Stephen Adom (seated middle), Ho Municipal Chief Executive; Thywill Eyra Kpe (seated 2nd from right) and members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association

Nurses, midwives urged to build partnerships, promote gender responsiveness

Alberto Mario Noretti May - 21 - 2025 , 09:57 2 minutes read

The Volta Regional Director of Gender, Thywill Eyra Kpe, has urged nurses and midwives to serve as role models in the communities and at their facilities to empower and mentor girls, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, to prevent early pregnancies and promote retention in school.

This is because reducing gender inequality would definitely improve the health outcome of the population, leading to increased overall health, higher life expectancy, reduced disability and disease burden, she explained.

The Regional Director of Gender was speaking at a forum organised by the Volta/Oti branch of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) onthe theme “Accelerate action: Collectively we can accelerate action for gender equality” in Ho last Wednesday.

About 100 members of the association attended the forum, which kick-started a programme to highlight gender and women’s issues in the two regions for the rest of the year.

Gender equality

Mrs Kpe, who was the keynote speaker, said differences in vulnerability and exposure to illness, access to and utilisation of health services and health outcomes were all influenced by gender norms, socialisation, roles, power dynamics and access to and control over resources.

Therefore, gender equality was not just a goal or vision but a legal right, she added.

Mrs Kpe said in Ghana, women continued to disproportionately experience violence and abuse in public and domestic spaces.

Meanwhile, the burden of unpaid care work also remained heavily on women, leaving them with little or no time for personal growth and development.

Shedding light on the theme, she said health workers continued to play very significant roles in reducing gender inequality gaps at all levels, while empowering themselves to actively participate in leadership and decision-making.

“Therefore, we must be intentional, forge partnerships and collaborate to promote gender responsiveness and inclusiveness practices in health service delivery,” Mrs Kpe added.

The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Stephen Adom, who was the guest of honour, said the government was committed to building a strong and all-inclusive country, adding that Ghana’s Vice-President, who is a woman, bore ample testimony to that stance.

For that matter, he assured that the municipal assembly would support professional women to take up leadership roles and represent the voices of the vulnerable in society.