UN Women Reaffirms Commitment to Strengthen Partnership with Ghana on Gender Equality

Edited by: Solomon Kwabena Nana-Ansah – Paaps –

The Regional Director of UN Women for West and Central Africa, Dr. Maxine Houinato, has reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with Ghana to advance gender equality and eliminate violence against women and girls.

Dr. Houinato led a delegation on a courtesy call to the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, to discuss key areas of collaboration aimed at promoting the rights, protection and empowerment of women and girls across the country.

During the meeting, Dr. Houinato highlighted ongoing preparations to accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality ahead of the 2030 deadline. He also announced plans for a high-level regional forum and revealed that Ghana has been selected as one of the beneficiary countries for a new UN Women-supported initiative focused on preventing violence against women and girls through community engagement and the transformation of harmful social norms.

He reaffirmed UN Women’s longstanding partnership with Ghana and stressed the importance of working closely with community structures, traditional authorities and religious leaders to address harmful practices while promoting the rights and dignity of women and girls.

In response, Hon. Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey welcomed the initiative and reiterated the Government of Ghana’s commitment to strengthening legal and policy frameworks to combat violence against women and girls.

The Minister disclosed that Cabinet has approved the revised Domestic Violence Policy, while efforts are underway to amend the Domestic Violence Act to broaden its scope and provide a more responsive framework for addressing emerging forms of violence.

She also highlighted the implementation of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024, which seeks to increase women’s participation in decision-making and promote gender equality across both public and private institutions. According to the Minister, sustained public education and institutional compliance will be essential to achieving the objectives of the Act.

Addressing emerging challenges, Hon. Dr. Lartey underscored the need to tackle online and technology-facilitated violence against women. She noted that findings from ongoing programmes have identified significant gaps in digital literacy and business management skills among women, stressing that creating safe digital spaces is crucial to enabling women and girls to fully participate in the digital economy and contribute to national development.

The meeting concluded with both parties reaffirming their shared commitment to deepening collaboration in advancing gender equality and ensuring the protection, empowerment and inclusion of women and girls in Ghana.