They have been advised to achieve that by investing in education and training, providing access to health care, ensuring equal pay for equal work, and eliminating gender-based violence and harmful practices in their respective countries.

Additionally, they have been urged to work together to ensure a fair and adequate contribution of women to the development needs of Member States.

Meeting

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Lariba Zuweira Abudu, made the call in a speech read on her behalf by her Deputy, Francisca Oteng Mensah, during a meeting in Accra.

The meeting was dubbed “Ministerial Meeting on the validation of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) Strategic Plan for 2023 to 2027”.

It was on the theme “Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls: an imperative for the achievement of sustainable development and effective regional integration in West Africa”.

Prior to the meeting, gender experts from the ECOWAS member states had, in the past two days, deliberated and recommended the Strategic Plan to ministers responsible for Gender in the Member States.

The aim of the Plan was to give a push to the commitment made by Member States to ensure gender-sensitive policies in support of the advancement of the region.

Gender equality

The Gender Minister noted that gender disparities were still prevalent in Africa, particularly in the West African Subregion.

She called on stakeholders to ensure that women have access to the resources, skills, technology and networks necessary to participate fully in the regional economy.

She stressed that gender equality benefitted everyone, indicating that it would not succeed in isolation within the sub-region.

Implementation

The Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr, called on ministers responsible for Gender in the Member States to implement the Plan to achieve their objective

She commended the ECOWAS Commission for establishing the EGDC in 2003 to mobilise and empower women to be active participants in the regional integration process.

The Director of the ECOWAS National Office of Ghana, Neematu Ziblim Adam, for her part, said closing the gender gap was a prerequisite for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and human security needs among people on a sustainable basis.

“Available information suggests that there has been progress over the last decades in this regard, but there is more for policymakers to pay attention to in order to achieve this goal by 2030,” she added.

She said the EGDC Strategic plan (2023-2027) was apt, timely and in the right step to support the quest of Member States in bridging this gender gap.