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Health News for Monday, March 8, 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2021-03-08
First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo
The First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has asked for support in the dissemination of information on issues of immunity and ability to fight the coronavirus, especially for women.
He said that with many women playing very important roles in the healthcare line, as their work during the coronavirus season has shown, there should be a conscious effort to help them deal with issues of that nature.
Speaking on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021, the First Lady called for more attention to be paid to women’s issues as days like today remind the world that women are still the most oppressed.
“Efforts should be made to disseminate information on how women’s immunity and ability to fight COVID-19 can be boosted by adopting healthy lifestyles and eating more nutritious locally produced food, as well as exercising and following safety protocols. .
“Women must be champions and facilitators of the drive to have head-on immunity against Covid-19, as they have admirably done over the years, to overcome past pandemics,” she said.
She also took the opportunity to celebrate the hard work, dedication and resilience of women, particularly on the front lines of medical care in the country, as the coronavirus ravages.
“Ghana, praised by the World Health Organization for its resilience in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, is making its presence felt amid prevailing challenges by seizing the occasion to focus on the effects of the pandemic on women. and girls and map strategies to alleviate their suffering.
“This is essential because since the beginning of the pandemic, towards the end of 2019, women have been identified as leaders in managing the crisis, in their role as health workers, caregivers, innovators and community organizers, among others.
“Many of them have also been recognized as the most exemplary national leaders in the fight against the disease, and most have demonstrated their skills, knowledge and networks to effectively lead response and recovery efforts.”
This year’s DIM theme, announced by UN Women, “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World,” runs in parallel with the global campaign theme, “#ChooseToChallenge.”
This year’s celebration highlights the importance of challenging prejudices and misconceptions in the interest of creating a more gender-equal and inclusive world while celebrating the efforts of women and girls to create a more equal future in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full statement below:
Once again, International Women’s Day is here, presenting a global opportunity to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world.
Held annually on March 8, International Women’s Day (IMD) is one of the most important events on the United Nations calendar, raising awareness of women’s equality, achievements and challenges, as well as lobby to accelerate gender equality.
The Day, sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) in 1975, when it was officially celebrated, inspires support for organizations that help women, globally, and creates the opportunity to raise funds for charities focused on women.
The 2021 theme for the MID, announced by UN Women, is: “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World”, which celebrates the efforts of women and girls to create a more equal future and the pandemic of the COVID-19. Recovery.
However, there is a parallel global campaign theme: “#ChooseToChallenge”, which highlights the importance of challenging prejudices and misconceptions for the sake of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
The celebration of International Women’s Day remains highly relevant due to the many issues relating to women and girls that deserve to be highlighted and receive the necessary attention.
Ghana, praised by the World Health Organization for its resilience in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, is making its presence felt amid prevailing challenges by seizing the occasion to focus on the effects of the pandemic on women and girls. and strategize. to ease their suffering.
This is essential because since the beginning of the pandemic, towards the end of 2019, women have been identified as vanguard in crisis management, in their role as health workers, caregivers, innovators and community organizers, among others.
Many of them have also been recognized as the most exemplary national leaders in the fight against the disease, and most have demonstrated their skills, knowledge and networks to effectively lead response and recovery efforts.
However, the UN Women report indicates that women around the world face an increase in domestic violence, unpaid caregiving, unemployment and poverty due to the pandemic and that, despite the fact that women Women make up the majority of frontline workers, there is a disproportionate and inadequate representation of women in the national and global COVID-19 political space.
The pandemic is known to affect everyone everywhere, but it affects different groups of people differently, deepening existing inequalities. Consequently, concerted efforts are essential for the adoption of pragmatic measures that help close these inequalities.
This is important because while previous data indicated that death rates from COVID-19 may be higher for men, other reports say the pandemic is having devastating social and economic consequences for more women and girls. This is because almost 60 percent of women work in the informal economy, earn less, save less, and are at greater risk of poverty.
Once again, as markets tumble and businesses close, evidence abounds that millions of women’s jobs are disappearing, while most of them continue to lose paid jobs, forcing them into unpaid care work due to the demands of the time, including the closure of schools and increased attention to the elderly.
It is worth mentioning that apart from Ghana and the other countries, whose male presidents have been praised for controlling and managing the pandemic with strategic interventions and policies, most of the countries that have succeeded in stemming the tide are headed by women. All salute the leaders of Ethiopia, New Zealand, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia and others, for making women proud.
They have shown that, despite the new barriers that the pandemic brought to exacerbate the pre-existing social and systemic challenges faced by women in their attempt to engage in leadership, to work together around the campaign theme: “#ChooseToChallenge “It would help change the status quo of prejudices and stereotypes that prevent achieving gender equality.
The UN warns that multiple obstacles that remain unchanged – the devaluation of women and girls in some societies, fewer options and experiences of all forms of violence – especially around the COVID-19 period, are threatening the gains made with a lot of effort.
For example, global statistics, as of 2019, indicated that legal restrictions had prevented 2.7 billion women from having access to the same job options as men, while less than 25% of parliamentarians were women.
It is imperative that women from all walks of life heed the wake-up call to continually support women’s tireless efforts to bring different knowledge, experiences, perspectives, and skills to the table, and make concrete contributions to decisions, policies. and laws that work better for everyone. .
Also of great importance is the need to defend the rights and fully harness the potential of women leaders in pandemic preparedness, response and recovery. The perspectives of women and girls, in all their diversity, must be integrated into the formulation and implementation of policies and programs in all areas to achieve the desired results.
Efforts should be made to disseminate information on how women’s immunity and ability to fight COVID-19 can be boosted by adopting healthy lifestyles and eating more nutritious locally produced food, as well as exercising and following safety protocols.
Women must be champions and enablers of the drive to have head-on immunity against Covid-19, as they have admirably done over the years, to overcome past pandemics.
In addition, women in urban and rural areas should be supported based on their needs assessments.
Therefore, the call to governments, especially in Africa, to ensure that girls remain in school, regardless of prolonged school closings, and protected from all forms of abuse and early marriages, goes in the right direction.
Allegations of increased violence against women, attributed to the consequences of the pandemic, must be investigated and stopped through appropriate monitoring and social counseling programs, as well as support services to protect our women.
The needs of women rightly deserve to be at the center of COVID-19 response measures, while socio-economic plans are purposefully redesigned to improve the lives and futures of women and girls.
Everyone must make a conscious effort of thought, speech and action daily to achieve gender parity, sooner rather than later, defeating the World Economic Forum’s prediction that ‘none of us will see gender parity in our lives, nor probably many of us will. our children.’ Working for a sweet victory, with a domino effect in everyone’s interest, must be the common agenda.
Indeed, building an inclusive and resilient society alongside the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the achievement of the MID 2021 theme requires unity and focus, on the part of both women and men in Ghana and beyond.
A challenged world is, in fact, an alert world. Therefore, everyone must truly accept the challenge by making International Women’s Day the focal point to contribute their share, actively, to make a positive difference for women.
The day belongs to all groups, collectively, everywhere. Gloria Steinem, the world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist, rightly states: “The story of women’s struggle for equality does not belong to any feminist or any organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights”.
