International Women's Day: Provide adequate resources for gender issues - ICU to govt

The Gender Desk of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has called on the government and policymakers to consider injecting adequate resources into gender issues.

That, it said, was providing equal opportunities for women to have the same access to job opportunities, promotions and training programmes as their male counterparts.

"This requires a commitment to fair hiring practices, including non-discrimination in recruitment and selection processes," the Head of the Gender and Youth Desk at the ICU, Esinam Afua Poku, said to the Daily Graphic to mark International Women's Day (IWD).

Promotion

She also called for promoting a safe work environment by implementing policies and procedures that promoted a safe work culture free from harassment and discrimination.

"Women need to feel safe and supported in their workplace.

Organisations should create an atmosphere that prohibits violence and harassment by training all employees on how to recognise and prevent these behaviours," she emphasised.

Moreover, Ms Poku said supporting work-life balance was important for all employees and that it could be more challenging, especially for women with caregiving responsibilities.

Organisations, she said, could therefore support by offering parental leave, flexible work arrangements, child care services and wellness programmes.

Encouragement

"Today, as we celebrate women in the world, we encourage you to surge on in the struggle towards the socio-economic advancement of nations, especially the developing countries," she said.

Ms Poku said as the world marked International Women’s Day (IWD), the union appreciated the remarkable achievements of women all over the world and recognised the ongoing struggles to attain gender equality.

"We take inspiration from the theme as women and continue to make conscious efforts to uplift ourselves for inclusion in the social, economic, cultural and political scheme of things.

Further, we need not look down on our effort to invest in ourselves, but rather raise the bar and continue to scale up our contribution for recognition, respect, dignity and equality," she said.

Gender inequality, Ms Poku said, was not just a women’s issue but rather impacted on all aspects of society.

She said when women experienced a setback, the entire society suffered because they played important roles in nation-building and the world at large.

The world, she said was embracing and gradually integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) at workplaces and that there was no doubt that women might be disproportionately affected by the phenomenon at some workplaces when it came to job losses.

The Head of Gender and Youth Desk at the ICU, therefore, said "As women, we must endeavour to raise our standard in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields to be counted".

The ICU is celebrating this year's International Women's Day on the theme; “Count Her In: Invest in Women”.