The 1st National Conference for female lawyers & female executives dubbed “Women’s voices beyond the workspace” was held on Wednesday 12th October 2011 at the Kama Conference Centre, Accra. The conference was organised by FIDA-Ghana with support from Star-Ghana.
Prior to the program, Participants viewed a short documentary about the work of FIDA-Ghana.
OPENING
The programme started at 9:40am when the Mistress of Ceremony (M.C.), Ms. Gifty Anti, introduced Rev. Stella Bentsi-Enchil, who said the opening prayer.
WELCOME ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT OF FIDA-GHANA
The M.C. invited Mrs. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the President of FIDA-Ghana, to give her welcome address. Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi welcomed all participants to the maiden national conference for female lawyers and female executives. She expressed gladness at the appreciable number of female lawyers and female executives present. Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi cited the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action dated 15th September 1995 as being the events which ushered in ‘a wave of change’ as she put it regarding the position of women. She applauded the wonderful news that three women, one of whom is resident in Ghana, had been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for their non-violent struggle for women’s rights and the protection of women and girls.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi touched on FIDA’s inception in 1968 by a small group of female lawyers, culminating in its launch in 1974 and thereafter the formalization of the Legal Aid Program in 1985. She noted that FIDA had been in existence for 30 years within which time it had provided legal aid to over forty thousand (40,000) indigent women and sometimes men. She noted that lack of education was one of the primary barriers to women’s empowerment, making them vulnerable to exploitation and rights abuses. She flagged other social constraints such as patriarchy and inimical cultural practices which worsen the plight of women and girls; noting that education was crucial in the development of skilled human resources and a reduction in the number of vulnerable persons in Ghana.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi said that in a bid to strategically enhance the legal rights of women through Primary Legal Care, and to sustain the activities of FIDA-Ghana it was intended to create an endowment fund. She said that the Primary legal Care strategy was in alignment with the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (2010 – 2013), as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the aspirations of international human rights instruments to which Ghana is signatory. She noted that the conference was a good opportunity for female lawyers and executives to be heard especially in a decade (2010 -2020), which had been declared by the African Union (AU) as ‘the decade of the African Woman.’ She made an appeal for all participants to contribute towards a higher level of women’s achievements saying that FIDA-Ghana believed in their ability to make a difference in the lives of women and girls. She made a further appeal for Corporate Ghana’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to be aligned to women’s rights issues. Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi assured participants that the conference would be held annually to ensure that women in the corporate world joined in the cause of women and children.
CHAIRPERSON’S REMARKS
-Mrs. Elizabeth Joyce Villas,
Mrs. Afua Addotey, a member of FIDA-Ghana introduced the Chairperson. Mrs. Villas accepted the role and said she was honoured to be part of the programme. She acknowledged that FIDA-Ghana was not meant for just women facing problems but for all of us, that if we did not join to fight for women no one would. Mrs. Villas praised the strength of Ghanaian women, saying that the conference was opportune but long overdue. She noted that FIDA-Ghana was not meant for just lawyers, giving the assurance that the corporate world would help FIDA-Ghana to do well for women. She said that she had her own issues to share with the gathering, which she would divulge in due course, she thanked FIDA-Ghana for inviting her to be part of the programme.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
-Honourable Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Minister of Women & Children’s Affairs-
The Minister said that she had heard a lot about FIDA-Ghana, and disclosed that she had always wanted to be a female lawyer, however fate took her in a different direction, and that she admired female lawyers greatly. The Minister told of the constant struggle for resources to fund the Ministry. She thanked FIDA-Ghana, saying that it was a privilege and an honour to be invited to give the keynote address at this its maiden conference for female lawyers and female executives.
The Minister saw the conference as a step in the right direction for women’s rights issues, saying that gender issues had to be factored into every government’s programme. She noted that women world-wide were underrepresented in governance and when they were present in government, they were far removed from the decision-making hub. She touched on concessions given in some countries to promote affirmative action by way of encouraging women’s participation in governance. The Minister lamented that in Ghana the situation of underrepresentation was no different from elsewhere in the world. She acknowledged with pride the fact that Ghana had appointed the first female Chief Justice as well as first female Speaker of Parliament. These laudable achievements notwithstanding, the Minister was of the opinion that more needed to be done. She cited the reduction in the number of women Parliamentarians from the higher number in 2004 to the present low since 2009 as being regrettable.
The Minister was of the view that education is a human right which empowers and promotes development. She cited quality education, equal access and participation as being imperative for achieving gender parity, economic empowerment and development in every country. The Minister commended FIDA- Ghana for the establishment of a fund for primary legal care, saying that it was a step in the right direction towards empowering women and girls. The Minister expressed the hope that through the annual forum began by FIDA-Ghana, corporate Ghana’s contribution would assist in making governance in Ghana more gender sensitive.
ADDRESS BY GUEST SPEAKER
- Her Ladyship Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana-
The M.C. informed the gathering that the guest speaker’s address would be presented on behalf of the Chief Justice by her representative, Her Ladyship Justice Irene Dankwa. Justice Dankwa apologised for the absence of the Chief Justice – thereafter she read the chief justice’s address in which she thanked FIDA-Ghana for the invitation to participate in this the maiden conference for female lawyers and female executives. The Chief Justice congratulated FIDA-Ghana for what she termed a ‘laudable initiative’ in bringing together two hundred women from all over Ghana to deliberate on the theme ‘Women’s voices beyond the work space’ and its sub themes.
The Chief Justice spoke of women being plagued by varying limitations including those posed by opponents of women’s rights who back their stance with the Bible. She then went on to give innumerable examples of women mentioned in the Bible who she said ‘moved beyond their boundaries and limitations to pursue their duties with diligence to the admiration of the good Lord’. The Chief Justice used those examples to buttress the point that the activities of FIDA-Ghana and similar organisations ‘have the backing of the heavens.’
The Chief Justice said that on 19th September, 2011, female Prime Ministers and Ministers at an event held during the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York signed a joint statement which affirmed “that women’s participation is fundamental to democracy and essential to the achievement of sustainable development and peace.” She was of the persuasion that women in leadership mattered and quoted Judy Rosener with whom she was in agreement who said that “women tend to exhibit different leadership attributes than men, not better or worse, merely different. They tend to be holistic rather than linear thinkers, they tend to negotiate in a win/win rather than a win/lose manner, they tend to be sensitive to subliminal cues and comfortable with ambiguity.”
The Chief Justice stated that societies fail when they refuse to recognise the necessity for women and girls to have access to education, and other social amenities, saying that it was impossible to separate the well being of girls and women from the well being of our communities, and our Nation. She said that though some achievements had been made in the realm of women’s rights issues, it did not mean that our voices were being heard. The Chief Justice called for a concerted push to in the words of Hilary Clinton “break this ceiling once and for all,” who was speaking of the proverbial glass ceiling.
The Chief Justice said that it was gratifying to learn of the proposed FIDA-Ghana endowment Fund for Primary Legal Care, saying that her office would be ready to support FIDA in another giant stride to champion the cause of women. She said there was a need to encourage women in all spheres, stressing that women understood their own challenges and therefore should determine the solutions. The Chief Justice called on all to “look for change makers amongst our young girls and women, and provide them with the opportunities to recognize their power to change the world.”
LAUNCHING OF ENDOWMENT FUND
Prior to the formal launch of the endowment fund, Mrs. Jane Quaye Executive Director of FIDA-Ghana made a short presentation on the motivation for the FIDA-Ghana endowment fund. She touched on FIDA’s long history in championing the rights of women; that FIDA had come to the realisation that without the education of women and girls, we as a nation would not get far in terms of development. She said that something was going very wrong in the structure of our society, noting that it was the reason why we were all gathered there.
Mrs. Quaye said Primary legal care is a preventive as opposed to a ‘putting out the fire’ kind of intervention. That when people are hungry and homeless, telling them of rights alone is not enough; that the fund is going to be like the sub-structure on which new rights and interventions would be built. That as women, FIDA-Ghana would be looking for space everywhere to articulate the issues of women and children, that the talk was over, it was now time for action. She spoke saying that even as Martin Luther King Jnr. had a dream, she also had a dream of men and women walking side by side, where women are empowered to influence, take their place at the decision-making level, have their voices heard.
Mrs. Quaye said that it was not enough for our development for the majority of our women to be down there, they needed to be brought up. FIDA-Ghana wants women of Ghana primarily from the corporate world to come and own the organisation, that their money was needed where the need was greatest. That if they were really sincere that they should put their money where their mouth is; that money was needed, therefore she was calling on all to come on board, to take over the organisation; that they were needed not just their money, but their human resource talent. Mrs. Quaye lamented the deprivation at Legal Aid- Ghana, and at DOVSSU, which keep bringing cases to FIDA-Ghana. Said that time had come for justice to flow for women and children in Ghana. She said that a communiqué on education of the girl-child would be issued and sent to Government.
Endowment fund was formally launched by Mrs. Amma Gaisie, who spoke of her honour to launch the fund after the impassioned pleas for support from Mrs. Quaye. The Minister and the Solicitor-General unveiled a mapped forecast for FIDA-Ghana’s endowment fund, which depicted how much it was hoped would be raised during the 5 year period culminating in the raising of One Million United States Dollars ($1,000,000.00). Mrs. Villas pledged personal support and promised to raise additional funds from the corporate world. The gathering implored Mrs. Villas to act as the chief fund raiser for the endowment fund, a role she graciously accepted to play.
INTRODUCTION OF PATRONS
The patrons of FIDA-Ghana, Mrs. Joyce Villas, Ms. Joyce Aryee, Mrs. Grace Amey-Obeng, Mr. Justice Menka-Premo, Ms. Gifty Anti, and Mr. Kofi Amoah, who unfortunately could not be present, were introduced to the gathering.
CLOSING REMARKS
The Chairperson, Mrs. Villas in giving her closing remarks commended FIDA–Ghana for the laudable results of its advocacy such as Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), and the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) among other achievements. Mrs. Villas lamented the issue of pedestrian sellers being taxed for standing in the sun to sell; the dangers faced by women in the food distribution arena who sat on loaded trucks to sell their produce; not forgetting the plight of women working under in-humane conditions; markets without toilets, clinics, nurseries, or clean water. She said that these were the little things which needed to be addressed to ease the burden of women. She concluded by calling on all women’s groups to fight for their own, stressing that if they did not the men would not do it for us.
FIRST PRESENTATION
Mrs. Angela Dwamena Aboagye, Executive Director of the Ark Foundation – Ghana, gave a presentation titled ‘Women’s voices – Creating the space and visibility needed to drive National development.’ Mrs. Aboagye spoke of the socialisation and stereotyping of women which portrays them as subservient to men, saying that in finding our voices we needed to consider the effects of stereotyping. She lamented the fact that women were still seen as second class citizens.
Mrs. Aboagye said that women needed to invade the male centric public spaces which needed transformation; that women needed to be ready to attract names, refuse to be pigeon-holed. She said that although women worked hard, they did not know how policy was made, or the difference between law and policy. She explained that policy is where decision-making about life is made. Decisions on food, sanitation, water, environment remuneration are made in the policy spaces. Mrs. Aboagye said that there was a need for women’s advocacy to affect the broad spectrum of women’s rights issues not just individual women. She stressed the need to demand accountability, stating that it demands confronting power, which doesn’t like to shift, or change, adding that power corrupts. She said that in that room a lot of brilliant women were present, but largely invisible, that demanding accountability meant being visible, forming strategic alliances. She urged FIDA to begin to make those connections and even with men who believe in what they were doing. That, men already have space, that there was a need to be wary of men taking over the few spaces if brought on board.
Mrs. Aboagye said that those present were standing on the shoulders of foremothers who refused to be stereotyped and pigeon-holed, and therefore there was a need for us to understand that some people have worked for us to be where we are. She acknowledged all the women’s groups in Ghana, stressing that they were not enough by numbers, or resources or education to tackle what needed to be done. She flagged the contribution of unsung heroic women who championed the cause of women’s rights, saying that huge policy spaces were still unclaimed, and that women needed to take up those spaces, by initiating awareness, influencing policy for legal aid, economic aid, child care aid and other aids. Mrs. Aboagye flagged the issue of street women and children, generations of families living on the street. She spoke of the lack of law on sexual harassment, issue of property rights, widowhood rites, harmful customs, modern day slavery, trafficking of children and adult women, the dearth of women in decision-making, and the entrenchment of patriarchy. She said that we needed to get into public spaces, out of our comfort zone, to make alliances with other organisations, need for us to challenge the status quo not accommodate but transform.
SECOND PRESENTATION
Mrs. Dorothy Gordon, Director General of the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in ICT gave the second presentation titled ‘Telecommunications and its impact on women’s wellbeing.’ She commended the women in the room for their ability to make change happen and impact the life of women. Continuing she said that IT had opened up new forms of discrimination against women, new crimes against women, new deprivations against women, as a result of IT’s ubiquity. Mrs. Gordon said that the Arab spring was an example of the mobilisation of people using the mobile phone and internet, that IT was giving people voice, mobility and reach. She said that Government had recently signed on to the open Government Partnership and asked where women were in it all? She lamented that hardly any women were to be found in the top echelon of the IT revolution.
Mrs. Gordon said that basic training on using the phone as an audio and video recorder to assist women was essential in the prevention of certain abuses; she asked if women were tech savvy? Saying that if we were, then we needed to take it up a notch, and move away from Cinderella to become Cyberella, who is an active knowledge creator and disseminator, not just a user. She spoke of Economist Amartya Kumar Sen the author of ‘Development as Freedom’ who advocates that development is about giving people choice. She said that IT and women’s wellbeing is about access, choice, and advocacy; saying that more advocacy sites were needed, through which we could for example determine where there were abuses of women’s rights, track them and see where more effort was required.
Mrs. Gordon mentioned the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open University website; the Khan Academy website as being ready sources of information and learning. She commended FIDA-Ghana online for its videos teaching people what they can do to change their lives. She spoke on the necessity to track our leaders to see what they are doing for us as citizens. She wondered how much use FIDA-Ghana was making of SMS messaging to help people, to contact donors and so forth. She said that FIDA-Ghana’s challenge was to use IT effectively in its work.
Mrs. Gordon mentioned Geographical Information System (GIS) which maps what is happening to children; Survey Monkey, a free online tool for conducting a survey; Webcasts, special videos which could be watched online as a means of propagating ideas; Global Positioning System (GPS), allows people to be tracked through their mobile phone. She spoke of the ‘Talking book,’ an audio recording device which is robust and immune to dirt, water or breakage, designed for the needs of the rural dweller. She stressed that there was a need for Africa to create technological devices that are suitable for Africa and its people.
Mrs. Gordon said that Africa presented huge opportunities for business and advocacy; saying that there was potential for FIDA’s advocacy to have continental impact. That as women we needed to be informed in order to negotiate better deals for ourselves. That on the internet, we must create information not just consume that of others. Speaking of the video on the FIDA-Ghana website, which teaches women about their rights, she asked that it be rendered in local languages as well, to help those who may not be so conversant in English. In conclusion, she said that ICT “is a tool” which we as women “should shape and use, to eradicate the oppression in our society, and that preserving our freedoms and burgeoning human rights demands even more effort on our part.”
THIRD PRESENTATION
Mrs. Comfort Ocran, Legacy and Legacy gave the third presentation entitled ‘Workspace to Worldspace- increasing access to Business, Education and Politics’ She noted that the scale of unemployment in Ghana could be predicated in that 350,000 people graduated yearly from our universities; That the job market was so competitive because people worldwide had equal access to the same information on jobs. Mrs. Ocran defined ‘workspace’ as our little corner of the world, and ‘worldspace’ as the place where the decisions are made, in that light she said there was the need for us to be more cosmopolitan in our outlook. That by having a parochial vision we were boxing ourselves in, cutting ourselves off from the world.
Mrs. Ocran asked why we needed to move from our space to the world space. She said that what we did affected so many others; it either helped others or made them languish. She asked how many people could say they had come to the point of self actualization, that others were depending on us to move into the world space to give them the opportunity to actualise themselves. She asked how we could impact society positively, and how we could ensure that our gains were made fundamentally part of society. How we could utilise our resources effectively, and if we had enough? In relation to schools she said that we did not need to build more just to utilise what we had better, by for example using school buildings during the vacation period to assist adult learners.
Mrs. Ocran asked how we could ensure gender parity in funding, in remuneration and the like. (At this point a participant informed the gathering that Mr. Kofi Amoah, a Patron had donated $100,000USD to the Musicians Association of Ghana, whilst giving FIDA-Ghana only $10,000.00USD. It was decided that the gathering’s objection would be brought to his attention, and an appeal made for more money.) She stressed the need for increased access to higher paid work, training and development, opportunities in technology, education, politics and other pivotal areas. She underscored the need to train our girls in IT, saying that the best place for upward mobility was in the technology field. Mrs. Ocran said that training, mentoring, continuous education, self-employment, gave a person charge of what he or she was going to do, and it empowered them.
Mrs. Ocran said that a world worker had intellectual processing capacity, communication skills, and information application skills, was self-motivated, and visionary. She said that we had the opportunity, but we had to be motivated to move to the place to make a difference in our society. She advised that we must dream our new world, feel it, build it, and live it.
FOURTH PRESENTATION
Mrs. Grace Amey-Obeng, FC Beauty Clinic, treated participants to a presentation on ‘Healthy Looks’ – The presentation stressed the importance of looking good healthily, saying that looking good was important because we were women. She said that we all had the potential to look good, to have good skin, good hair, hands and feet.
Mrs. Amey-Obeng said that basic to skin care, was knowledge of one’s skin type, and stressed the need to cleanse, and tone to take away excess oil and dirt. She said that moisturising was essential to healthy skin, and that even dark skinned people needed to use sun block to protect the skin from harsh sun rays. That the right make-up makes us look good without looking made-up. She recommended the FC range as being made specifically for women of colour.
Mrs. Amey-Obeng said that good hair needed shampooing at least once every week, what shampooing did was that it moisturised and replenished the hair follicles and scalp, keeping the hair neat and looking good, because our hair speaks volumes about us. About dressing, she advised dressing elegantly for the occasion, saying that the gathering was already well turned out so a lot of talk on appropriate dressing was not necessary. For healthy feet, she advised monthly pedicures, saying that a dry pedicure was best if one could not guarantee that the foot spa had been freshly washed, since a lot of infections could be contracted from foot spas.
Questions & Contributions
Mrs. Agyemang Bempah, a participant – wondered why nothing much had been said about the abuses of the internet or computer; she lamented that e-mails had virtually done away with the art of letter writing. In response Mrs. Gordon said that one of the wonderful things about IT was that it allows one to avoid isolation. That IT was not age discriminatory at all; that it is just an additional tool, yes it is dangerous, yet like everything it can be used for good or bad. Need for women to understand the technology in order to protect their children and themselves.
Rosemary Afia Asante, a participant made the contribution that newly en-rolled lawyers should embrace the challenge of hard cases instead of divorce cases and the like and be aggressive. In response Mrs. Aboagye said, it was not a question of soft or hard, rather a person had to fight for space to do what he or she wanted to do. She advised participants to create their own space and do their thing.
Sophia Amissah Laryea, a participant said she had come to realise that women after divorce tend to be the losers that divorce cases were not easy at all; she expressed happiness at being part of a historic event; and attested to fact that only women can solve the problems of women, because they understood their problems best. She also expressed satisfaction about the endowment fund to empower women. On the subject of ICT, Mrs. Amissah-Laryea spoke on need to demystify perception of IT tools as being status symbols, saying that they are working tools; In response Mrs. Gordon said that it was simply human behaviour.
Nellie Wallace, a participant asked whether lime and warm water arrested the aging process. In response Mrs. Amey-Obeng said that lime water was acidic on an empty stomach, that acid could destroy some stomach lining. She said that the acidity of lime or its PH value could not be determined, so skin would be exposed to harm if it was applied to skin.
Daphne Boateng, a participant suggested mentoring for those in the tertiary institutions and on-line mentoring for women using ICT.
Ursula Owusu, past President of FIDA-Ghana, commended Mrs. Jane Quaye for her impassioned plea for support, saying that she understood why Mrs. Quaye had spoken with such passion, because she saw desperate women every day and advised that pooling our resources would lead to more timely assistance to those women needing our assistance. That those who work on behalf of the less privileged do so for the satisfaction of making someone else’s life a little better and therefore she urged all to contribute in every way especially with money to sustain the work of people in the field of women and children’s rights.
Mercy Konadu, a participant from UNFPA, said that ‘economic empowerment, human and reproductive rights for women are critical linkages for girls and women throughout their lifecycles. ‘We should therefore focus on girls both in and out of school before they become the vulnerable women, we must support, educate and empower them. Let us strategise around girls both in and out of schools and also build the skills and economic empowerment of women. These could be the bedrock for women claiming their rights in an empowered mode.’
A participant wanted to know how the Bio-metric register could be made relevant to the life of the woman fish monger in Chorkor. Mrs. Gordon in response said that Bio-metric simply meant the use of some of our bodily data, finger-print, iris, or photo recognition to avoid fraud in the elections and elsewhere. She said that to make it relevant women had to take part in the registration process to ensure that their voices are heard in determining the leadership of the country.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi read draft communiqué on the outcome of the First National Conference for female lawyers and female executives. She expressed happiness at the success of the conference and said that next year it would be even better.
Mrs. Eleanor Barnes-Botchway gave the vote of thanks on behalf of FIDA-Ghana.
