Gender International Conference

TOPIC: “Sustaining Gender Parity: Child Pregnancy and Motherhood”

DATE : 21st – 22nd March, 2018

This conference is a collaborative initiative between the Ghana Association for Public Administration and Management (GAPAM) and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) with the support of African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM). The Ghana Association for Public Administration and Management (GAPAM) is the local branch of the African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) founded in 1971 to promote and spearhead Best Practice, Excellence and Professionalism in Public Administration and Management in Africa. The Association among others is committed to capacity building for development and performance improvement activities in African Public Administration. It therefore provides a forum aimed at exchanging knowledge for those who practice, teach and conduct research or offer advisory services. The GIMPA Gender Development and Resource Centre (GDRC) is mandated to spearhead mainstreaming gender into GIMPA’s institutional level and all its programmes, in the area of training, research and education and to consolidate the gains achieved through earlier gender initiatives. The Centre is committed to fostering training programmes, research topics, educational and advocacy issues that sustain the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals (UNSDGs) on gender equality, enshrined in the Ghana’s National Social Protection Policy.

The Conference is borne out of a joint research between the Gender Centre, the Department of Social Welfare and the Ghana Health Services, undertaken in 2016, on Child Pregnancy and Reproductive Health. The research revealed that many of the environmental factors that impact on girls’ decision to have sex, and which often lead to pregnancy are ‘patriarchal designed factors’ that work to deny girls appropriate decision making power. Therefore, they become vulnerable to the consequential effect of pregnancy, which adversely derail their potential. With many parents lacking the economic empowerment to look after their children, the result for the girl children is early pregnancy and child marriage, which are detrimental to their future progress.

The objectives of the conference is situated within the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmental Goal (SDGs) 5 and 1 and the Agenda 2063 for Africa. The SDGs 5 and 1 purpose to root out gender inequality and eradicate all forms and dimensions of poverty within the human race in order to secure our planet. The SDGs was constituted in 2012 at the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro. A focus on the goals’ objectives since then has helped to free more than one billion people out of extreme poverty and placed more girls in school than before. The SDGs have indeed proven to be a positive tool to helping to curb gender inequality, but there is still a long way to go to making a complete eradication of poverty and gender parity a reality. Gender inequalities continues to persist, and progress across the globe has been uneven. With the introduction of the Agenda 2063 in 2015, the need to transform the socio-economic condition of Africa through African initiatives has been highlighted.

Thus, this conference is designed to promote affirmative action that reduces gender disparity towards national development. In particular, the mandate of the organizing Institution, (the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA) and the Ghana Association for Public Administration and Management (GAPAM) are set to champion the objectives Public Services, they channeled theobjectives of the conference towards raising awareness on the need for Institutions, organisations and other agencies to champion the SDGs through positive action-oriented initiatives. Participating Institutions, Organisations, Governments Agencies, Firms, Professionals, Expertise and individuals are called to embrace the Agenda 2063 as a means of tackling the socio economic issues with their attendant effect on social injustices, which often impact negatively on the advancement of men and women towards sustainable national development.

The conference seeks to highlight the importance of research in curbing child-pregnancy and ensuring gender equality in the sub-Saharan Africa and the world, with emphasis on Ghana. It aims at providing an international forum where participants can discuss ideas, exchange information and share experiences on research findings. The purpose is to prompt discussions on some of the hindrance to gender equality in Ghana in particular, and in sub-Saharan Africa and the world in general. It looks at trends and challenges related to gender equality; consider intervention measures and schemes, and training programs; and how the dynamics of academic research must influence national policy in tackling child pregnancy and motherhood.

The invitation to attend the conference is extended to researchers, academics, administrators, policy-makers, practitioners, human rights advocates, lawyers, legislators, regulators, institutions, civil societies, associations and companies, and students involved in gender related activities.

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE CONFERENCE
When a girl becomes pregnant, her present and future change radically, and rarely for the better. Her education may end, her job prospects evaporate, and her vulnerabilities to poverty, exclusion and dependency multiply(UNFPA, 2013, ii).

Over the years approaches to tackling teenage pregnancy have mainly focused on preventive interventional measures. Often, some of these preventive measures, particularly, those that have to do with contraception, are met with opposition from religious and cultural leaders. Most schools are reluctant to allow Regional Health Directorate into their premises with contraception plans (Citi FM ONLINE, Sunday, March 5, 2017). Similar preventive strategies are often targeted at behavioural change, but attention is mostly focused on girls who are blamed as being responsible for their plight. However, as research confirms (Akua-Sakyiwah, Mawudoku, Foley, Beyuo, Asante, Marko-Lartey et al, 2016; UNFPA, 2013) these are misconceptions that fail to take recognition of the real circumstances and societal pressures that work against adolescent girls and make motherhood a likely possibility, during transition from childhood to adulthood.

A Policy on Child and Family Welfare (article 28) and the Children’s Act (560, Section 1, constituted in 1992, and 1998 respectively, recognise a child as a person below the age of 18. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this Constitution acknowledges that at this age, children are largely dependent on adults to protect them and to provide their necessities of life. If the Constitution is to uphold its mandate, then girl children need to be protected from that which denies them the right to quality life. Importantly, this policy promises social protection and system strengthening to improve policies and legislation, and to set up structures that support social norms. It also advocates instituting responsive social action that monitors and manages social and economic resources that ensure that all children have the right to a life free from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. However, these measures are yet to be translated into the real experiences of most girl-children who face sexual challenges that stem from economic difficulties, family issues, and limited access to social resources and information, etc.

Current trends in child pregnancy (see GNA Report of Asipong, Western Region of Ghana, 2017); suggest a worse scenario that seems to render many girl-children vulnerable to poverty and permanent dependency. This requires policy adjustment, proactive advocacy and action-oriented measures to tackle the situation. For instance, recent data by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) suggests that 2015 alone recorded 10,000 teenage pregnancies in Ghana. Asante Region, BrongAhafo Region, Greater Accra Region, Western Region recorded the highest percentage (Ghana News, Wednesday 27 July 2016). Again, statistical records available at the beginning of 2016 disclosed an alarming increase. The Upper East Region had recorded 5,587 adolescent pregnancies representing 15.4% for the year 2016, with 2.1% occurring among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 years. This makes the region, the highest record in teenage pregnancy. Again, the report by the Ghana Health Service on antenatal care registrants for 2016 recorded115 pregnancy cases among teenagers between the ages of 10-14. Among the adolescents between 14-19 years, the number was 5,474. This shows an indicative increase from 5,518 to 5,564 adolescent pregnancy cases recorded 2015 and 2016. The Volta Region recorded the second highest of 10,296 pregnancies, representing 15.0%. The BrongAhafo and Eastern regions recorded 14% respectively, whilst Central, Upper West and Western Regions recorded 13% each {respectively}. Northern and Ashanti regions had 11% each, with Greater Accra Region recording the lowest adolescent pregnancy rate of 6%. The Nabdam district in the Upper East Region recorded the highest teenage pregnancy rate of 21.1%, and Bawku municipal area, recorded the lowest rate of 11.5%.

The increase in trends of teen/child pregnancies suggests a damaging effect on the right of girls to the freedom of life stipulated in the Convention of Children and hence requires drastic measures to address the epidemic before many more girl-children’s future are left in jeopardy. In Ghana, there is a child protection system that seeks to close the gap between the formal and the informal issues affecting children, suggested in the Child Protection Policy (Child Protection Policy, 2015) that needs to be applied.

A collaborative research conducted by the Gender Centre revealed that many of the environmental factors that impact on girls’ decision to have sex, and which often lead to pregnancy are ‘patriarchal designed factors’ that work to deny girls appropriate decision making power. Therefore, they become vulnerable to the consequential effect of pregnancy, which adversely derail their potential.

With many parents lacking the economic empowerment to look after their children, the result for the girl children is early pregnancy and child marriage, which are detrimental to their future progress.What is most noteworthy is that the boys/men do not see it necessary to communicate their intensions to the girls because they are men and their decision holds final (Akua-Sakyiwah, Mawudoku, Foley, Beyuo, Asante and Marko-Lartey, 2016). This is a clear picture of patriarchal practices and norms designed to influence men’s decisions and actions that often impact negatively on women. Living in a typical male dominated environment, the boys have learnt from the early stage that it is men that take decisions pertaining to the family, and they have internalised this supremacy. Although exercising this decision affects girls in a most profound way, they do not consider the negative consequences that this will have on girls’ future.

Unfortunately, most research on early pregnancy focuses on teenage pregnancy, rather than child pregnancy, when children as young as 9-12 are getting pregnant at an alarming rate and becoming ‘mothers’(Citi FM Online, 2016, GNA, April 11th, 2016; Reproductive and Child Health {RCH} Annual Report, 2010). The danger of not focusing on age difference is that it shifts attention from the needs of children and their developmental agenda. This denies them the opportunity to develop their full potential into proper adulthood. In Ghana, it problematizes the mandate of the Policy on Social Protection that also defines and sets appropriate age boundary for the Ghanaian child at ‘under 18 years’, and promises social protection for their rights and wellbeing. This contributes to the huge statistical records on child marriage (UNICEF Style Book, 2013), with its attendant socio-economic and psychological effect on the girl child. The health implications that eventually affect their sexual reproductive health, including the high mortality rate, need urgent attention.

This knowledge gap in literature may potentially affect the way in which theories about children in Ghana are conceptualised. It may lead to objectifying perspectives on this subject, thereby silencing the voices of those who are affected by it. As the situation stands now, child pregnancy has become a vicious cycle where children are mothering children who will end up repeating the same cycle of their parents. Most of the research participants are a product of the same vicious cycle. This situation needs urgent redress.

This conference, thus, provides a forum where participants will explore new ways of thinking about child/teenage pregnancy. It is a wakeup call to researchers to embark on projects and studies that will foreground other dimension of social injustices in the way they affect men and women. It brings together, policy makers, other government agencies, organisations, personnel and agencies that deal with young persons’ issues, communities/elders, families and schools/institutions, etc., to re-examine how factors such as poverty, gender inequality, discrimination, lack of access to services, and negative views about girls and women, create continual challenges that result in child/teenage pregnancy. It is also designed to facilitate the pursuit of social justice, equitable development and the empowerment of girls to help find right ways that society can deal with child/teenage pregnancies.

CONFERENCE CONTENT
Focusing on child pregnancy and motherhood, it looks at the role of power differences among genders, races, classes, sexualities and age, and how these are mediated through patriarchal machinery to position and create ‘other’ (ness). The conference seeks to unearth some of the measures taken, in both past and present, to prevent discrimination and exclusion in all sectors of our society. It considers how cultural factors, including artistic expressions, journalistic approaches, media representations, policy-making and individuals’ responses to contemporary social challenges are impacted by patriarchal norms and practices. Thus, the conference examines how the activities of child/teenage sex are socially constructed to victimise and marginalise others.

The questions that the conference seeks to answer include, ‘what factors impact child pregnancy and motherhood, and how are these used as discriminatory machinery to create barriers for girls to fully participate as developmental or change agents’?

The conference is posited within inter-disciplinary context involving the Social Sciences, Humanities, Law, Business, Education, etc., to explore relationships between, and experiences of, male and females. Thus, the following frameworks will be adopted, among others: Gender analysis; Feminism; Patriarchy; Neo-liberalism; Human Rights; Constructionists; Postmodernism; Gender and Security; Historiography; Legal Analysis; Policy Analysis; Group/Organizational Analysis; Political Economy, and Political Analysis. Broad range of issues will form the basis of the conference including histories and experiences of women and men, sexualities and sexual identity, masculinities, femininities, gender systems, national policy formulation and implementation, gender and education, employment, poverty, family life, culture, religion, workplace, sports, technology, health, science, etc. and their effects on men/women, girls’ and boys’.

Research, Concept and theories

  • Conceptual and theoretical perspectives on gender
  • Research Area roadmaps
  • Researching on gender and teaching
  • Conceptualising and theorising ‘togetherness’ in gender, etc.
  • Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory on gendered-education
  • Social theory and the politics of identity
  • Feminist Theory, Constructivist Theory & Gender

Cultural, Religious, Social and Economic Issues and Gender

  • Culture, Traditions and Gendered Society (i.e. the trokosi system and girls’ enslavement).
  • Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behavior
  • Modern family systems
  • Colonial, Post-colonial and modern influences on childhood and child upbringing
  • Female Genital Mutilation
  • Early marriages, Teen Mothers and Fathers, and Child Rearing Practices.
  • Sex and Reproductive health

Education/Health/ Employment

  • Capitalist Economy, Feminization of Labour and Feminization of Poverty
  • Comparative Analysis of Gender equality in education, e.g. Ghana & other societies (Africa and elsewhere)
  • Gender training for future gender equality professionals
    Education reforms and their gender impacts (colonial, post-colonial, modern)
  • Colonial, Post-colonial and modern influences on children’s education
  • Teaching gender in social science and humanities.
  • Gender in science and technology education.
  • Communicating Gender Issues to the public.
  • Sex and Reproductive health
  • Gender equality and anti-discrimination practices at work
  • Women’s access to decision-making positions: issues of power
  • Gender Biases and Economic inequality

Policy, Law and Human Rights and Advocacy

  • Effects of legal provisions or regulations promoting Gender parity
  • Insecurities and security
  • Development, Democracy and Good Governance.
  • Organizations and gender.
  • Women’s Movements.
  • Gender balance, diversity, discrimination, intersectionality, inclusion.
  • Public policies promoting gender equality and implementation challenges
  • Gender mainstreaming and organizational practices
  • Advocacy and interventional structure: Grassroots, State and international interventions

Globalisation/Internationalisation

  • Globalisation and political culture in Africa
  • Television, and cultural identities

Abstracts must be a maximum of 250-word length, comprising of:

  • Statement of the problem
  • Theoretical basis
  • Methodology
  • Expected outcomes
  • Please include at least six (5) keywords.
  • Full paper should be 7500 – 8000 words including references, appendices, figures, etc.
  • Power point of the full paper should be submitted for the presentation
  • Font type: Times New Roman
  • Font Size: 12
  • Line Spacing: double
  • Paper size: A4 (29.7 x 21.0 cm)
  • Title: Justified, 14 font size, Block, Bold Author(s) Name(s) and affiliation(s): Centred, 12-font size, superscripts for different affiliation (1, 2…)
  • Resource persons would deliver papers on the above themes at plenary followed by discussions

Papers from the conference proceedings would be peer reviewed and considered for publication in the institution’s Journal, the GIMPA Journal of Leadership, Management and Administration as a special Edition on Sustaining Gender Parity through Academic Research and Advocacy: Child Pregnancy and Motherhood. However, accepted papers must demonstrate a high quality of rigour, having theoretical and practical perspectives.

KEY DATES

Abstract Submission Deadline: Nov. 10 – Dec. 31 2017

Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: January 15th 2018

Final Paper Submission Deadline: February 14th 2018

Registration deadline for authors: February 28th 2018

Abstracts must be sent by 31st December, 2017 to the following address: genderconference@gimpa.edu.gh

NB: If you need a poster stands (Please contact the organizing committee one month prior)

For the consideration of all participants we propose the following reasonable packages and prices. You may choose one of them to meet your needs.

Please carefully write the beneficiary’s name and bank information. Any misspelling of the names may result in transfer failure. For further information please consult one of the organizing committee members at gendercenter@gimpa.edu.gh or call Tel: 0233 302 401681, Ext. 1315; 1024; 1321.

Please be reminded that the payee is responsible for the bank transaction fees.

Make payment to the School of Public Service and Governance atBank Details below:

Beneficiary Bank: GIMPA BANK ACCOUNT
Consolidated Bank Ghana LTD
SWIFT CODE: UBGHGHAC
ACCOUNT NAME: GIMPA Offshore Account
BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0330210559612
BANK ADDRESS: Royalt Castle Road, Kokomlemle.
P. O. Box AN 15367, Accra-North
Tel No.: 233-302-2536969

CORRESPONDENT BANK DETAILS
CORRESPONDING BANK: CITIBANK N.A.
ADDRESS: 111 WALL STREET
10043 NEW YORK,
SWIFT/SORT NUMBER: CITIUS33
ROUTING NUMBER: 021000089
ACCOUNTS NUMBER: 36918083

NB: Participants are advised to seek funding themselves.

On-Campus Accommodation: Home Attendees

On-Campus Accommodation: Overseas Attendees

NB: You can also secure a Five-star hotel in Accra, which will include bed and breakfast.

Professor Samuel Adams is currently the Dean of the School of Public Service and Governance. He holds a PhD in Public Administration and Urban Policy from Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA and Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Lincoln University- Missouri, USA.

Professor Adams has published a great number of papers in a variety of Journals including Journal of Policy Modelling, Energy Policy, Public Organisation Review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and Social Science Quarterly.

Professor Adams is a reviewer and Editorial Board Member for many journals including Journal of Policy Modeling, Energy Policy, Economic Analysis and Policy, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and Public Organisation Review and African Journal of Management and Economic Studies. His research interests are in the areas of development, environment, climate change, decentralization, privatisation and capital flows.

Edmund Amarkwei Foley graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2000. He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law, Accra in the same year for the Professional Law Course and was called to the Ghana Bar in 2002. In 2004 he graduated from the University of Pretoria, South Africa with a Master of Laws (LLM) Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Laws (LLD) Degree in Public Law at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

Edmund is currently the Head of Department for Public Law at the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. He lectures on Criminal Law, Human Rights Law, Administrative Law and Public Sector Legal Framework. He was also the Technical Advisor on Children at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection of Ghana from January 2014 to October 2015. From January 2012 to December 2013, he was the Head and Senior Researcher of the Children’s Rights Project of the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape where he led the Centre’s work on children’s rights in Eastern and Southern Africa. Between June 2007 and December 2011, he was a Legal Officer at the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and also the lead officer on child rights and national human rights institutions (NHRIs). Edmund led IHRDA’s research and arguments in the second communication to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), jointly submitted with the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI). Edmund led the team to become the first lawyers to obtain a favourable decision on the merits before the ACERWC. Prior to joining IHRDA, Edmund was an Associate in Sam Okudzeto and Associates, a leading law firm in Ghana, where he contributed to the firm’s successes in landmark cases in constitutional law, human rights, property law and commercial law. Between 2005 and 2007, he served as the Project Coordinator for the Ghana Police Accountability Project of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), where he led advocacy for the appointment of the constitutionally-mandated Police Council in Ghana in 2006. From 2002 and 2003 he worked with the National Reconciliation Commission of Ghana and was involved in the investigation of cases and research into human rights violations committed during the repressive constitutional and military regimes of Ghana. A keen researcher, Edmund worked as Clerk/Researcher to Justice Albie Sachs at the Constitutional Court of South Africa in 2005, assisting the Court with research resulting in ground-breaking jurisprudence in sexual orientation rights and crimes against humanity.

His publications include contributions to the African Human Rights Law Journal, Article 40, Rights Journal and the Encyclopaedia of World Constitutions. His interest in human rights in Africa seen him participate in a number of human rights fora and symposia in across Africa and Europe.

Bertha Z. Osei-Hwedie(Ph.D) is a Professor of International Relations in the School of Public Service and Governance, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana. Her recent works include:- Botswana Parliamentary Democracy Revisited (co-author), 2017; “Enter China: Towards Africa’s Growth and Development” {co-author}, 2017; “The Impact of Infrastructure on Growth and Development: The Case of Ghana, 1986-2016” {co-author}, 2017; “China-Japan Rivalry in Africa”, 2015; “Regionalism as a Tool for Promoting Economic and Regional Development: a Case Study of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS{co-author}, 2015; “Continuity and Change: The Influence of the Presidents on Botswana’s Foreign Policy” {co-author}, 2014; “The Quest for Gender Parity in Southern African Politics”, 2013;“Peace, Security and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa”, 2013;The Dynamics of China-Africa Cooperation”, 2013; Botswana’s Foreign Policy: a Comparative Analysis of the Four Presidents”{co-author}, 2013; International Cooperation in Security: a Case of Botswana”{co-author}, 2013; “A Survey of Research and Publications on Botswana-Africa-China Relations at the University of Botswana”, 2013; “China’s Re-engagement with Africa: The Search for Peace and Security”, 2012;“Indigenous Methods of Peacebuilding in Africa, 2012.

Augustina Adusah-Karikari, PhD is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Service and Governance, GIMPA, where she teaches courses in Public Administration, Public Sector Management, Research Methods, Ethics and Social Responsibility, Gender and Development. She was a Newton International Fellow at the University of Birmingham, UK from 2013 till January 2015. Her research interests are in gender and public administration in developing world contexts, gender and extractive industries, development administration and management. Her work has appeared in journals such as the International Journal of Public Administration, the Journal of African and Asian Studies and the Journal of Public Administration and Development. She has facilitated various training programs in management development and gender and development.She serves as one of the facilitators at GIMPA’s Centre for Management Development (CMD) also as a Lead Facilitator, Gender and Diversity Module on the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), West Africa Augustina holds a PhD in Educational Studies, a dual masters in International Affairs and Public Administration, all from Ohio University, USA and a B.A. (Hons) Secretaryship from the University of Cape Coast.

The Conference Technmical Team worked alongside the Events Team to organise the conference.

Beatrice Akua-Sakyiwah completed her PhD at the University of York. Her research focused on Somali Refugee women’s perception of access to services on entry into the UK. She was the founder of AKUSA, UK, a community organisation aimed at bringing together young women with difficult backgrounds to equip them with skills that build their self-confidence. She has been a seminar tutor teaching in Sociological theories at the school of Sociology, University of York, UK. She has also taught in different year levels in the main stream education in the UK for several years including the primary school and further education.

Recently she lectured in Gender Issues in the Media and Drama in Education at the University of Ghana, Legon, as a Visiting Scholar. She is currently the Coordinator and a Lecturer for the Gender Centre at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Her current research focuses on the Political Dynamics of Opposition, Resistance and Equality: Context for Women’s Economic Empowerment. Particularly, she is interested in the Perceptual and Behavioural Trends in Climate Change and their Effect on Indigenous Women’s Livelihoods.

Juliana Appiah is the Director of Student Affairs at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. She holds a Masters’ degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and Spanish, both from University of Ghana, Legon. She also has training in Human Resource Management and Organization Development Consulting and has 22 years practical working experience in administration, management and leadership.

Juliana Appiah has held many positions and performed varied roles in GIMPA including Human Resource Manager, Ag Hospitality Manager, Management Consultant, Lecturer and Director of Centre for Management Development.

Juliana Appiah belongs to professional bodies that are relevant to her background and professional development. These include: Institute of Human Resources Management Practitioners, (IHRMP) Ghana, and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and ACPA/NASPA- Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

Dr Gifty Oforiwaa Gyamera is a Lecturer at the School of Public Service and Governance at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). She is also the president of the Ghana Association of Public Administration and Management (GAPAM). Her research interests include Gender, Internationalisation of Education, Postcolonial studies and Curriculum Development. She is particularly interested in challenging marginalization of minorities, and discourses and practices perpetuating colonial ideologies and philosophies particularly in relation to higher education.

Afrakomah A. Boakye-Ansah completed her MPhil in Gender Studies, Rural Development & Literature from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.She is currently the Assistant Registrar of the Gender Development and Resources Centre, and the Training wing of the School of Public Service & Governance (SPSG), at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Her responsibilities at the Centre include running training programmes and Gender events. She has excellent administrative skills, which over the past four years, she has deployed successfully in varied context, including coordinating training programmes such as Women in Management, Health Administration and Management, DANIDA sponsored programmes among others.She also has training in Career Counselling and Peer Counselling, University of Ghana, Legon, Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Educationat the Centre for Continuing Education, IEDE, University of Education, Winneba.

With her experience in various training skills, including Effective Supervisory Skills, Teaching Methodology and Assessment, bothattained at GIMPA, Afra exhibits a high level of knowledge and experience in her current job and responsibilities.

Her research focused on Ethnographic work on the Performance of the Okyeame (a linguist) in Contemporary Customary Marriage in Accra.Her current research interests are in child care, gender, socio-cultural ethnography, oratory and performance.

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