Obuasi: Ms. Dorcas Gakpetor, Project Officer at Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF-Ghana), has emphasized the importance of empowering women, particularly in rural areas, to seek redress and hold duty bearers accountable. She asserted that empowering women is essential for promoting social justice and equity within communities.
According to Ghana News Agency, Ms. Gakpetor spoke at a training workshop organized by WiLDAF-Ghana for selected women in Anwiam, located in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region. The workshop was part of the five-year project, ‘The Power of Voices for Partnership FAIR 4 ALL’, which aims to address global value chain inequalities and enhance accountability within industries, focusing specifically on the mining, petroleum, and cocoa sectors.
The project targets the Anwiam community in the Obuasi East District, an area with significant mining activity and documented human rights concerns. WiLDAF-Ghana aims to empower community members, especially women, by replicating ‘social labs’ where individuals are trained to assert their rights and speak for themselves.
Funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and led by Oxfam in Ghana, with support from the Center for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS) and other partners, the project seeks to familiarize community members with various access-to-justice mechanisms. These include the police and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), for reporting issues such as sexual and gender-based violence.
Ms. Gakpetor highlighted the project’s focus on identifying articulate, confident, and integrity-driven community members to lead local advocacy efforts. She stressed the importance of supporting women in holding both public and private sector actors accountable. She also noted that strengthening civil society is crucial for influencing budgetary processes, ensuring a fair distribution of benefits from petroleum and mineral resources.
Furthermore, she underscored the necessity of fortifying civil society advocacy in mining communities to advance women’s economic empowerment and protect their rights. Some participants expressed their satisfaction with the training and hoped for regular initiatives in the area.