The government has been vigorously pursuing programmes and activities towards the elimination of domestic violence and trafficking in persons, according to a statement on Wednesday signed by Mrs Adiza Ofori-Adu, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC).
It said the Domestic Violence (DV) and Human Trafficking Management Boards had been reconstituted and inaugurated and stakeholders' workshops held to develop inter and intra agency protocols for the implementation of the domestic violence and human trafficking acts.
MOWAC said sensitization programmes were continuously being organised by the district assemblies and senior high school students on the DV Act, adding that capacity building and awareness creation workshops had been held for personnel of law enforcement and security agencies to combat domestic violence and trafficking in persons and irregular migration from and through Ghana.
The Ministry said a Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) policy was being implemented to ensure that the annual budgets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) adequately took gender issues into consideration and addressed gender inequality in their programmes, adding that 110 Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Budget and Gender Desk Officers from 16 MDAs had so far been trained in gender responsive budgeting.
It said MOWAC was in the process of setting up a Gender Responsive Budgeting Monitoring Unit (GRB-MU) to among other things facilitate the effective delivery of gender mainstreaming as a key dimension of national development process by using the budgetary process as an entry point and ensure equality of access and active participation in governing processes, and raise the capacity of women to participate in decision-making.
MOWAC said Cabinet had asked MDAs to come out with gender policies for their programmes and projects and also set aside funds to implement gender issues since they cut across all sectors.
The Ministry said it had also put in place serious measures to recover loans procured by various women's groups under the previous administration under the Micro finance and Small Scale Centre (MASLOC) funds and would soon resume provision of micro credit facilities to small scale businesses and alternative livelihood skills training to women's groups.
MOWAC said in line with achieving the MDG 3, which is to promote gender equality and empower women, the government with the support of the African Development Bank had embarked on a four-year Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project to among others provide scholarship for 500 girls of poor families to enrol in value added professional trades in the technical, electrical and mechanical fields.
Micro finance institutions and business development service providers will also be trained under the project to render better service to women micro and small scale entrepreneurs while the government is also meeting its international obligations relating to gender equality, women's rights and development through the implementation if various protocols and conventions, most of which had been translated into concrete policy actions.