Dr Nana Esi Amos-Abanyie, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Silver Lobster Hospitality and Management Service has asked the government to use part of the GETFund resources to procure sanitary pads for girls in schools because the challenge is troubling female students.
According to her, GETfundshould provide sanitary pads for female students when they are in their periods and that some of the girls are suffering.
“Let us not use all the GETFund resource to build, but part should be used to get sanitary pads for our girls,” she said.
She was contributing to a panel discussion as part of the International Women’s Day celebration under the auspices Send Ghana.
The event was held in Kumasi under the theme: “Fusion of activism and music for gender equality in developing economies”.
The programme, apart from bringing women from all walks of life, also assembled senior and junior high school students to listen to the discussion.
Dr. Mrs Nana Esi Amos-Abanyie stated that women should be celebrated every day and not once in a year, because when God created man, he created a helper and that helper is a woman, adding that behind every successful man is a woman, because that man needs the help of a woman to move.
The Reverend Dr Timothy Crentsil, the head of Fashion at the KsTU, on his part argued that the idea of attaching gender to a particular profession was incorrect and urged women to step out and go for what they want in the world of profession.
“Acquisition of skill is gender neutral; there is no skill in this world which is meant for boy or girl. It is all about the upbringing and that is why boys can do catering,” he told the gathering.
Dr Crentsil urged the government to put in place policy and programmes that would promote equal opportunities for women, adding that there should be a conscious effort to create equal opportunity for women in Ghana.
“We have to ensure there is equal representation and we have not got there yet, but we have to make a conscious effort and be able to promote that inclusion so that women’s voices are heard.
“Those in minority groups are heard –they are given the opportunities for them to express themselves to bring on board what they can also do.That is the way for us to go to see progress”, he said.
On her part , Prof Mina Ofosu, a lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Kumasi Techinical University (KsTU), argued that in as much as they want artistic display to promote women, they do not have to expose themselves in music videos.
According to her, if this happens,“then we have sent out a message that we are weaker vessels”.
She charged women to be independent in all their endeavours. “I want you to go out there with the mindset of I can do and when you have that mindset, there is nothing else that you cannot do.”
Mr Mohammed Raafi, a Creative Art Consultant based in Tamale, noted that women play crucial roles in the running of the economy.
