“Your dreams are valid, Rise up to inspire inclusion” – Youth Without Borders Ghana urges women

International Women’s Day (IWD) is marked globally on the 8th of March to celebrate the achievements of women and raise awareness about gender equality and women’s rights.

The focal theme for this year’s celebration is “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” with the campaign theme, “Inspire Inclusion”. This theme has become pivotal for all stakeholders of women’s development, including gender advocates, activists, and feminists, among others, to tackle women’s economic disempowerment by championing increased advocacy for investing in the uplifting of women.

This is intended to position women to be economically independent towards making meaningful contributions to national and community development.

Similarly, the campaign message seeks to emphasize the importance of inclusion and empowerment in achieving gender equality, as well as protecting the rights of women and girls to live healthy and dignified lives. At Youth Without Borders Ghana, we join other youth organizations globally in recognizing the efforts made by women and girls in maintaining stability and promoting long-term development in a post-pandemic polarised world.

In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of its 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for all people, now and into the future. Despite the significant progress made globally, no country has yet achieved SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

As of today, there still exist several notable legal and economic hindrances, as well as formal and informal barriers, which hinder women’s full participation in political and socio-economic affairs, thereby marginalizing and excluding them from crucial decision-making processes.

Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic and post-pandemic insecurities have exacerbated existing violence, including physical and sexual abuses against women and girls, in addition to deep-rooted economic, financial, and food insecurity among low-income families headed by women. This year’s celebration serves as yet another clarion call to action.

A crucial time to reflect and unite to build on recovery supports and reforms that invest in all women, particularly young women, by creating pathways to unlock their potential for career advancement and safer spaces for inclusive and sustainable development.

Youth Without Borders agrees to implement the five key scopes of recommended actions by the UN, which include investing in women as a human rights issue; ending poverty; implementing gender-responsive financing; shifting to a green economy and caring society; and supporting feminist change-makers. These areas are crucial for creating a more gender-balanced world, and we believe that this should be a collective agenda for all, not just a problem for women and girls.

Over the years, as part of our commitment as a youth-focused organization, we have contributed to accelerating women and girls’ empowerment through various activities, including introducing annual Young Women in leadership forums, I-Empower (Youth Empowerment Campaign) in Senior High Schools to strengthen capacity of female student leadership, launching a second-cycle outreach on “zero violence”, through democratic principles in grievance address systems, and hosting open forums.

We also consistently train and provide female youth leaders for the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps and invest in SRHR programs to reduce adolescent pregnancies in Ghana.

YWB asserts that achieving gender equality and equity necessitates the collective effort of all stakeholders to bridge the disparities in health, education, political, and economic advancement of women and girls. In the future, we are exploring various avenues to sensitize young girls on internet safety and digital footprints through our anti-cyberbullying against young girls project to be rolled out soon.

We, therefore,  call on all advocates, agencies, leaders, and stakeholders to prevail in their efforts toward challenging biased and persistent unfavorable actions against women and girls. Also, YWB entreats all to assist in creating an environment where women and girls can advance and succeed. By this, we invite other organizations to collaborate in launching deep commitments in the form of realistic and sustainable solutions as powerful tools in driving long-term impact.

Youth Without Borders Ghana is a non-governmental organization and social movement that focuses on youth development with a national, continental, and global outlook. YWB strives to challenge systems that hinder the potential and development of young people worldwide.

We aim to create practical solutions to address the issues faced by young people and society. We are proud to have represented Ghana and West Africa on the African Union Youth Advisory Board for the 2017/2018 administrative year.

On March 8, 2024, join YWB for the 2024 International Women’s Day celebrations. Youth Without Borders also encourages you to join other programs held globally to add your voices to discussions using the hashtag #InvestinWomen in all social media posts and engagements.

By: AMA OWARE FRİMPOMAA, Head, Gender, Inclusion and Health Promotion, Youth Without Borders Ghana.