New NGO for gender issues launched

Nimbus Foundation, a new NGO established to campaign for the rights of women and children as well as highlight the challenges in the fight for gender equality has been launched in Accra.

The Foundation was formed with the belief in the ability of women to positively transform the society.

Mrs Bernice Sam, Executive Director of Women in Law and Development in Africa- Ghana (WILDAF), speaking at the launch of the Foundation, urged government to consider state funding of NGOs especially those in the advocacy on women and children issues as support from the donor agencies to the NGOs were dwindling.

She said most donor agencies have reduced founding to the NGOs because they believe Ghana has been able to make some progress in terms of advocacy.

She said though people claim that there are so many NGOs in the country doing almost the same things there are many issues on women and children which have still not been tackled.

Mrs Sam also appealed to government to commit more resources to deal with women and children’s right violations such as domestic violence, human trafficking, child labour and child prostitution.

She urged the new NGO to carve a niche for themselves in terms of their area of advocacy and not follow the crowd.

Mrs Efua Ansere, Country Director, UN Women, who officially launched the NGO, charged the Foundation to continue to champion the cause of women and the vulnerable people in the society.

She expressed the hope that Nimbus Foundation which has as its motto: “The ray of hope”, would help ensure the protection of the rights of women and children in the country.

Ms Joyce Opoku-Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus Foundation, said the Foundation was borne out of a deep and underlying desire to make an impact on the lives women and children over several years of hard work and experience at individual and collective levels of shared vision.

She said the mission of the organization was to defend the rights of women and children through research, advocacy and capacity building; and to ensure that the concerns of women and children were comprehensively mainstreamed in national and local governance structures.

She said when women are empowered to appreciate their potential and assert themselves they would constitute a critical mass as agents of change for national development.