Girls demand fair treatment

Young girls have demanded to be treated fairly like boys to end the unnecessary rivalry that exists between both sexes for the progress of society.

Miss Azara Abdul Wahab, a student at the Senior High School level and Peer Educator on the “The Young Urban Woman: Life Choices and Livelihood” project, who made the demand, detested violence in all forms against girls, saying, it hampered their well-being.

She was interacting with the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on Saturday on the activities to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child.

The International Day of the Girl Child, commemorated on October 11 every year, was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly to promote girls human rights, highlight gender inequalities that exist between girls and boys and address the various forms of discrimination and abuse suffered by girls.

This year’s commemoration was on the theme: “Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence”

It was organised by the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Center (NORSAAC), under its “The Young Urban Woman: Life Choices and Livelihood” project with funding from the Norwegian Development Agency.

The project aims to “Empower 2,000 young urban women from 15 to 25 years in Accra and Tamale to break the chain of poverty in their families and communities through more economic independence and control over their bodies, and for their voices to be heard and recognised in international fora.”

Ms Abdul Wahab said “Girls should be treated fairly just as their colleague boys to avoid the unnecessary rivalry between boys and girls and men and women instead of partnership between them.”

She demanded that “Girls should be given a voice to speak out their hidden fears and challenges for the society to put in place measures to curb the many adolescent related vices that are rampant in the country.”

Ms Yakubu Isma, a student and member of the Advocacy Platform on “The Young Urban Woman: Life Choices and Livelihood” project at Nalung, a suburb of Tamale, demanded that the fundamental human rights of girls should be granted them, not as a privilege but as a mandate because they were humans.

Ms Isma called for measures to deter violence against girls saying “such measures should target girls to lead the process of change and not as victims.”

Ms Kawusada Abubakari, Project Coordinator in-charge of “The Young Urban Woman: Life Choices and Livelihood” project at NORSAAC said although both boys and girls experienced child violence, girls were more vulnerable to the resulting negative effects of violence hence the raising of the awareness to stop the practice.