Stakeholders have, at a men’s cooking competition in Bongo in the Upper East Region, called upon Ghanaian men to support their wives in household activities especially unpaid care work.
This will enable women have enough time for economic activities in order to achieve sustainable national development. It will further relief them of stress, promote healthy living and proper adherence to best sanitation practices.
The cooking competition brought together six selected communities including Aberinga-Biisi, Zorko-Kodorogo, Feo-Asebre, Yidongo, Asaloko and Apelinga in the Bongo District. Each community was represented by the Assemblyman for the Electoral Area.
It was organized by the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a gender-based advocacy organization in partnership with Water Aid Ghana, water and sanitation organization.
The competition, which saw the men showcased their cooking skills in ‘Tuozaafi’ with okro soup and ‘Konkogre’, a local soupy food, was to sensitize members of the public particularly men on the importance of helping women in household chores to promote healthy and economic growth.
Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Executive Director, WOM, Fati Abigail Abdulai, said research has shown that women work twice what men do daily, however, their work is usually unrecognized by society.
She said unpaid care work at home such as cooking, fetching of water, cleaning, washing, caring for the family, among others had significantly reduced women economic productivity and their contribution to the growth of the national economy.
To enhance women empowerment, promote women’s rights, and gender equality, Ms Abdulai stated, there was the urgent need for men to take steps to support the women to reduce the domestic workload on women.
This, Executive Director added, would not only enable women to increase their economic independence and productivity but it would increase women’s participation in decision making and their contributions to the family and society in general.
Ms. Fauzia Aliu, Policy Officer, Water Aid Ghana, explained that due to the over burden of these household chores on women, they tend to forget about sanitation practices, thereby exposing them to all kinds of diseases.
Pognaba Christiana Nge, the Paramount Queen Mother of the Bongo Traditional Council, said the plight of a woman engaging in unpaid care work gets worsen when the woman is either pregnant or a lactating mother.
She said it was the responsibility of the both the men and women to engage in responsibilities that promote healthy home and therefore called on the men to support their wives at home.
Mr. Seidu Musah, Assemblyman for Adabori-Biisi/Akunduo Electoral Area, who represented Apelinga Community and won the contest, explained that love in a relationship or family goes beyond just saying ‘I love you’ but it involves supporting the woman in whatever she does.
Mr. Musah, who said he has been helping his wife to cook every day, stated that there was joy in assisting his wife to do household chores and appealed to his fellow men to emulate his example by supporting their wives, to enable them have good rest and engage in productive activities.
The chiefs and people who graced the occasion lauded the initiative by WOM and Water Aid Ghana to promote men involvement in domestic activities and said it would motivate other men to understand the need to assist their wives to do unpaid care work at home.
Story filed by Emmanuel Akayeti
