NGO calls for work to protect girls

Women in Law and Development Africa (WiLDAF) has urged state actors and gender stakeholders to commit more action towards ending abuses and harmful practices against girls.

A statement issued in Accra by Abigail Edem Hunu, WiLDAF Executive, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), on Monday, therefore, asked the government, civil society organizations, and private institutions and the media to join forces and reaffirm their commitment to end the scourge of violence against adolescent girls.

They should also promote their empowerment through investing in the girls to equip them with skills, confidence, and life options.

The statement was issued to commemorate October 11 as the International Day of the Girl-Child, which was set aside by the United Nations to raise awareness on the challenges that millions of girls face every day.

“This day is also earmarked to promote girls' human rights, highlight gender inequalities that exist between girls and boys, and discuss strategies that address the various forms of discrimination and abuses suffered by girls around the world,” the statement said.

This year’s theme, “Empowering Adolescent Girls; ending the cycle of violence”, is to critically set a stage that can invest and support the girls on a path towards empowerment, the statement said.

The statement said when adolescent girls were empowered it would enable them to grow into empowered women who could care for themselves better and their families, increase their earning potentials, and to serve as active and equal citizens and change agents to spur economic growth for communities and nations.

It, however, said discrimination and harmful practices could send them down on a negative spiral with lifelong consequences for themselves, their societies and the future generations so they had to be ended.

“The children should be facilitated to engage in civic, economic, and political life, improve equal access to quality primary and secondary education for both boys and girls and to mobilize girls, boys, parents and leaders to change discriminatory gender norms…,” the statement said.