Editorial

NETRIGHT, partners advocatewomen’s economic advancement

The Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) and its partners, have advocated improvement in women’s financial inclusion and leadership in the country, to ensure their economic advancement.

At a multi-stakeholder’s National Forum, in Accra, yesterday, they said women continue to face greater financial exclusion and vulnerability than men, with COVID-19 compounding the already existing gender inequalities.

The call was anchored on a study by NETRIGHT on gender analysis of the financial sector in 2023, which showed that female representation in leadership and management in financial institutions was below 30 per cent.

It also follows the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) 2022 Household  Income and Expenditure survey, which revealed that more women were unemployed than men with two out of every three of unemployed individuals being females.

The forum provided the platform for dialogue on Ghana’s COVID-19 economic recovery response strategies, policy recommendations for women-centered strategies and how to secure commitments for action and accountability.

It was held on the theme: “Advancing Women’s Leadership and Financial Inclusion in a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Agenda,” under NETRIGHT Women’s Leadership for Financial Inclusion and Economic Recovery Initiative,being implemented by the Network and partners in collaboration with GracaMachel Trust.

Convener of NETRIGHT, Professor Akosua Darkwah, said constituents of the informal sector of the economy, especially women, had lower levels of education.

As a result of this, she said, they were unable to have access to various interventions introduced by government.

Prof.Darkwah said consequently, it was preventing women from contributing effectively to development, to bridge the widening gap in the financial space

She said women were more resilient and rebounded faster in the labour market, hence the need to increase women representation in leadership and financial inclusion.

In a presentation on the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (CARES) ObaatanpaProgramme, the Head of Coordinating team, GiftySekyere, said the initiative was promoting inclusivity and protection to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

Although she did not provide data, she said many of the components of the programme, including farming, were dominated by women as a way of alleviating the burden on women.

Contributing to a panel discussion on the theme: “Digital financial inclusion as key to lever for change – Gaps and Opportunities”, the Vice Chair of the Greater Accra branch of the Association of Ghana Industries, Ms Maureen Odoi, noted that women were facing challenges as a result of knowledge and skills gap.

To address these challenges, she said women in both the formal and informal sectors were given financial literacy on activities, including book-keeping as well as being assisted to harness the power of digital technologies.

A member of the Network for Women in Growth, MawuloweAnato-Dumelo, advocated the spread of financial literacy interventions to the regions and districts, for women to benefit and maximise their businesses.

BY JONATHAN DONKOR

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