The Minister-designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Naa Momo Lartey is advocating for an extended leave period for new mothers.
Naa believes a period of six months leave would be a sufficient duration to help mothers recover from labour and take care of their children.
The minister-designate appeared before a vetting committee earlier today January 22, 2025 to answer questions related to the field.
According to her, there is a need for employers to consider extending maternity leave period from three months to six. She has reiterated her resolve to seeing the policy through under her administration.
“It is important for women to have prolonged leave period, not only to take care of the children but also to properly heal. As an employer, I will encourage you that if you even have the opportunity to grant six months leave, please do that.”
“I will sit with all stakeholder, CSOs who are deep into it, and i will join the many advocates to look at what is best and ensure that we push it. If the people of Ghana agree to it, then i will be the number one champion.”
Moreover, Madam Lartey has also called for considerations on leave extension for fathers as well, as it would enable both parents the opportunity to bond with their wards.
Meanwhile, speaking on issues related to lgbt and the push for a bill against it, the minister-designate acknowledged President Mahama’s latest position on the matter.
Despite promising to sign the bill upon winning the election, President Mahama recently expressed what looks like reluctance to sign the bill. According to him, a better way to approach the issue is to fuse the country’s traditional values and marriage ideologies into its educational curriculum. This, he explained when done properly, would not require the government to sign any such bills into law.
The Minister-designate spoke in acquiescence of the president’s proposed approach, while also indicating her intent to work according to the dictates of the constitution on the subject area.
Thank you for reading from Dehotpress, a Ghanaian news website. You are welcome to share this story on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., and you can also follow us there.
Discussion about this post