Company Women AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has put in place deliberate measures to increase women representation in its workforce.
Currently, women form 11 per cent of the total workforce, an increase of about seven per cent in the last five years.
Mr Eric Asubonteng, the Managing Director of the company, said AngloGold Ashanti recognised the important role women played in the mining sector and was, therefore, empowering more of them to contribute their quota to the sector.
He was speaking at a ceremony organised by the company to commemorate this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at Obuasi.
The 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is under the theme: “Orange the world: End violence against women now.”
Mr Asubonteng said though the current number of women in the company was not enough, there was a deliberate strategy in the recruitment policy to hire highly qualified women to the various positions and provide congenial environment for them to work.
He said AngloGold Ashanti would continue to advocate for more women participation in the socio- economic development of the country, by empowering them to be confident in taking up challenging roles.
Dr Kwadwo Anim, the Executive Director of AngloGold Ashanti Health Foundation, said on average, 50,000 women worldwide died of intimate or partner based violence every year.
He said a lot of women had also suffered lack of self-confidence and self-control due to violence against them.
“There are behavioural differences, which affect their families, social lives and work life. There is also an imbalance which can end up in mobility and mortality,” Dr Anim said.
He stressed the need for all to speak up against gender-based violence in homes, work places and in the communities.Ms Eunice Mensah, the Political Affairs and Human Rights Officer at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said though the laws on violence against women had inherent gaps, the major challenge had got to do with the implementation and interpretation of the laws.She said due to lack of operationalisation of what had been stipulated in the laws, the fight against violence against women had become an uphill task.“There is a disconnection between what has been enshrined in the Constitution and what is practical,” she stated.The UN General Assembly in 1999 designated November 25, every year, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, inviting governments, international organisations and NGOs to organise activities to raise public awareness of the […]
