Women must increase their voices against corruption - GII

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Transparency International’s local chapter is calling on women to take centre stage in the fight against corruption.

Mrs Mary Awelana, Programmes Manager of the GII, said women were not naturally attracted to risky behaviour, thus, less likely to indulge in corrupt acts and could be counted on to take the fight against corruption to the desired heights.

She said this at a forum organised by the GII in Ho for selected young women from tertiary institutions in the Volta Region.

“Engaging women in the corruption fight has advantages. They are less likely to indulge in corrupt behaviour as men will ordinarily do, and it means it is critical to engage more women in the fight against corruption. We expect an increase in women’s voices against corruption”, Mrs Awelana said.

She said the impact of corruption affected marginalised groups, of which women formed the majority, and GII, as part of its programming for the International Women’s Day celebrations, was “shining the light” on young women.

“Corruption affects poor and vulnerable groups, which women dominate, it hinders progress towards gender equality, and is also a barrier against the full attainment of their civil, social, and economic rights”, the Programmes Manager said.

Mrs Awalana said the GII focused this year’s celebration on students, to equip them to penetrate campuses with the anti-corruption campaign.

The forum, which was supported by Global Affairs Canada, was held under the theme: “Empowering Young Women to Sustain the Fight against Corruption”, and was attended by female students from the University of Health and Allied Sciences, the Ho Technical University, and the Evangelical Presbyterian College.

Participants were schooled on corruption and its forms and were also equipped to blow the whistle on corruption and to work with the various anti-corruption agencies.

“Going forward more women would be informed and made aware”, Mrs Awalana said, and asked the young women to “be bold, speak out, stand out, reject, and resist corruption.”

Mr Daniel Mensah, Volta Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, called on Ghanaians not to show timidity in the face of the corruption fight, saying whistleblowers, throughout history, faced stiff opposition, yet were not discouraged.