Second Model Girls' Essay Competition Launched in Accra

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, has urged parents to invest in the education of the girl-child and encourage them to stay in school.

This, Nana Oye Lithur said, would benefit not only the families of the girl but also the entire country and the world as a whole.

She noted that education was one of the most important means of empowering women and girls with the knowledge, skills and the self-confidence necessary to participate in the development process.

These were contained in a speech read on her behalf at the launch of the 2nd Model Girls' Essay Competition held in Accra, yesterday.

The Model Girls' Essay Competition aimed to engage girl children in an essay competition on the topic: "What are some innovative ways of Improving Gender Equality in Ghana."

Nana Lithur noted that girls with at least six years of school education were more likely to be able to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

She was of the view that programmes such as the Model Girls' Essay Competition would equip the girl-child with the knowledge and skills they would need to end intergenerational poverty, illiteracy, ill health and gender inequality.

The Minister said countries that invested in promoting the social and economic status of women tended to have lower poverty rate, explaining that an extra year of secondary school for girls could increase their future wages by 10 to 20%.

She noted that although there had been significant changes experienced by women in gender equality, women were still widely under-represented in decision-making at all levels in the household and the public sphere.

According to her, there was the need to include all other groups in the equality equation to be able to achieve the needed progress in ensuring equality.

The Executive Director of the Ghana Book Trust, Mrs Genevieve Eba-Polley, said every girl-child would grow into a woman and her contribution to the society would create opportunities and progress for all.

She observed that the fabric of the society seemed to be falling apart and the role of women in putting the society back together was pertinent.

Mrs Eba-Polley said women were not interested in taking over the roles and responsibilities of men but rather wanted the same opportunities as men. The competition will be organised by Insight Foundation, Ghana (IFG) with support from the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) and the Ghana Education Service (GES).

In all, 400 students from fifteen selected schools in Accra, aged between 10 and14 years are expected to take part in the competition which is scheduled to begin on May 17, 2014.