The Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) in partnership with Girls Advocacy Alliance, Plan International and Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) has launched the Ghana Scorecard on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right popularly known as the Maputo Protocol.
The scorecard which centered on Articles 4 and 13 which focuses on the Rights to Life and Economic and Social Welfare Rights of Women respectively, among its recommendation called on government to intensify the work of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and Civil Society Organizations to end inhuman practices against women in Ghana.
Article 4 of the Maputo Protocol stipulates that a member country should establish mechanisms and accessible services for effective information, reparation for victims of violence against women.
According to the scorecard, Ghana currently has only two rehab centers in Madina and Accra for women and children victims which are poorly resourced.
The Executive Director of the Gender Center for Empowering Development (GenCED), Esther Tawiah, says government must expand shelters to all regions of Ghana and if possible to big cities to provide adequate service that is accessible to all citizens.
“Many women are experiencing domestic violence and there is the need for more of these shelters to sustain women and to reintegrate them into the society” she said.
One of the stipulations of Article 13 is for member countries to ensure transparency in recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women and combat and punish sexual harassment in the workplace. GenCED is therefore calling on the government to resource the labour regulating agencies to enhance the labour and employment sector.
Meanwhile the Director for Gender at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Rev. Dr. Comfort Asare has commended GenCED and its partner organizations for identifying the gaps in the implementation of the Maputo Protocol in Ghana.
“Such initiatives help government to development effective strategies to eradicate violence against women” she said. According to the gender director, her ministry has developed a-five-year strategic plan to combat teenage pregnancy which she explains is on the rise in the country.
Dr. Comfort Asare reiterated government’s commitment to protecting and empowering women and children indicating that the ministry will take seriously the recommendations of the Ghana Score Card on the Maputo Protocol. “We will continue to support such initiatives to ensure that women are protected against domestic violence and other forms of inhuman practices against women and girls” she said.
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees comprehensive rights to women including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, improved autonomy in their reproductive health decisions, and an end to female genital mutilation.
As the name suggests, it was adopted by the African Union in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in Maputo, Mozambique in 2003.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Joyce Hilda Efia Aboagye
