Lack of access to potable water and proper healthcare featured prominently amongst motions tabled at the fifth rural women’s parliament with men on Friday.
This year’s session was held under the theme ‘Parliament gives a voice to rural women and men on the SDGs (sustainable development goals)’.
At the closing ceremony last Friday, National Council Chairperson Margaret Mensah-Williams said the motions would be included in a report to be tabled in the National Council for adoption.
Mensah-Williams praised the rural women and men for their views and inputs during the three-day meeting, as well as called for greater education on gender equality and the empowerment of the girl child.
During the last session, Gladys Pickering, deputy permanent secretary in the justice ministry, did a presentation on gender-based violence, informing participants of various laws to protect women and children against GBV.
“There is currently no indicator on the number or the rate of femicides or the gender-related killings of women, although this extreme form of violence is in many cases related to the widespread unavailability of shelters and a lack of enforceability of protection orders,” she said.
Pickering added that language barriers, lack of access to information and a lack of resources often affected rural women’s ability to know their rights.