As part of a national campaign to engage men and boys as agents of change in reducing inequalities related to gender across communities in the country, the ministry of Gender, Children and social protection has launched an advocacy campaign to realise this objective.
The advocacy campaign dubbed ‘He For She’ will among other things advocate for an end to child marriage, help increase women participation and representation in decision making and also help increase women’s empowerment.
Addressing stakeholders at the independence square in Accra, President Akufo-Addo urged all Ghanaians to be part of a global agenda to become agents of change to help increase the economic empowerment of women in all part of the country.
The president also appealed to Ghanaians to eschew negative cultural practices, any form of gender discrimination particularly among girls as it has the tendency to prevent them from realizing their potential in life.’’
I invite boys and girls to become agents of change, I invite traditional leaders to tear down cultural barriers, I invite all to become agents and champions of human right’’.
He added. He further expressed his optimism to continuously advocate for ‘He For She’ in order to inspire men to stand beside women in creating change as women are doing today.
The Minister for Gender, Children and social protection, Hon. Otiko Afisa Djaba, on her part appealed to parents, guardians to make training of their wards a priority to enable them appreciate and undertand equity among them regardless of the gender.
She noted that the choices of both boys and girls are equal and therefore asked society not to engage in any form of discrimination against girls.
‘He For She’ focuses on a strategic shift by global development actors to put an increased focus on actions that brings men and boys side by side with women and girls, inorder to break through the barriers preventing women and girls from achieving their full potential and contributing this potential to a global community as outlined in the 2014-2017 core principles of UN Women strategic plan.
The principle states that the achievement of gender equality requires an inclusive approach that recognizes the crucial role of men and boys as partners for women’s rights. Agya Koo, a popular actor in Ghana was made the campaign ambassador.