Urbanization in Ghana

Defined as Percentage of population living in urban areas Two factors determine degree of Urbanization:

1. Urban Population 2. rate of urbanization 51% out of 25,000.000 living in urban areas

Annual rate of urbanization in Ghana 3.4% for the period of 2010-15 (estimated)
Urbanization is not seen as bad amongst all the Ghanian opinion makers.

Mr.Ofosu Ampofo- Minister for Local Government & Rural Development sad:

Urban settlements remain critical to setting Ghana on a more inclusive, productive, creative and sustainable course. He goes on to say that a prosperous urban settlement contributes to the economic growth through productivity, infrastructural development, ensures gender equality and protects the rights of minority and vulnerable groups, provides social services and preserves natural assets

Policies
Urban Draft Policy designed to tackle menace of Urbanization It consisted of short, medium and long term plans. It aimed to encourage people to invest in their local areas rather than rushing to cities.

Government also formed National Population Policy in 1969 with frequent changes as per need. It consisted of :

1. Promotion of cottage industries such as handicraft, small-scale enterprises and agro-allied industries to stimulate balanced development. 2. Optimum utilization of land by promoting balanced regional and district development and appropriate land tenure systems that support sustainable development.

3. Encouraging citizens both within and outside the country to participate fully in the development of their home areas by providing both material and financial assistance. 4. Encouraging frontier settlements in the Afram Plains, Sefwi-Wiawso area and the OnchoFreed Zones in Northern Ghana, Brong-Ahafo and Volta Regions

5. Promoting the development of a comprehensive urban policy and encouraging the development of medium-sized towns to enhance the economic interdependence between urban and rural areas.
6. Instituting appropriate measures to create an attractive environment in the rural areas to encourage people to stay there and simultaneously instituting disincentive measures to discourage over-concentration of both public and private developments in the main urban centers. 7. Rural manifesto was developed to reduce the consequences of socioeconomic impact of the urbanization with development of more than 120 rural banks to support young entrepreneurs. Through decentralized administration, local people were encouraged to participate in development and planning programs.

Gender Discrimination
Defined as A situation where a person is denied an opportunity or misjudged solely on the basis of their sex

Women play an important role in the socio-economic development of a nation. Female population is about 49.12% in Ghana- World Bank Report Female population facing discrimination in many areas like: cultural, political, economic, social, health, education, employment and land ownership rights Government of Ghana decided to implement numerous policies to allow full women participation

Policies
Education Act of 1960 made elementary education compulsory, which resulted in the increase of women with basic education Mrs. Gladys Asmarh formed the Ministry of Women and Childrens Affairs in 2001 to promote the wellbeing of women and children in Ghana. It ensures the equal status for women and promotes child rights. Various microfinance schemes for women were carried out under the umbrella of this ministry like: kumfi Akra, Emmuna, Apam Manford etc. in a view to reduce their poverty levels and vulnerabilities. Also, more than 17000 women were trained in informal sector on financial management skills. MOWAC, a Central Management Agency was established to formulate policies and strategies to promote gender equality Key stakeholders were brought forward for consultative Fora to deliberate on issues of maternal mortality and strategies to curb the incidence.

Women durbars were organized at regional and district levels to disseminate information on government policies and potential impacts on women and to receive feedbacks for possible policy review.
Property Right of Spouses Bill was brought in the main stream to protect widows National Health Insurance Program was started especially for women To control the birth, the government introduced the following measures:

1. The number of paid maternity leaves will be limited to three during the entire working life of those affected and no payment will be made in respect of any number of leaves beyond this limit

2. Children's allowances paid to Government officers will be limited to three only, and this will apply to all officers irrespective of whether they reside in or outside Ghana. Government responsibility for payment of travelling expenses of officers' children will be limited to three.

Current Status
Women have gained much importance in the modern society of Ghana They dominate the secretarial and nursing professions in Ghana Employed in the same line of work as men Paid equal wages and granted maternity leave with pay Acting as mothers, , traders, farmers, office workers and policy makers Given representation in the government to further promote the gender equality