DWM SALUTES GHANAIAN WOMEN ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 28TH ANNIVERSARY

On the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the 31st December Women¹s
Movement (DWM) which falls on Saturday May 15, 2010, the President Nana
Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and the entire national executives of the movement
extend a hand of congratulations to all members and women in Ghana and wish
them a Happy Anniversary.
It has been 28 years of women empowerment and many of our mothers and
sisters have been at the forefront of the campaign to empower women through
a multi-sectored approach.
Special commendation goes to organisers at all levels of the Movement who
took up the responsibility of organising women in offices, markets, hamlets,
villages and towns. You have done a great job making the movement what it is
today.
Over a 28-year period we have tackled the economic, social, political,
environmental and cultural aspects of women and children¹s development.
The DWM was established to address gender disparities by liberating women to
be part of national development. Ghanaian women though managers of homes
were conditioned not to speak their minds and take bold decisions. But today
they are in small, medium and large scale industries.
Opportunities for children to get early childhood education so their mothers
could get the opportunity to perform economic activities existed in a few
cities. The DWM worked vigorously from its day of inception to change that
status quo,² says Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.
On cultural and moral education we promoted local folklore through
television programmes such as ³By the Fireside² and ³Story Time² which
became hugely popular and highlighted the popular Ananse satire giving it
both national and international recognition and also helping to mould the
moral fibre of not only children but millions of adults who found time to
watch. It is unfortunate those programmes had to be scrapped because the
political authorities in the last regime embargoed such programmes on
television.
The DWM has been business-like in its approach to women¹s empowerment,
preparing appropriate business plans and seeking the support of
international organisations such as the UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UNIFEM, IFED,
ITTO, ADB, SASAKAWA, IFAD, OPEC and other international organisations.
The National President and Executive are proud to say that today Ghanaian
women are more assertive, politically oriented and understand their rights.
A lot more needs to be done because we still have issues that mitigate
against the development of women especially as a developing country. Women
have to play a larger role in ensuring the success of our developmental
process.
The DWM has supported its members to establish small-scale businesses such
as oil palm extraction, cloth weaving, batik making, baking, kenkey
production, bee keeping, mushroom and snail rearing, pottery, cassava (gari)
processing and many other local businesses. Some of these products are
actually exported mostly within the West African region.
Re-forestation schemes were also put in place by the Movement leading to
tree-planting exercises in select places in all regions of Ghana.
Early childhood development centres have been built across the country.
These offer mothers an opportunity to pursue other activities in their
communities. It also allows the children to have a head start into the
formal educational sector. While some are into small-scale businesses
through the micro financing we seek for them, others have entered politics
at various levels from the unit committee level, through District and
Regional Assemblies to the national level. A number of our members have been
co-opted into high government positions.
We have come a long way from the days when it was taboo for women to enter
politics. Now it is the norm to see women at the forefront of political
activity especially at the rural level.
As we celebrate our anniversary under the theme: ³The Role of Women in
National Development² we are guided by the fact that the process of women¹s
empowerment is a continuous process and we cannot let down our guard. We
have an obligation to play our roles both individually and collectively so
we can help the developmental process of our dear country Ghana.
To commemorate the occasion we are inviting all women to a grand anniversary
rally at Essuehyia, near Cape Coast in the Central Region. The rally will be
addressed by leading members of the Movement and other well-wishers.
Congratulations once again to all Ghanaian women for coming this far.
Long live 31st December Women¹s Movement.
Long live Ghanaian women.
31st December Women¹s Movement ­ Total Liberation By All Means.


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