WOMEN AND CHILDREN GET ASSISTANCE FROM NGO (PAGE 22)

GENDER issues, particularly those concerning women and children have become the concern of the government, many institutions and organisations as well as individuals in the country, since this category of people are among the most vulnerable in the society.
It is a result of this that the government established the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs to see to the pressing needs of women and children, and also founded special schools to ensure the education and orderly development of children.
Besides government’s efforts at ensuring the welfare of women and children in the country, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have also been formed to complement the government’s effort to champion the cause of women and children, especially those in the deprived areas.
One of such NGOs which has been established in the Western Region to promote the development, socio-economic advancement and general welfare of women and children is the Tenongtaaba Development Organisation.
The organisation is an advocacy and charitable based NGO, whose primary purpose is to seek the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and children, and to initiate educational programmes to assist the needy in the society to develop their potentials.
Tenongtaaba, a Frafra word meaning “love your neighbour,” was set up at Tongo in the Upper East Region in 2001, and now with a branch in the Western Region is geared to assist schools in the rural areas with teaching and learning materials to enhance education delivery.
It will also raise public awareness about domestic violence and its impact on women and children as well as build the capacity of women through adult education.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Founder and Director of the organisation, Madam Faustina Talata Tee, explained that besides the promotion of education, the goals and objectives of the organisation cut across all boundaries, ages, tribes or religion.
She said the organisation was envisioned to bring the needy people to the realisation of the great dangers involved in leaving their homes and going down the cities to engage in “Kayayoo”, truck pushing and fufu pounding, among other menial jobs.
Madam Talata Tee further explained that the organisation had found it necessary to intervene to offer assistance to the needs of the poor and to embark on education programmes that would make families to place high value on education and also to realise their respective potentials.
According to her, the organisation had held a series of advocacy programmes to educate women to appreciate their fundamental human rights, the importance of education of the girl child, as well as the need to be self-empowered.
Madam Talata Tee mentioned some of the challenges facing women, especially those in the north as female genital mutilation (FGM), which she said was being done as a result of ignorance.
“Some people think that we cannot do away with it because it is our culture,” she regretted.
She said another challenge was the notion that a woman’s role was home keeping, adding that “trying to break the culture of discrimination against women in the society is also a problem.”
She was also not happy that human rights and gender programmes were not included in school curricula.