‘Engage females in leadership and decision making’ – Plan Ghana

Prem Shukla

Prem Shukla, the Chief Executive Officer of Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, has called for the engagement of women and girls equally in leadership and decision making.

“A real and lasting improvement in the lives of women and girls is to enable them become leaders in our communities, workplaces and families. Let us all champion the course of girl child empowerment. This is a sure way to achieve prosperity for all,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the 2014 ‘Because I am a Girl’, (BIAAG) report, an annual publication which assesses the state of the World’s Girl in Accra, Mr. Shukla said leadership is not limited to only those in formal positions of power but is rather a mindset, that each individual can make a difference.

Under the theme “Pathways to Power: Creating Sustainable Change for Adolescent Girls”, the State of the World’s Girls Report looks closely and critically at the world around girls and ideals that shape their identities.

The BIAAG campaign aims at supporting at least four million girls globally and in Ghana the project is assisting about 4,000 marginalised girls from 2012 to 2016, to access and complete quality basic education or acquire vocational skills.

It also seeks to promote active participation of 4,000 girls in development through strong social networks and life skills.

This year’s report, the 8^th in a series, concluded that advancing gender justice is the responsibility of all elements of society.

“The findings of the report visibly points out to all of us that it is not enough to protect the basic rights of girls but also ensure that their voices are heard and welcomed. Girls need to be heard and their participation highly encouraged across all strata of society,” Mr. Shukla noted.

Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, a Court of Appeals Judge who was the guest of honour noted that several adolescent girls around the world are denied education by the daily realities of poverty, conflict and discrimination.

“Every day, girls are taken out of school and forced to into work or married to strangers with the risk of isolation and abuse. All these issues and several others are the actualities that adolescent girls suffer around the work and it is a huge waste of their potential.

“There is no gainsaying that with education, skills and the right support, girls hold the power to help break the cycle of poverty and ignorance in our societies. An educated girl is less likely to marry and have children whiles she is still a child. She is more likely to be literate, healthy and mature into adulthood as well as to reinvest her income back into her family, community and country.

“These reasons should mandate all of us to prioritise education of the girl child and ensure that a conducive and girl friendly environment is created for her growth and advancement at all times,” she added.

A 2013 report by the World Health Organisation found that more than one in three women around the world has been raped or physically abused, with 80percent of the culprit being their partners or spouse. On a daily basis, adolescent girls and women go through a series of emotional, psychological and physical assaults.

“As the judiciary, much is expected of us. We need to ensure that violence against women and girls feature high and are treasured with utmost importance in the court rooms. We need to bring about changes so that women and girls do not find the court room processes as humiliating and dreadful as the act of violence meted out to them,” she added.