Women in Fisheries against Violence Project (WiFVEs) Project has officially been launched at Anomabo on Tuesday, 30th August 2022, in the Central Region to promote awareness and reduce violence against women.
The three-year project(2022-2024) which is funded by the European Union targets communities in Western and Central Regions with the objective of achieving gender equality in Ghana by advocating against Gender-Based Voilence(GBV), abuse and discrimination in Ghana’s marine sector.
The project is jointly implemented by Hen Mpoano and the Central and Western fish Mongers Association(CEWEFIA).
A total of 18 communities are expected to benefit from the WiFVEs project, the central region communities include Dago, Mumford, Aakra, Narkwa, Otuam, Anombo, Biriwa, Dutch Komenda and British Komenda.
The targeted communities in the Western Region include Dixcove, Cape Three Points, Akwidaa, Andorra, Asanta, Ekwei, Ellonyi, Bonyere and Metika
Speaking as the Chairperson of the event, Nana Mborba I, Queen Mother of Anomabo Traditional Area acknowledged the significant role women play in society yet due to certain Culture, Norms and Values growth of women has been hampered.
She also added that “lack of access to means of production is one of the major factors that makes women vulnerable in fishing communities leading to discrimination and abuse hence the need for more advocacy and empowerment of women”.
Nicholas Smith, Project manager of CEWEFIA in his welcome address acknowledged how certain culture norms, practices and convection in society affect the representation making it difficult for the women to express the same rights and opportunities as their counterpart in the sector.
He called for the need for awareness creation and empowerment to enable women to appreciate their significance in the value chain and be educated on existing protective laws.
‘‘Nonetheless, the roles performed by women are under-represented in the sector due to harmful cultural norms, practices and social conventions. They are disadvantage and do not exercise the same rights and opportunities as their male counterpart in the fisheries sector, the project will also build capacity of fisher folks to respond GBV, Supporting law enforcement while improving access to social services’’
The Project Manager of the Gender Based Violence (GBV) project from Yenpoano, Adiza Ama Owuwu lamented on marginalisation of women due to the lack of ownership of the means of production including Canoe, Net, and other fishing accessories which influences abuse and discrimination.
She assured stakeholders that ‘‘there a lot of advocacy that would be done to improve the situation and parties of the project are committed to the course ’’.
The European Union as the sponsors of the program was represented by Mr. Massimo Mina the Head of Cooperation- EU Delegation to Ghana, who also went ahead to appreciate the effort of Hen Mpoano and CEWEFIA towards undergoing competitive bidding to win the EUR 450,000 support to embark on such a productive project.
He shared major concerns about the baseline analysis which revealed that 54 percent of community members within the targeted project communities have experienced or witnessed gender based violence with 90 percent of this number, who have experienced GBV acts as being women.
He finally expressed optimism that coming on board of partners such as CHRAJ, DOVVSU, Department of Gender and other important stakeholders will make significant strides to nip the menace in the bud.
Delivering the Keynote address, Central regional Director of Gender, Mama Awotsu Adzagba II advised the traditional authorities not to preside over gender base abuses at their palaces but rather allow the right state institutions to deal with issues of such nature as mandated by the law. She also warned men against all forms of abuses and the sanctions the law prescribes.
Other stakeholders who graced the occasion included, Western Regional Department of Gender, Madam Marebel Okine, Central Regional director of Fisheries commission, Mr. Sackey Tettey, Western Regional Director Fisheries Commission, Joseph Yeboa, GNCFC Chairman, Central Region, Nana Obrenu Dabon II and GNCFC Chairman, Western Region, Mr Abaka Aidoo.
