ActionAid calls for ratification of ILO's conventions on GBV

Actionaid Ghana, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) has appealed to government to help end Gender-Based Violence (GBV) by ratifying and implementing the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Convention and Recommendation on GBV in the world of work.

It said one out of three women were impacted by violence and harassment at workplaces, which calls for the need for government to fully support the adoption of the ILO's Convention and recommendations to curb the situation.

Madam Esther Boateng, the Northern Regional Programmes Manager of ActionAid, made the appeal in Tamale during a forum with young women to mark ActionAid's global campaign on advocating for women's rights to decent work, a living wage and equal pay especially in the informal sector.

The event, organized in partnership with the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Center (NORSAAC) and Songtaba among others, was under the theme: "Decent Work Now for Women in the Informal Economy".

Madam Boateng said women everywhere in the world were over working, underpaid, unheard and under-represented as well as harassed and abused at workplaces.

She said statistics showed that 13.6 per cent of women were in paid employment as compared to 24.3 per cent of men while about 818 women globally over the age of 15 years had experienced sexual or physical violence at home, in their communities, and in the workplace.

Madam Boateng said globally over 2.7 billion women were largely restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men and called for the need to ensure equal job opportunities for all.

She called on all the various women's movements in Ghana to join ActionAid in advocating for the adoption, ratification and implementation of the ILO Convention on GBV.

Madam Felicia Kraja, a representative from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) encouraged women to report any form of abuses they may encounter at their work place to the right authorities for the necessary action to be taken.

She advised women to organize themselves into women groups so as to collectively help fight for their rights within the labour sector in the country.

Mr Fuseini Alhassan, the Northern Regional Labour Officer, said it was the duty of government to provide jobs for its citizens saying, “The informal sector employs majority of the labour force of about 80 per cent in Ghana”.

He, however, said government had put in place regulations to guide both the employer and the employees in the informal sector especially between apprentices and the master craft persons but these regulations have not been effectively enforced.

He, therefore, encouraged parents to ensure that mastercraft person provided factors such as decent shelter, a documented bond of agreement among others, before allowing their wards to learn in any informal sector as apprentice.

Some participants at the event included young women from Activista Ghana, Young Urban Women Movement, Smallholder Women Farmers, Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians Association (GHABA), Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association (GNTDA), Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD), among others.