid West Africa, Madam Mariame Dem, noted that, there was the need to mainstream inclusion and equity in the allocation of resources used in addressing the WASH sector issues.
This, she said, would help stakeholders consider the most vulnerable in the society, which includes women and children, in their bid to address issues in the WASH sector.
The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Mrs Sherry Aryettey, noted that three factors which were climate change, rapid urbanisation and the spatial planning of cities, were affecting the availability of water in the country.
According to her, global warming had affected the quantity and quality of water in the country.
With respect to urbanisation, Mrs Aryettey noted that, by 2015 about 50 per cent of the rural population were expected to move to the urban areas and pointed out that the problem of unsanitary conditions in the country was as a result of poor planning of the cities, towns and communities.
The Acting Director of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Naa Demedeme, noted that, since 1990, efforts in the form of policies and strategies, had been made to improve to sanitation and access to water.
Among these, he said, were the Environmental Sanitation Policy, the National Environmental Sanitation Strategy (NESSAP), the District Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan (DESSAP), the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Compact and the Rural Sanitation Strategy.
However, he said, in spite of all these , the country was still off-track towards achieving improved sanitation due to insufficient political prioritisation and lack of accountability.
The meeting was used as a platform to analyse government policies and customary laws which influenced gender mainstreaming in the WASH sector in order to set a legislative agenda which could be used to redress the issues identified.
Among some of the dignitaries present at the meeting were the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Ms Hannah Bissiw, the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah and a former assemblywoman for Sabon Zongo, Ms Jane Oku, as well as other women in leadership positions.
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