Tamale, March 08, GNA - A Tamale-based NGO on Wednesday called on Parliament and the government to expedite action on the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill.

The Centre for Human Rights Education and Advocacy urged the government to show sincere commitment towards the protection of the dignity of women and children and other vulnerable persons by ensuring that the bill was enacted into law. The NGO noted that the enactment of the bill into law was not a matter of convenience or an act of benevolence but "it is a matter of protecting the human rights of the most vulnerable persons in our society".

These were contained in a congratulatory message signed by its Executive Director, Mr Issah Mahmudu, in Tamale on Wednesday to Ghanaian women to mark this year's "International Women's Day". The NGO urged the government to review the policy of granting credit facilities to women as a means of reducing poverty. The NGO also appealed to the government to come out with a strategic policy to narrow the development disparity between the north and south to stem the migration of girls to the south to engage in menial jobs. "The northern economy is not poor as being perceived. What the north requires is not handouts by way of charity but a pragmatic policy to revamp the rice, cotton and sheanuts industries to create employment and generate income for the people", the NGO noted. The NGO appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to stop the practice of dismissing female students who became pregnant while in school, saying: "The practice is discriminatory and against the rights to education of such students".

The organisation wished Ghanaian women a peaceful and prosperous future, in which the human rights of every person would be respected and protected.