THE
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing a draft gender mainstreaming
strategy which is to ensure that both men and women benefit equitably from
various interventions aimed at reversing and mitigating the impact of
desertification.
It would also ensure that women, just as
their male counterparts, are involved at all levels of decision-making with
regards to natural resource and environmental governance.
The main objective of the strategy,
known as the Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (GESAP), is to mainstream
gender perspectives into the implementation of the Ghana Environmental
Management Project (GEMP).
As part of the review of the gender
strategy, the EPA and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology
(MEST) organised a stakeholders’ forum in Tamale to seek views to enrich the document.
A number of environmentalists,
representatives of non-governmental organisations and heads of institutions
attended the forum.
It was acknowledged at the forum that
although women played vital roles in ensuring food security at the household
and community levels, they had limited or no access to land, inputs, finances,
technologies and expertise.
Again, it was noted that the impact of
desertification on women and children in rural communities would be graver
because access to water, foodstuffs and firewood would become increasingly
difficulty.
The participants thereby stressed the
need for the strategy to ensure that women benefit adequately from alternate
livelihood and adaptation schemes.
In a speech read on his behalf, the
Acting Executive Director of the EPA, Mr Daniel Amlalo said the strategy was
prepared by a National Gender Committee which was constituted by the EPA in its
bid to effectively address the issue of gender equality in the implementation
of GEMP.
The committee, he noted, had
representatives from various institutions, including the EPA, Ministry of Food
and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, National
Development Planning Commission and Water Resources Commission.
Mr Amlalo explained that gender
mainstreaming was important at all levels because socio-economic development,
because women, men and youth play essential roles in the management of natural
resources, including soil, water, forests and energy.
“The integration of gender into the GEMP
would therefore ensure the full realization of the project goal in terms of
outputs, impacts and outcome,” he stated.
The GEMP is a five-year project aimed at
reversing desertification in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions by
building the capacities of communities and environmental institutions.
The project, which started in 2008, is already
in its fourth year, but many environmentalists are very sceptical about its
success at the grassroots level.
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