Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called for a broader and more sustainable approach to addressing the challenges facing kayayei, stressing the need to tackle the underlying causes that push women and girls into head-portering in urban centres.
She made the call when she received a delegation from the Kayayei Association, led by the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, to discuss the challenges confronting head porters and possible interventions to improve their livelihoods.
The engagement focused on concerns including exploitation, access to skills training, opportunities to establish sustainable businesses, and the welfare and protection of women and children within kayayei communities.
The Vice President said the kayayei phenomenon must be viewed within the wider context of migration, inequality and development rather than as an isolated social problem.
According to her, both “push and pull” factors influence the decision of women and girls to leave their communities for urban centres, making it necessary for government and stakeholders to address the conditions that make them vulnerable after arriving in the cities.
She noted that while skills development remains an important component of government interventions, training programmes must reflect the aspirations and needs of the women themselves.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang stressed that skills training would have limited impact if beneficiaries were not provided with the necessary tools, capital and opportunities to turn their skills into sustainable businesses and livelihoods.
She also expressed particular concern about the situation of children within kayayei communities, insisting that their welfare and protection must form a central part of any long-term intervention.
The Vice President further called for stronger measures to protect women and girls from exploitation and other forms of vulnerability associated with their living and working conditions.
She commended the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Kayayei Association for their continued engagement with government on the issue.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang reaffirmed government’s commitment to developing a more holistic response that goes beyond immediate support to create sustainable economic opportunities, strengthen protection systems and improve the welfare of kayayei and their children.
She said such an approach would help create conditions that enable vulnerable women and children to build more secure and productive futures.
CREDIT: MAVIS FANTEVI