Youth in Asokore Mampong have been challenged to end all forms of gender stereotypes that inhibit the development of both males and females in the municipality.

The new campaign headlined “Breaking the gender barrier” is being championed by the No Business As Usual Hub in collaboration with the Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly.

The initiative comes at a time the Municipality has come under the spot light for high incidence of early marriages; female school drop outs; deep rooted gender stereotypes and strong cultural beliefs that fail to recognize the need for equal opportunities for the boy and girl child.

The response has however been remarkable following a series of lectures delivered at the third Ideonomics seminar Ideonomics 103 which focused on breaking the gender barrier beginning with the youth.

Head of the Gender Desk at the Assokore Mampong municipal assembly Mrs. Philis Nkrumah, who gave the key address, took participants through the different misconceptions in issuing roles and ascribing behavioral attributes to different sexes in society.

Speaking to Ultimate News on the sidelines of the event, she indicated that her outfit has a huge task dealing with issues of gender discrimination in a highly stereotyped municipality.

“Asokore Mampong is a peculiar case when it comes to gender issues. If a boy and a girl are born on the same day, by the time we reach about 20 – 25 years, most of the women would have been married off because we are only seen as marriage materials and the boys and the men go on. In asokore Mampong we have strong gender stereotyping but we are doing our best with sensitization and things are changing,” she noted.

Project manager with the No Business as Usual Hub Esther Martey told Ultimate News the event forms part of efforts at attaining the Sustainable Development goal 4 which aims at a world with gender equality and equity with no forms of discrimination.

She told reporter Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, “We realized that the SDGs were something that a lot of youth in this municipality had no idea about. Looking at the socio economic culture and environment of this municipality, we decided to tackle this issue of gender equality. We realized that it is something inhibiting development of Aasokore Mampong,”

Participants from the Municipality underscored the need for their leaders and parents to begin appreciating the importance for girls to be accorded the same opportunities to grow, study, marry and attain their full potential like their colleague males.

A young Hasana Inusa expressed worry, “Gender discrimination in our municipality is very poor, certain jobs are the preserve of men and you feel though you could do a better job, because they don’t give us the opportunity to bring it out, it is kept within her and it is reducing our productivity.”

Another resident Umar Adiza was concerned girls who get raped in the community are not allowed to speak up for fear of being stigmatized and not getting married, a trend she wants stopped to liberate the victims from emotional trauma.

The pledge was not only limited to women alone. A young man, Umar Mohammed told Ultimate News, “The issue of gender is a very pertinent topic in our community which we often shy away from. But if we are bold enough to talk about the gender issues, it will go a long way to help the community and the country at large.”