By Kodjo Adams/Abena Sika Otchere, GNA
Accra, Jan. 20, GNA – The Ghana Civil
Society Organisations Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals on Monday
urged government to enact policies to curb inequalities in all spheres and
ensure more inclusive labour markets.
The Platform said the policies must aim at
curbing all forms of discrimination and also publicise any incidents of rape
and sexual harassment in the work place and ensure equal pay for equal work for
all.
Mr George Osei Akoto Bimpeh, the
Spokesperson for the Platform, made the call in Accra at a press briefing to
mark the Global Week of Action on Inequality.
The Week is recognised annually by
development practitioners across the globe from January 18 to 25, 2020.
The Sustainable Development Goal-10 enjoined
countries across the globe to reduce inequality in all forms.
However, inequality within and among nations
continue to be a concern even though efforts at reducing the disparities of
opportunity, income and power were being made.
Mr Bimpeh appealed to authorities to put in
place skills development in the informal sector and create incentives for
public providers of training to serve the sector because capacity building help
workers to access non-agricultural jobs and increase earnings.
“Apprenticeships are the most important form
of skills development in the informal sector and government must invest the
resources needed to improve the efficiency of internship schemes,” he added.
He said inequality had become a global issue
and countries cannot achieve equitable and sustainable development if the needed
systems were not put in place.
A research study on inequality in 2018 by
Oxfam, SEND Ghana and Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition established that one of
the richest men in Ghana earns more in a month than one of the poorest women
could earn in 1,000 years.
Oxford International and Development
International Finance Index Report in 2019 revealed that Ghana and other West
African governments were the least committed to reducing inequalities in
Africa.
Mr Bimpeh said the commitment to reducing Inequality
Index for West Africa charged African governments to take steps to reduce the
gap between the rich and the poor through sustained proactive policies.
He called on government to allocate a
minimum of 20 per cent of budgets to boost free universal public quality
education with special focus on improving access to high-quality primary and
secondary education.
On inequality taxation, Mr Bimpeh urged
government to increase tax revenues by collecting more from those who have more
in order to better fund basic social services.
The Platform urged government to pay special
attention to increasing tax compliance by high net worth individuals and
improve the capacity of national revenue authorities to fight illicit financial
flows.
Statistics in 2016 showed that 22 per cent
of global income was received by the top one per cent compared with 10 per cent
of income for the bottom 50 per cent.
Mr Alex Bankole, a member of the Ghana
Disability Federation, appealed to government to include persons with
disability in policy formulation since they were mostly left behind in
accessing social interventions.
He said most infrastructure for education,
health and social centres were not friendly to persons with disability and
called on the authorities to be proactive in addressing their plight for
inclusive development.
GNA