By Seraphine Nyuiemedi
The Volta Regional Department of Gender has commemorated this year’s International Women’s Day with a call on stakeholders in education and technology to fund ICT skills development programmes for girls to enable them abreast themselves with the modern trends in the digital space.
The Volta Regional Director for the Department of Gender, Thywill Eyra Kpe who made the call said such training will propel more women and girls to be experts in the digital space to close the gender inequality gap in that field of study.
“It’s necessary to create avenues for constant skill development for girls on the importance of ICT for gender equality in order for their development into ICT savvy women in the near future” she said.
As part of activities to mark International Women’s Day in Ho, certificates were awarded to 36 school girls and 11 women who had a four weeks intensive digital literacy training organised by the Volta Regional Department of Gender in partnership with Genius IT Foundation.
The girls were drawn from, the Mawuko Girls, OLA Girls and Mawuli Senior High Schools and Kabore, Holy Spirit and Nuriya Basic Schools.
They were taken through basics knowledge in coding, web designs, graphic design, office suit productivity applications, digital marketing and project management.
The Volta Regional Director for the Department of Gender, Thywill Eyra Kpe called on the various districts assemblies to create avenues in the field of technology for especially, young girls in deprived communities to enable them move a par with their counterparts in the urban areas.
She also urged parents and guardians to educate their wards on sexuality, and monitor their activities in the digital space.
“As parents we must keep reminding ourselves of our significant role in raising a future generation (both men and women) who are conscious of the challenges of women and girls, who would respect one another, support one another and eschew violence in all its forms. We must draw close to our children especially the girls, educate them on their sexuality, monitor their activities in the digital space, and encourage them to excel in school especially in the field of STEM where they are interested in order to become useful to society” she said.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa who graced the occasion said women continue to face many challenges including, low representation in decision making at the local levels, low access to capital and productive resources, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and other forms of domestic violence, adolescent pregnancy, the burden of unpaid care work, unequal opportunities in the field of Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among others.
Dr. Letsa said government as part of efforts to help address issues of Gender-Based Violence, has through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and its partners introduced digital real time service centers like the Orange Support Center and the Boame SGBV App to help victims of Gender-Based Violence report their ordeal in real time and receive prompt support.
He said government will not relent on efforts to protect women and girls against gender based violence and domestic abuse.
“I am glad to state that the government of Ghana is fully committed to the tenets of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women as a step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Particularly Goal 5 by 2030. The National Gender Policy, the National Social Protection Policy and various programmes implemented by government provides the blueprint towards addressing issues of gender equality and women empowerment at all levels” he said.
The Executive Director for Child Online Africa, Awo Aidam Amenya who took the participants through cyber security called on the government to put in place policies and systems to create a conducive environment for girls to study Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“It’s so disheartening to know that 9 percent of women are into cyber security in the whole of Africa. Government should put in place systems, policies that will be deliberate and intentional to make the environment conducive for girls and women to pursue STEM related courses” she said. The event was sponsored by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Star Ghana Foundation, ActionAid among others.
