Paulina Birago, a woman in her late forties, sits in front of her room saddened and wondering where the day’s meal will come from.

Concrete blocks that barely hold together are used to create a small balcony in front of the single bedroom.

For health reasons, she had to give up street hawking which became the alternative after the collapse of her khebab business. She has since found it difficult to feed herself and her children.

“After losing my fingers, people would not buy from me so I had to leave the food business. I sometimes go three days without food. I fell ill due to that. All I am able to do is to turn to God for help,” Paulina narrated.

A khebab business that kept a family afloat came tumbling after the owner lost some fingers two decades ago. Patrons of Paulina Birago’s khebab business shunned her, maybe because of the disability suffered in the accident.

She has since been rendered jobless after the accident made her frail for hawking and other physically demanding job opportunities that came her way.

Paulina Birago lives in a family home at Esaase in the Ashanti Region. Though the house has electricity, her room remains dark due to her inability to buy a new bulb to replace the worn-out one.

The poorly ventilated room has just an old mattress, a dirty-looking trunk sitting on a table and some shoes stuck under a table.

According to her, the room floods whenever it rains; the roof leaks badly. Renovation of the room is far-fetched, feeding at least once a day remains the priority.

“I live in harsh conditions. Things are tough, the whole community can testify to how comfortable I lived when I was in employment. Now, renovating my room is not much of my concern but where to get my daily meal is my worry”, she said.

According to the latest unemployment data by the Ghana Statistical Service, about two out of ten women are unemployed.

The statistics from the third quarter of 2023 further indicate about eight out of 10 females are vulnerably employed.

Paulina has managed to switch jobs after her accident, but she could barely last in any since her health has remained unstable.

Her children couldn't get the needed education since she barely could raise money to keep them in school. Her daughter, Patricia Dankwah is now a teenage mother.

“After the BECE, she had a school. At the time, I was very ill so she took care of me. I couldn’t provide food for both of us, so she was the one helping with all that. Through that she was impregnated”, Paulina confessed.

Efforts to obtain disability support from the District Assembly Common Fund have proven futile.

Political party promises

With a few days to the 2024 general elections, the New Patriotic Party is promising the implementation of the Women's Trade Endowment Fund to provide loans and grants for female businesses.

The opposition National Democratic Congress presents a similar alternative, proposing the establishment of a Women’s Development Bank as a special-purpose bank to support women-owned and women-led businesses with low-interest loans.

Gender Financing Expert, Sarah Annam supports the approach of both parties but the mode of implementation should be reconsidered.

“We are moving in the right direction, looking at women businesses critically because its ripple effect is significant. I will prefer that the government will rather set up the policy or create a revolving fund that sits with the Central Bank to give these funds to financial institutions to lend the money to the women at cheaper rates,” she said.

Mrs Annam further emphasized, “If the government sets up the agency to grant the benefits then the assurance of giving the funds to the women that need it becomes questionable.”

The implementation of the manifesto promises has the potential of improving the unemployment rate among women in the country.

Perhaps, women like Paulina Birago could find solace in the successful implementation of such a women's manifesto.