CHIEFS, TRADITIONAL LEADERS TO CHECK GENDER VIOLENCE (PAGE 11, DEC 1)

Chiefs and Traditional leaders in the Upper East Region have intensified their campaign for the elimination of violence against women.
The Regional House of Chiefs has since September, 2008 adopted a resolution compelling all paramount chiefs to enforce the reform or abolish all such practices that are harmful, injurious and constitute an affront to women’s right.
The Paramount Chief of Bongo and a member of the Regional House of Chiefs, Naba Salifu Alemyarum, announced this in Bolgatanga during this year’s 16-days of "Activism against Gender Base Violence Campaign" organised by Action Aid Ghana (AAG).
The theme for the celebration was “Commit: Act: Demand: We can end Violence against Women”
Naba Alemyarum said traditional authorities now appreciated the need to support women in the fight against negative cultural practices.
“In the past, women were not allowed to participate in decision-making as they were only confined to domestic work. Today in this region, the negative behaviour and practices that impede the socio-cultural development of women have been given serious attention”, he announced.
Naba Alemyarum said for instance, for the first time in the history of the traditional area of Bongo, he had made arrangements to include respectable women sitting in his council of elders, who are consulted in resolving domestic violence related issues.
Naba Alemyarum who spoke on the topic, "The Practice of Harmful Cultural Practices is an Obstacle to Women's Access to Justice - The Role of Traditional Authorities in Protecting the Rights of Women in the Upper East Region.", said in spite of the gains made, it will require collective efforts by civil society organisations, individuals and agencies to expose perpetrators of such harmful practices for appropriate sanctions to be meted to them.
“Though we are winning the war against betrothal, forced/early marriage and elopement, all attempts at reducing dowries have been resisted. In the Bawku paramountcy, even though the paramount chief instituted a dowry system the people have refused to abide by it. We are told some women make fun of their colleagues as cheap women because lesser dowries were paid for them hence inciting other families to resist and refuse it,” he said.
Another challenge confronting the House of Chiefs, he said, was how to increase the number of vacant paramount seats, making the enforcement of resolutions extremely difficult, adding that out of 17 paramountcies in the region,five were vacant. This situation, he said, further compounded the setting up of committees to review customary practices.
Naba Alemyarum appealed to the government to assist the house to engage the services of a legal practitioner to handle its legal issues since, the legal practitioner engaged by the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs had resigned.
“The traditional institutions need to be strengthened, devoid of political and religious interference and given the free hand to operate and accomplish its core duties”, he said.
The acting Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Kenneth Adabayeri, appealed to victims of gender based violence not to hesitate to call on the commission in the region for redress.
“The services of CHRAJ are free and we do not demand anyone to have money before accessing our services”, he assured.
The Upper East Regional Development Programme Manager of Action Aid Ghana, Mr Micheal Lumor, announced that his organisation had spent GH¢58,800.00 in various programmes towards reduction of violence against women and funding women’s economic empowerment interventions in 2009, describing the impact as tremendous.
These he said, included the creation of legal awareness for 200 selected women, providing equipment for the offices of Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Zebilla with a computer, a printer and office furniture to facilitate the work of the police.
He said available data revealed that the fight against violence against women was far from being won, and therefore entreated the support of all to deal with the violation of women’s rights on a sustainable basis.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, said the government was undertaking gender mainstreaming programmes which emphasised gender responsive budgeting in all sectors.
She said as result staff of the various Municipal and District Assemblies were being provided with skills in gender responsive budget planning and implementation.