Foundation organises workshop on Gender Dimension of Internet Rights

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) under its Internet Freedom project, organised a stakeholder’s workshop in Accra last Tuesday to discuss the recent analysis and production of a report by the foundation on Child Online Protection (COP) and Gender Dimension of Internet Rights in Ghana.

The forum, which was on the theme, “Internet Rights for Women and Children in Ghana”.  both reports highlighted issues that are currently impacting access and use of the Internet by women and children with recommendations to relevant stakeholders.

In attendance were civil society organisations, the media, representatives from the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection, National Communications Authority, Google, Telecoms Chamber and Blogging Ghana.

The foundation offers a contextual analysis of the current COP environment in Ghana and gives important recommendations on how to ensure that children utilise the opportunities the Internet offers, without the potential adverse effects.

Gender empowerment  

Giving a detailed overview on Gender Dimension of Internet Rights in Ghana, a Programmes Officer at ABANTU for Development, Ms Nafisatu Yussif said majority of Ghanaian women worked in the informal sector which limited  their access to tools and services often found only in the formal sector, such as technology and the Internet that could empower women in all their endeavours.

She said while access to the Internet had increased over the last two decades, gendered patterns of its use created uneven opportunities and generated important gaps in the empowerment of girls and women across the globe. 

However, Ms Yussif said in Ghana, there were a number of legal frameworks that provided the basis for the need for gender equality in the access and use of online facilities without discrimination, and notable among these, she said, included but not limited to the 1992 Constitution; sections of which granted freedom of press and other media; and freedom of speech, expression, thought and information.

Ms Yussif said another relevant legal backing for gender equality online was the Ghana National Telecom Policy (GNTP) that entreated telecom operators to support user training and public awareness campaigns on the use of telecom products including the Internet.  

Barriers 

However, she said, there existed barriers and challenges that severely limited the rights of women to fully access, engage, and effectively use the Internet.

Making a presentation on COP, the Executive Director of J-Initiative, Ms Awo Aidam Amenyah, said Ghana currently did not have a clear provision focusing on the protection of children online.  

“We have laws in our books to protect children but the issues of COP do not fall into the existing category. We could review some of the existing laws or consider creating new laws”, she said.

She urged child-focused civil society organisations to take a serious look at COP and push the agenda while the government put in place a plan that would consider online risks and implement a road map with realistic timelines and indicators to guarantee the safety of the Ghanaian child. 

A Programme Manager for MFWA, Mrs Dora B Mawutor, in her remarks said the various recommendations made at the forum would be sent to policy makers to inform their decision and shape  and create an Internet environment that was favourable to all persons, especially, women and children.