On the International Women’s Day – 2021, the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA – Ghana) is calling on Civil Society Organizations to continue to engage women and young girls on the various laws that have been made to protect the interests of women and to ensure the rights and protection of the girls are upheld.
The IWD, celebrated on the 8th March, is a day set aside to campaign every year for the rights and protection of women, as well as to remind stakeholders about the laws that exist to support the course of women across the globe.
According to the official IWD Website “IWD sees a number of missions to help forge a gender equal world. Celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility, while calling out inequality, is key”.
The theme for the IWD – 2021 is “Choose to Challenge”, encouraging all women and stakeholders with special interests in women’s growth and development, to push they systems to help bring about change in society and to ensure equality across board.
The Savannah Integrated Women Development Agency (SWIDA – Ghana), as a women empowerment and development organization, has carried out several activities preceding the IWD and climaxed them all with an interface meeting under the Women – LEAD Project, to discuss the need for stakeholders to pay more attention to the call to action on inequality.
Government sector agencies in charge of women development including the Department of Gender, was present to engage some women on what their needs of society are, as the department assured them of what it mandate is to ensuring those needs are met, as far as the policy implementation at the local level is concerned.
Key amongst the immediate outcomes of the climax event is the acceptance of the government agencies that there is a problem with regards to equality and something must be done, to which they accept responsibility at the policy enactment and implementation level.
Other Civil Society Organization partners including PAORP – VWC and Songtaba played key roles in the IWD – 2021 event, largely also due to their numerous works and interests in women empowerment.
Northern Regional Director at the Department of Gender, Madam Bushira Alhassan also took keen interest in issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse of young girls, as she encouraged women and young girls to report such issues immediately they happen, to allow for quick intervention and help for them by the right authorities.
Women youth groups drawn from the Tamale Metropolitan and Sagnarigu Municipal areas indicated that their eyes have been opened to issues on women and girls they hitherto, did not know.
Many of the women and girls said they now know what to do and where to go anytime they become victims of domestic violence of sexual abuse of any form.
After the main event on the IWD – 2021, on – air discussions around the celebration of the day were carried out in radio stations including Kesmi FM and Radio Savannah, both in Tamale.
swidagh.org 