The Danish government has expressed readiness to support the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in its activities to enhance the dignity of the people.

Denmark’s Minister for Trade and Development Co-operation, Mogens Jensen said they are ready to collaborate with Ghana to solve all problems relating to domestic violence, gender equality and equity, human trafficking, child rights promotion and social development.

Mogens Jensen disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, in Accra.

He said the government of Denmark, in collaboration with its donor partners, would support the Ministry to achieve its targets to bridge the gender gap in Ghana.

“We stand as two countries with one principle of promoting human rights and we believe that every person in a country has the right to be who they are,” Mr. Jensen noted. 

The meeting was also aimed at collaborating to address gender-based violence in the Ghanaian society and also to re-align the Ministry’s priorities for 2014.

The two Ministers also looked at areas of co-operation with Denmark’s Strategic Frame for Gender Equality in Development Co-operation, which will focus on affirmative action, gender-based violence and inequality.

 Nana Oye Lithur also assured the Danish government of her Ministry’s commitment to ensure the collaboration yields good results.

She therefore appealed to the Danish team for technical and financial support in tackling gender-based violence as per the mandate of the ministry.

Mrs. Oye Lithur bemoaned the prevalence rate of gender-based violence in the country, especially, among spouses and sexual abuse of young girls and boys.

She indicated that the Ministry has also drafted the National Gender Policy to address gender issues relating to inequality and empowerment of women for national development.

“It also established the Gender Management Information System to enhance the generation, analysis and use of relevant data for policy development and programming among other things”, she noted.

She cited the Comprehensive Restructuring Plan and Performance Management Framework to reflect the new and expanded mandate of the Ministry and enhance performance and service delivery at all levels as some achievements the Ministry had made last year.

Nana Oye Lithur said the ministry is working assiduously to finalize the Children’s Rights Promotion, Protection and Development Policy to ensure the holistic protection and welfare of the Ghanaian child.