Dr. Maria Klara Kuss, an international consultant with UNICEF, has urged dedication and a participatory approach to improve gender responsiveness to shocks like pandemics.
She said that enough time had been spent discussing the problems and that it was now time to take action.
Dr. Kuss emphasised the need for a path to turn the debate into action during a stakeholder engagement yesterday in Accra to validate the gender and shock responsiveness of Ghana's social protection system.
We make suggestions and hope that things will work out, but we need to do more to advance, which is why a plan is necessary, she said.
Engagement of stakeholders, roadmap
Social and gender justice stakeholders are endorsing the suggested plan and making necessary adjustments to make it effective.
In order to lessen the effects of catastrophes and pandemics, among other things, on the most vulnerable population, including men, women, and children, the framework is anticipated to strengthen the nation's social protection system and make it robust.
The need for a roadmap has arisen in order to lessen the disproportionate effects of shock events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recessions, on the weak, especially women and children.
The plan would also address issues relating to gender, including child marriage, adolescent pregnancies, and gender-based violence. It would also address the low representation of women in political decision-making.
Participatory strategy
According to Dr. Kuss, the framework also mandated the adoption of evidence-based strategies and a thorough, grounded strategy. based on a thorough study into what works, what doesn't, and the reasons why it didn't.
She said that when it comes to economic prospects, women in Ghana are significantly underrepresented compared to men.
For instance, she cited a 2023 study from the World Bank and stated that the labour force participation rate for women was 65.3%, compared to the rate for men, which was 72.4% in 2022.
Dr. Kuss once again used statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service that showed women owned or controlled around 19% of agricultural land in 2017, compared to 33% of males, while discussing access to productive resources, among other factors.
Implications
The UNICEF international expert noted that the lack of such a roadmap has grave consequences, including physical violence, sexual assault, and high school dropout rates.
Other effects included fewer possibilities for work and education, issues with sexual and reproductive health, stigmatisation and discrimination, child and forced marriages, as well as verbal, emotional, and physical assault.
Citizen accountability
Gender mainstreaming in social protection, according to Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MOGCSP), is a civic duty as well as a legal requirement.
"Everyone in the world we live in deserves equal chances, advantages, and protection, regardless of gender.
To achieve gender equity and equality, however, social protection is a crucial goal, according to the speaker.
Responsibilities
According to the minister, women were more likely to be burdened with home care duties and to get inadequate pay, which had a detrimental influence on their infrastructure, way of life, and susceptibility to crises.
Recent data has also brought attention to the vulnerability of men, which calls for more careful consideration to guarantee that the demands of all groups and socioeconomic classes are taken into account in the design, programming, delivery, and bias-free shock reaction of social protection, she added.
As a result, the minister expressed his gratitude to the development partners for providing ongoing technical and financial support to the ministry in order to improve the social protection systems and make them more gender- and shock-sensitive.
Let me also express my gratitude to my team, which is led by the Chief Director, for organising this effort thus far.
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