WiLD, Women’s-Role-in-Local Governance
Banda-Ahenkro (B/R), Oct. 31, 2023
The Women in Livelihood Development (WiLD), under its Action for Voice and Inclusive Development (AVID) project has held a forum to sensitize the general public on women development and the Role of women in Local Governance.
WiLD is a non profit feminist organization for Women’s Right to Resource Ownership and enhancing women participation in Local Governance in the Banda District of the Bono region.
The AVID project was to promote women’s participation in public spaces, decision-making and have their voices heard.
The three-day public forum (Saturday to Monday), dubbed “promoting Women’s access, use and control over land and other productive resources” was organized by WiLD and supported by the Star-Ghana Foundation.
It sensitized and educated the general public on the provisions in the 1992 Constitution that permit women to own resources as well as avail themselves for leadership positions.
It was attended by more than 290 people made up of young men and women as well as boys and girls from four communities in the District.
The forum also educated the participating communities on the menace of rampant abuses and discriminations meted out to women, particularly after the demise of their spouses.
In his remarks, Mr. Dawud Suleiman, the Deputy Executive Director for WiLD delved into how discrimination against women has affected the development of many women in the Banda District as well as their standards of living over the years.
According to him, many women-led households have remained poor as a result of oppression and injustice meted out to these women after the demise of their husbands.
Mr. Suleiman worried much about what he described as “deliberate effort by some communities and opinion leaders to exempt women from vying for any leadership position” particularly within the political sphere.
This he attributed to “the reason why there is only one woman on the executive committee of the Banda District Assembly”.
The situation, Mr. Suleiman noted has resulted in many gender insensitive programs and activities being witnessed in the Banda District.
He observed that many women were mostly denied opportunities to be at the forefront to be part of decision-making process where they can speak freely on structural issues affecting them to overcome societal challenges.
Mr. Suleiman said some widows together with their spouses toiled for properties, but the families after demise of the man deny the window such properties which has consequently affected the upbringing of children in such families.
The deprivation of widows of such properties has dire effects on the entire household and a major reason why the level of illiteracy is still high in the Banda District, he said.
In a presentation, Mr. Suleiman took participants through topics including “Domestic Violence, Women rights promotion, Constitutional provisions on women rights, Women rights to participation and Role of women in local governance”.
The program was actively participated by representatives from the National Commission for Civil Education (NCCE) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) offices in the Banda District.
It was also witnessed by members from the Banda Traditional Council, Banda District Assembly and faith based organizations.
The collaborators added their inputs to collective efforts to help raise and uphold woman voices to foster development and cohesion in their respective communities in the District.
They were optimistic that women right issues will begin to ring lauder in the minds of men to reduce the injustices and discriminatory challenges women face in the Banda District.
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