Women have been urged to take advantage of technological advancement to play significant roles in the workforce to improve their socio-economic livelihoods.
They should not allow themselves to be affected by the economic repercussions of Sub Saharan Africa’s (SSAs) development models, but push forward in the labour market to sustain and improve on their living standards,
Professor Akua Pokua Britwum, a Lecturer at the Department of Labour and Human Resource Studies at the University of Cape Coast, made the call at the maiden economic transformation forum organised by the Friedrich – Ebert Stiftung Ghana office’s Economic Policy Centre (EPCC) in Partnership with the Women Economists Network, in Kumasi.
The Women in Economics Network is a network of female economists from the Public Universities in the country, with the platform to design solutions for inclusive, sustainable economic growth, in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Forum, which was dubbed “Future of Work, Gender and Informality in Sub-Saharan Africa” was aimed at promoting women-led solutions to the many developmental challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa,
It is particularly focused on issues affecting women’s economic growth and development and improve their living conditions.
Prof. Britwum said about 60 per cent of the world’s labour force were engaged in the informal economy, while more privileges were given to men than females.
She stressed the need for Labour Unions to defend and promote the course of women and promote feminists agenda in the unions.
Technology, she noted, holds the potential of improving human lives, and this must also help transform the work patterns of women and not affect them negatively.
She called for the widening and deepening of women’s socio-economic roles in the labour force.
Gender inequalities she added also undermined economic growth and poverty reduction outcomes, and this also had to be tackled.
Prof. Grace Nkansa Asare, a Lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), speaking on how women could contribute to the transformation of the country, said the technological age had placed dimensions in the field of work for women.
She said women suffered the most in this era of COVID-19, because work was becoming digital and most of them were expected to work from home and the forum would therefore help develop policies to improve the plight of women in the digital work environment.
Mr Johann Ivanov, Regional Director Friedrich –Ebert Stiftung Ghana/EPCC also noted that the high technological advancement had affected the role of women, and there was the need to integrate women in the labour market successfully.
This, he said, would reduce poverty and improve livelihoods.
The establishment of the network of women economists would help amplify the voice in the workforce.
