By thefourlens.com
Odumase, November 16, 2023
Economically empowering women by providing equal access to employment, financial services and entrepreneurial opportunities help strengthens their livelihoods and lift families out of poverty, the National Population Council (NPC) has revealed.
Gender equality plays a crucial role in poverty reduction and inequality because promoting gender equality create a society that benefits everyone economically.
Mr. Davis Yeboah Aboagye, the Bono Regional Officer in charge of the NPC said in an interview on the sidelines of interaction with students of Odumaseman Senior High School at Odumase, the Sunyani West Municipal Capital.
It was to mark this year’s World Population Day on the theme: “Gender Mainstreaming, a tool for promoting gender equality for sustainable development”.
The World Population Day celebrated July 11 every year was to raise awareness on the urgency of global population issues with focus on promoting sustainable development.
It fosters social progress, economic growth, improved health, better education, and more inclusive governance.
The students discussed issues of poverty, unemployment, child marriage, teenage/adolescent pregnancy and motherhood, gender inequality, urbanization, poor sanitation and environmental pollution, he said.
According to Mr. Aboagye, gender equality promote absolute peace and security, saying, “research shows that societies with greater gender equality are more peaceful and less prone to conflict”.
Because, women and girls can voice out their concerns and have same opportunities to succeed in school and other aspect of life and realize their full potentials for socioeconomic growth.
Touching on social justice, Mr. Aboagye said gender equality is a fundamental aspect of social justice and democratic society.
He explained it ensures all individuals, regardless of their gender, have the same rights, opportunities and access to resources.
Mr. Aboagye said ineffective governance, high unemployment rate, exposure to violence and socioeconomic inequality results in anxiety and depression as some consequences of gender inequality.
He added gender equality improves health and well-being to positively impacts health outcomes for both men and women as well as enables women to make decisions about their reproductive health, access healthcare services and receive equitable treatment.
When women have equal representation and participation in decision-making processes, it leads to more effective governance and better policy outcomes.
Mr. Aboagye informed that global population has exceeded 8billion, hence, the need to discuss population increase and dynamics as well as causes of population challenges and dwindling resources.
Ghana’s population according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) was 30.8million and 24.7million in 2010 PHC with females constituting 50.9 percent, but was 6.7million in 1960, he said.
Mr. Aboagye further indicated the Bono region had 1,208,649 population, comprising 611,973 females and 596,676 males in the 2021 PHC.
Thefourlens.com
thefourlensofficial@gmail.com
Writer’s email: ttchrietoph1@gmail.com
