EC’s package for women

EC’s package for women
Daily Graphic, Thursday, 20th May, 2010: Back Page
Daniel Nkrumah

The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced a package to encourage more women to contest in the upcoming district level elections schedule for October 26, this year.

The Women’s Candidates Support Package is set to be introduced, with financia support from the European Union, and it will include training workshops to be attended solely by female candidates.

A Commissioner of the EC, Mrs. Pauline Adobea Dadzawa, disclosed this at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

The press conference, which was on the theme, “The 2010 District Level Election, What is in it for women in Ghana,” was organized by Abantu for Development, Women in Broadcasting and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

She indicated that the package was in recognition of the peculiar challenged women faced. “We at the commission believe that it is not enough to tell women that they are free to avail themselves to be voted for. We also believe that if the odds are weighed heavily against them, accomplishing their goals will be elusive,” she said.

She added that the EC believed that full participation of women in the electoral process was key to the growth of democracy.

“it is our fervent hope that even as we support women in our areas of operation, other methods such as quota representation, may be applied to bridge the gap between numbers of men and women in the political arena,” she added.

She advised women candidates to resist the temptation of being discouraged or confused with provocative remarks and questions and urged them to rather maintain their focus and speak on the issues.

Mrs. Dadzawa stated that the EC would deepen it commitment to encourage women to participate in the forthcoming elections.

She said that this was in line with its policy of gender mainstreaming, a conscious effort would be made, where possible, to give priority to the recruitment of women as temporary poll workers. She said the temporary toll workers to be employed for the district elections included returning officers, presiding officers, coordinating presiding officers and polling assistants.

The Deputy Chairman in charge of Programmed at the National Commission of Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Baron Y. Amoafo, stated that in 2005, with the support of the Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF), the NCCE, the EC and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs undertook intensive leadership training programmed for potential women candidates for the 2006 district level elections.

He added that in order to ensure a sustainable plan for effective women’s participation in governance, the NCCE, through its civic education clubs in senior secondary schools (SHSs), also undertook an intensive tour of selected SHSs throughout the country to whip up enthusiasm among young female students to be interested in taking up leadership positions in the near future.

He indicated that the NCCE had already captured in its plan for the public education on the 2010 district level elections programmes to empower women to participate actively in the elections.

He said it would also hold a capacity-building programme for it staff to cover issues on gender inequality and a number of programmes to enhance women’s participation in the upcoming district level elections.

The Resident Director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Daniela Kuzu, noted that the fact that Ghana had signed the UN Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the establishment a Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs was an indication that the country was taking the issues of gender equality seriously.

She, however, stated that the country’s performance in terms of gender equality needed to be improved significantly. “To take the national elections of 2004 and 2008 as an example, it is of concern that in 2004 only 10.8 percent of the seats in parliament were taken by women. In 2008, it was even reduced to 7.89 per cent,” she stated.

MOWAC to re-position itself: Towards Beijing Platform for Action

MOWAC to re-position itself: Towards Beijing Platform for Action
Daily Graphic; Tuesday, May 11, 2010; Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Rebecca Quaico-Duho

The Ministry of women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) is taking steps to re-position itself to help accelerate Ghana’s progress made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).

According to the sector minister, Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghana organised a side event which is on the theme, “Beyond commitment to responsive institutional structures,” at the just ended meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held in New York.

She said participants had the opportunity to share Ghana’s perspective and experiences on the evolution of the national women’s machinery and how it plans to promote gender equality through re-engineering the ministry and involving women at the grass-roots level.

She was speaking at a forum organised in Accra by MOWAC in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and supported by the United Nations Systems, during which a statistical compendium on women and men were launched.

Mrs. Azumah-Mensah who convened the meeting to brief the public on the outcome of the CSW meeting at a forum in Accra, said a lot of programmes and policies, spearheaded by MOWAC and other ministries such as the Ministry of Health (MOH), were commended as having contributed to the empowering of women socially, economically and politically.

This year’s CSW meeting also coincided with the fifteenth-years review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its contribution to the achievements of the MDGs.

Programmes such as the issuances of policy directive to public sector agencies to roll out gender responsive budgets across ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as the ministry’s coordination with 16 key sectors such as the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Education were hailed as a good practice.

She also said MOWAC’s central management roles and the elevation of the ministry to Cabinet status were seen as an outstanding achievement. Other participants expressed interest in selling the idea to their countries.

Other achievements such as the enactment of the Domestic Violence and human Trafficking Acts, criminalization of sexual offences and the passage of laws on women’s rights in marriage and divorce, social protection policies targeting poor women, the National Health Insurance Scheme, free school uniforms for school children and the Health Service Act, which ensured free maternal care to help in addressing the country’s high maternal mortality, and the appointment of women into key positions were all commended.

She said the Commission wrapped up the 54th session by adopting several resolutions which were key to women’s empowerment and they were issues on women’s economic empowerment, women and girl child and HIC and AIDS, protecting women and girls form harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), elimination of maternal mortality and a decision to consolidate four existing offices working in issues related to gender under the United Nations into a composite gender entity.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Mr. Joseph S. Abbey, a guest speaker who spoke on ‘the importance of gender statistics for development,’ underscored the importance of having more women in decision-making positions so that they would speak for women.

He said the country would be wasting a lot of resources, if the potential of women, who formed the majority of the country’s population, was not tapped, saying, “Investment made in women should be utilised to ensure maximum returns.”

He said statistics over the years did not quantify the work of women, especially in domestic settings, and pointed out that it made it difficult to appreciate the input of women in national development.

Mr. Abbey said it was essential that the country gathered separate data for men and women so that the country would know the needs of boys and girl and men and women. This, according to him, would enable the government to build appropriate infrastructure such as clinics and school and that the gender dimensions of all these had not been focused on in the country.

The Chief Director of MWAC, Ms Nancy Dzah, in a welcoming address said as institutions and organisations promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the country, it was important that, “we avail ourselves of the global, regional and national trends of achievements and challenges confronting us in our zeal to achieve the MDG3, which is: Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

An international gender consultant and chairperson of the programme, Mrs Jane Amavi Kwaku, said Ghana had become a flagship of achieving results in many areas and it could not afford to fail in the empowerment of women.

Representatives of Parliament, MDAs, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, who were at the CSW meeting in New York, gave their impression about the way forward for MOWAC.

GSS develop handbook on gender statistics

GSS develop handbook on gender statistics

Daily Graphic, Thursday, 6th May, 2010: Page 11; (Gender and Children)
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has developed a handbook on gender statistics which reflects the relative levels and differentials between women and men, and girls and boys in terms of education, health, politics, and access to credits among others.

The statistical compendium on women and men is a collection of concise, but detailed gender-sensitive indicators, which will help the formulation of policies in the country.

The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, whop launched the handbook at a programme in Accra, said the collection of sex deaggregated data was vital to women’s development in the country.

She said such data was essential to enable the country to track the progress made so far in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The minister said such data was also important to ministries, departments and agencies, since it would help them implement the gender budgeting strategy, which had been introduced by the government effectively.

Giving some highlights on the book, the minister said it dealt with household leadership and divorce, school enrollment for males and females at various levels of education, illiteracy among men and women and power and influence.

She said the statistical compendium showed that 23 per cent of female-headed household were divorced women and 51 per cent of women in the country were illiterates.

On the issue of power and influence, she said the result were nothing to write home about, and that a huge gap still existed between men and women in the decision-making process, adding that there was the need to encourage more women into politics.

She, therefore, advised women who were interested in politics to participate in active politics at the various levels, to get more women in the country’s decision-making process.

A Chief Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Mr. Baah Wadieh, who made a presentation on, “The status of the provision of gender statistics,” said developing gender statistics required that the statistical processes should be applied diligently when acquiring the data.

He said such gender-sensitive data should not be merely indicators which had been compiled and presented by sex, although it was a fundamental requirement, but should also signal gender-related changes in a condition or phenomenon over time, shed light on social processes and interventions and how these affect women and men and their relationship with one another.

He said gender statistics were one of the basic requirements of the Beijing Declaration, which calls on national, regional and international statistical institutions to “ensure that statistics related to individuals are collected, compiled, analysed and presented by sex, and age, and reflect problems, issues and questions related to women and men in society.”

The Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, said the statistical compendium would help the country gain insight into how far it had advanced, saying that, “we need to be able to assess what gains we have made” and also identify where there were problems. She said the handbook would help the country learn from its successes in terms of gender equality, empowerment and equity, and also bring out the disappointing results so that they could be dealt with.

Dr. Bediako said nationally and globally, it was difficult to see the achievements on the field, and that many organisations found it necessary to have ‘gender’ as a component of their programmes, instead of mainstreaming it into all facets of public and private life, decision-making and prorammes.

She bemoaned the fact that two-and-a-half decades after the adoption of the MDGs, with MDG 3 calling for the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, “we still have to remind policy makers that gender equality is a rights issue like poverty and survival.”

She said as a country, “we have an opportunity with the upcoming population and housing census to improve our database for the MDGs,” and that many of the questions for the census would provide the basis for computing the indicators required.

Dr. Bediako, however, said the country still needed to explore all potential sources, censuses, samples surveys and administrative records to provide the complete picture.

Women are more sensitive to national issues- NCCE director

Women are more sensitive to national issues- NCCE director
The Ghanaian Times; Wednesday, May 5th, 2010; (Regional Diary)
Samuel Opare Lartey

Ghana would have been like heaven if many women had given themselves to decision making and participated fully in the decentralisation programme of the nation.

This is because women are very sensitive and difficult to convince to do things which would go against them in the future.

The Eastern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Eric Bortey, said at the launch of the 10th Annual Eastern Regional Constitutional Week at Koforidua. It had the theme, “Enhancing constitutionalism through effective citizen participation for good governance.”

Giving an example of the few women who are now in high positions in the country, he asked, “Who has heard anything wrong with any of them?” “Which of them has been mentioned as causing financial loss to the state?” he added.

He said that there had been many women who had and are now occupying strategic positions in the country since the inception of the 1992 constitution without any problems.

Mr. Bortey encouraged women to forget about existing prejudices, any fears and believe that they had the support, abilities to actively participate in the governance of the nation.

Tracing the history of the constitution from the first republic, he said, most of the citizenry do not know the constitution and they supported a particular candidate and voted for him or her.

The constitution is about the welfare of the citizenry, therefore, they should always use the power and enthusiasm in supporting their candidates to demand their rights for good roads, shelter, health, education and water among others. Mr. Bortey explained.

He urged Ghanaians to study the constitution as a document which sets the framework within which laws, regulations and rules are made to govern the private and public lives of citizens. Therefore, Mr. Bortey appealed to Ghanaians to make every effort to know the contents of the constitution to enable them to know, exercise their basic rights and perform their civic responsibilities.

The Acting Eastern Regional Director of CHRAJ, Mr. Dominic C. Hammond, who launched the programme, spoke on, “Can our present constitutional framework accelerate the growth and sustenance of democracy and good governance in Ghana?”

He said the 1992 Constitution is the longest existing constitution the country had ever had and has revealed that the spirit of liberty, oneness, rule of law and sovereignty resides with the people.

He said Ghana had had a decade of peaceful and acceptable constitutional rule and had change political leaders through the ballot box in a free and fair manner. “Ghana’s level of democracy and good governance has made her a star among other African countries,” he said.

Mr. Hammond said that the 1992 Constitution had guaranteed the independence of the, Electoral Commission, mandated NCCE to conducted civic education and CHRAJ to promote, protect and enforce fundamental human rights and freedom and administrative justice for all persons in Ghana.

He appealed for resources for institutions to function effectively because their presence had placed Ghana in the lead of other African countries in terms of practicing democracy and good governance.

The programme was chaired by Okotwasuo Kantamto Oworae II, vice president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs.

Gender Activists assist women aspirants

Gender Activists assist women aspirants
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 4th May, 2010: Page 11; (Gender and Children)
Nurudeen Salifu, Tamale.

Gender rights activists have launched a project designed to improve women’s participation in the forthcoming district assembly elections in the Upper West Region.

Dubbed, “The All Political Rights Project,” the project will provide the requisite resources for women aspirants to participate in the 2010 district assembly elections and assist them to campaign effectively and win elections.

It will also build the capacities of female aspirants and put together well-planned campaign strategies that will encourage the electorate to vote for women during the elections.

Speaking at the launch of the project, the Upper West Regional Director of Women and member of the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, Mrs. Kate Bob Millar, underscored the need to give legal backing to the affirmative action policy aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in political representation both at the local and national levels.

She said “if there was a national lack backing these directives and commitments, there would be no way of escaping their implementation.” She added that an affirmative action policy backed by the law, was therefore, the best option, to improve women’s representation in governance since it would make it mandatory for state authorities to give fair representation to women as a matter of law, not out of sympathy.

Some gender advocates at the programme argued that the issuance of directives and commitments regarding the appointment of women to political posts had not yield much result, since there was no legal framework to enforce such directives.

They noted that although various political administrations had committed themselves to allocate a proportion of positions to women these pledges had not been fulfilled. They also noted that these administrations had equally given directives to the effect that 30 or 50 per cent of government appointees to district assemblies should be women, but these had also not been adhered to.

The Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP), together with the Women’s Manifesto Coalition is spearheading the project, with support from the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS).

Six regions have been selected to benefit from the programme. They are Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Greater Accra, Volta and Central regions.

Launching the project, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, noted that the government was committed to creating an enabling environment for women to develop their potential and getting fair representation in governance.

He, however, observed that the bane to women’s participation in politics was lack of education, which he noted had created a situation where many women could not participate in decision making in some areas.

The minister, therefore, called for a more aggressive pursuit of girl-child education so as to produce qualified women to participate in decision making.

The Programme Officer of the FFP, Ms Esenam Tilly Adu-Gyamfi, told the Daily Graphic that the objective of the project was to address some challenges that confront women in the 2006 district assembly elections.

These challenges, she noted, had been identified in a review conducted by the Women’s Manifesto Coalition and these included cultural barriers, gender discrimination and resource constraints.

“The project would, therefore, assist the women aspirants to acquire passport photographs for the production of posters and handbills to sell their messages to their constituents,” Ms Adu-Gymafi said.

She appealed for support from other organisations and institutions to facilitate the implementation of the project and ultimately improve women representation in governance.

‘Let’s support women in local government’

‘Let’s support women in local government’
Daily Graphic; Thursday, April 22, 2010; Page 11 (Gender & Children)
Salome Donkor

The role of women in politics and public office is one of the current burning governance issues because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance processes.

Gender and policy advocacy organisations recognize that improving the lives of women and other members of society require a balanced gender representation in government structures by promoting greater responsiveness to women in politics and decision-making,

For some women who want to enter national politics, governance at the various levels, namely by the local or district, regional and national, is crucial to them, since it provides them with good training grounds to improve their chances of being elected to political office to promote gender-balance in decision-making at all levels.

The involvement of more women in politics and decision-making is expected to meet their interests and basic needs and enable them continue to influence policies from a gender perspective and addressing inequalities and injustices in social relationships.

The local government system has therefore become good grounds for some women, who want to enter into national politics. But the most difficult challenge that confront most women intending to enter into local government, is lack of funds.

The support women in the 2006 District Assembly elections, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the “Women in Local Government Fund” to assist women aspirants.

According to the Public Relations Officer of MOWAC, Mrs. Adiza Ofori-Adu, each of the 1, 772 women who contested the 2006 District Assembly elections, received GH¢20.00 for their campaign activities.

She said the Department of Women in the various regions have been task to work in collaboration with the district assemblies and identify 20 women from each district to support them to take part in the forthcoming district assembly elections.

Speaking at a day’s review meeting on “Challenges and Prospects of Women in Decision-Making Positions,” in Koforidua recently, the Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Women, Ms Jane Kwapong, re-emphasised the need for the private sector, corporate bodies and related organizations and individuals to financially support the “Women in Local Government Fund.”

She said society should see gender equality as a tool for sustainable development and called for support and encouragement by both men and women to ensure that more women were elected in the forthcoming district assembly elections.

Participants were drawn from civil society organisations , women’s groups, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Gender Desk Officers and assembly women.

She urged political parties to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and men to engage in political activities and take further steps to elect women in their “safe constituencies” to contest parliamentary elections increase the number of women in parliament.

She said since women’s reproductive roles tended to militate against their participation in politics and other decision-making processes, there was need to encourage the sharing of household responsibilities to enable more women to participate in public life.

The Member of Parliament for New Jauben South, Madam Beatrice B. Boateng, who is also an elected assembly member of the New Jauben Municipal Assembly, advised women to rise above reproach in the face of all changes and prove their worth, stressing that some women had been able to make it, despite the challenges.

She mentioned poverty as a major challenge that prevented women from aspiring to greater heights and pointed out that the problems could be overcome with determination, perseverance, hard work and optimism.

Mr. Rex Baah Antiri of Ghana Education Service (GES) appealed to the government to create an enabling environment that would strengthen women to be part of decision-making, especially at higher levels.

He called for sustained efforts to deal with all forms of violence against women and repressive cultural practices against women to enable them contribute their quota to development.

Participants suggested that efforts should be intensified to address the issues of gender stereotyping, as well as speed up the socialization process and gender equality, adding that the empowerment of women should not be limited to those in towns and cities, but extended to rural women as well.

Women Urged to Participate actively in Governance

Women Urged to Participate actively in Governance
The Ghanaian Times; Friday, March 19, 2010; Page 23
Samuel Opare

The Eastern Regional Director of the NCCE, Mar Eric Bortey, has said that the nature of political campaigns in the country have not helped women to participate actively in the governance of the country since independence. “At certain times too”, he explained, “the language used on certain platforms during campaigns prevent or discourage women to get involved in politics.” Mr. Bortey said this at a two day empowerment workshop for women in all the electoral areas in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District (SKCD) at Suhum.

It was organized by the NCCE in collaboration with the World Vision International under the theme “Effective participation of women in decision making at the district assemblies and local level.”
Wrongly too, he said “most people think that any woman who openly joins and participate in political activities is a harlot, witch, man-woman or an iron lady.”

Much has not been achieved in the nation’s decentralization and political agenda since 1988 because of lack of women participation in the local government system, “the NCCE Regional Director stated.

Mr. Bortey therefore challenged women in the country to come out of their shells and take up their place in the nation’s democratic system.

“Do not allow Accra alone to be the seat of government, irrespective of your party affiliation, let us all join hands to move Ghana democracy forward,” he said, pointing out that “women are in the majority but when it comes to decision and participation in the local governance of the nation, they are in the minority.”

Women’s failures in decision making, Mr Bortey said was due to their attitudes toward themselves, societal and family influence, educational background, defeating attitude, traditional/cultural influence and the nature of the political campaign in the country.

Above all he observed that “Women have accepted from time past that politics is for men.” Mr. Bortey appealed to the women to get involved in the local government of the nation because they have a lot to offer to the development of the nation through their participation in decision-making at the local levels. He taught the women how to write manifestos and how to speak in public and advised them to present themselves to be voted for the area, Town, Zonal, Urban and any position in the Local Council elections. “This is where you can learn and build your confidence to attain your vision in Ghana’s political arena” said the NCCE Director.

The Acting District Director of NCCE, Mr. Cephas Kofi Agboada said that the district assembly system is the most competent structure in Ghana because that is the bedrock of the nation and therefore the work of any assembly woman is very important.

He explained that decision-making is a very important process in which women would need to be actively involved if their needs and concerns are to be adequately met.

He said the nation’s district assemblies would be very effective, strong, richer and democratic if the people stop the discrimination but encourage women to get involved in the activities of local government. The programme was chaired by the SKCD Director of CHRAJ, Mrs. Anyeley Ayeng Cole and supported by the queen mother of Suhum, Nana Yaa Sakyibea.

Gov’t must show commitment to Women’s participation in Politics

Gov’t must show commitment to Women’s participation in Politics
Daily Graphic, Wednesday, 17 March, 2010; Page 16
GNA

The management of the Hunger Project-Ghana has called on the government to show commitment to women’s participation in politics by enforcing the 40 per cent representation of women in the district metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).

It said the government should allocate special funds for the training, grooming and campaign activities of women parliamentary candidates.

The call was made in a communiqué issued at the end of a national rural forum for selected men and women programme Animators and Epicenter Representatives on the theme: ‘Equal Opportunities : Progress for all’.

A statement issued and signed by Dr. Nana Agyeman-Mensah, Country Director of the Project, said the forum was held at the Odumase –Wawase Epicenter in the Kwahu West Municipality, to mark this year’s International Women‘s Day, which fell on Monday, March 8.

The Communiqué also called on the government to enforce existing laws that had been instituted to protect women and children such as the Domestic Violence Act, the Intestate Succession Law, The Children’s Act other relevant laws through the training of gender sensitive officers at the MMDAs to spearhead the implementation and monitoring of gender based policies.

It called for the establishment of the special scholarship schemes to benefit brilliant needy girls who will otherwise drop out of school after junior high school.

The Communiqué appealed for sponsorship for girls to enroll in nursing and teacher training colleges to increase the number of women professionals who would also serve as role models for girls in the rural areas.

It stressed the need for the use of participatory sensitization approaches that would bring out the negative effects of gender inequality on the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The statement also called for the reconsideration of the of the health policy on ‘non –delivery of babies ‘ by Traditional Birth Attendants, who were still regardless of the policy, offering valuable child delivery services to poor women in remote rural areas, until such time that there were enough rural health facilities and professionals in those areas. The Communiqué called for the improvement in farm gate access roads in food producing areas to address the transportation and distribution challenges of the nation’s food farmers, 80 per cent of whom were women.

It said efforts should be made to provide special subsidized packages for women farmers to encourage them to, and to recognize those who excel in the field of agriculture at special state events, to inspire other women farmers.

The Communiqué called for increased financial and technical support to women’s groups as well as focused steps to introduce into rural areas, simple technologies for processing vegetables and staple food crops to halt post harvest losses, while creating vital job opportunities.

It called for more support to NGOs which utilized sustainable development strategies that created local leadership opportunities for women as well as build local capacity for self reliant development, through the creation of community based animators in critical areas such as sexual and reproductive health, legal literacy, credit management, functional literacy, agricultural extension, HIV and AIDS education, counseling and referral services which benefited women.

Promoting Women’s Cause must be Collective-MOWAC

Promoting Women’s Cause must be Collective-MOWAC
The Ghanaian Times; Monday, March 8, 2010; Page 6
Times Reporter

On the occasion of International Women’s Day today, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs has asked all to join hands in ensuring an equal and just society where women and girls can develop their potentials.

‘Let us join hands in ensuring an equal and just society where women and girls like their male counterparts are able to develop their full potential without any social, cultural or economic impediments,’ the ministry said, in statement signed by the Deputy Minister Hawawu Boya Gariba.

It congratulated Ghanaian women for their invaluable contribution to the development of their families and the nation and wished all women and girls a happy International Women’s Day.
Meanwhile, to mark the occasion, the Ministry has outlined a number of activities which include, clean-up exercises, symposia and exhibitions.

The events, the statement said, would be u the laudable achievements and progress made so far and the challenges met in advancing gender issues and addressing the 12 critical areas of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).

The critical areas include various legislations, policies, institutions and mechanisms in place to advance the cause of women and the promotion of equal rights and opportunities for women, men, girls and boys.

Statistics on gender needed

Statistics on gender needed
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, February, 23, 2010; Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

Gender statistics are the body of statistics compiled, analysed and presented by sex, reflecting gender issues in society. This statistics needs to be produced in close co-operation with users to respond to the needs of policy makers, planner, researcher, the media and the public.

According to statisticians, in order for users’ needs to be fully considered, it is necessary to examine gender concerns and goals in society and identify the necessary statistics and indicators to address them with adequate policies and plans to assess and monitor related issues.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) defines gender statistics as a field of statistics that cuts across the traditional fields to identify, produce and disseminate statistics that reflect the realities of the lives of women and men and policy issues relating to gender. Gender statistics, it says, allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues.

Gender issues are determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men and it encompasses all aspects and concerns with how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities and how they react to changes, interventions and policies.

According to gender advocates, gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics, according to advocates, are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.

Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produces taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that data, both on the individual as well as those not directly related to individuals, are collected, compiled, and analysed taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently – this, according to advocates, can be called gender mainstreaming of statistics.

The impact of data collected on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors, according to gender advocates, must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis and presentation.

They say that although the presentation of information on women and men follows the general rules for statistical presentation, one must keep in mind that the presentation aims at facilitating comparisons between women and men, as well as increasing the awareness of gender differentials.

Advocates further contend that the main point is not the mere existence of such differences, but the fact that these differences should not have a negative impact the living conditions of both women and men, should not discriminate against them and should contribute to an equal sharing of power in economy, society and policy-making processes.

Some policy areas where gender statistics have been identifies to influence include population, families and households, work and the economy, education and communication, public life and decision-making, health, crime and violence.

It is inline with ensuring that gender statistics are incorporated in data collection in that country that they Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with support from the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has set up a gender statistic working group made up of experts from government and non-governmental agencies to identify gender gaps in the production of statistics in the country.

The group, which was launched in Accra, held its first meeting and made of researchers, gender advocates, UN agencies, civil organization and academia, will also outline how gender statistics should be produced and used and how it use should be promoted by government, planning bodies, the media, research institutions and other stakeholders.

The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, in an address said the Beijing Platform for Action adopted for nations 15 years ago emphasized the need to disaggregate data by sex across board so as to produce data by sex.

She said there was a need to re-look at the statistical system in the country, since a change in the way of data collection would be met with some resistance as new forms would have to be designed for administrative purposes.

She said the time had come for the country to move the issues of gender statistics forward by striving to ensure that a conscious effort was made to bridge the knowledge gap in gender mainstreaming.

The UNIFEM Country Representative, Ms Afua Ansre, in a remark said Ghana had acceded to all international requirements to make gender equality a reality in the country.

She said a sex disaggregated data was needed in all areas of policy making in the country, saying, that without such data, the country could not meet its international obligations with regards to gender mainstreaming.

She also called on the government to make use of such data when they are generated, saying that although the GSS had some genders disaggregated data it was underutilised.

A director at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Patience Opoku, in a remark said developing a sex disaggregated data would help the ministry to achieve its mandate of ensuring that issues of women were given the needed priority.

She said the ministry was preparing to actively showcase its achievements at the forthcoming women to be held in New York next month.

The Regional Coordinator, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Ms Diana Tempelman, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the group, said the lack of gender statistics was a major constraint in developing gender responsive policies and programmes.

She said statistics and indicators on gender relations were needed for informed policy decision and monitoring of programmes, saying that the group would help improve the capacity of both producers and users of gender statistic to produce and use gender-sensitive indicators and sex disaggregated data to inform policy formulation, monitoring and reporting.

Group to Generate Statistics on Gender

Group to Generate Statistics on Gender
The Ghanaian Times, Thursday February 18, 2010; Page 16
Edmund Mingle & Benjamin Sekyere Owusu

A Gender Statistics Working Group (GSWG), a group of gender development experts working to enhance statistical data on gender, was launched in Accra with a call for the provision of accurate data on gender.

The GSWG, an initiative of the Ghana Statistical Service in collaboration with the United Nations Developmental Fund for Women is aimed at facilitating the development of statistical data to aid effective planning for the growth of both the male and female gender.

The launch which was also to kick-start the meeting of the group had the theme, “Gender mainstreaming for equitable development,” Dr. Grace Bediako, Government Statistician in her address, called for improvement in the development and use of statistics on the gender in the country was not impressive.

That, she said, was affecting the implementation of national planning programs, especially those relating to poverty alleviation, since the present data on women and children was not adequate.
Even with the existing data, she said not much was being used for the development of women and children saying there was the need to maximize the use of data.

“We must make headway” she stressed, adding that without that, the objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action would not be attained in Ghana.

Ms Diana Tempelman, Regional Coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization in her keynote address, lauded the formation of the group indicating that without accurate data three would not be effective planning for gender development. “This is the ground breaking event in the area of gender data development," she said.

Describing the work of the group as an absolute necessity for gender planning, Ms Templeman was hopeful that the provision of accurate data would enhance Ghana’s attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mrs. Benedicta Kwame, Chief Economic Planning Officer at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, launching the initiative, urge all stakeholders to be committed and effectively contributed to towards achieving the objectives of the GSWG.

The members of the GSWG are drawn from the academia, government ministries, civil society groups security agencies and international development agencies.

ABANTU selected for UNIFEM grant

ABANTU selected for UNIFEM grant
Daily Graphic, Thursday, 21st January, 2010; Page 11, (Gender & Children)

ABANTU for Development, a gender and policy advocacy organization based in Ghana, is one of the six organizations in sub-Saharan Africa selected as recipients of United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM’s) Catalytic Grant for Gender Equality for the 2009 grant cycle.

The other beneficiary organizations are from Cameroun, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda. The Fund’s Catalytic Grant category is one of two types of high-impact grants designed to advance innovative programmes which focus on women’s economic and political empowerment at local and national levels worldwide.

UNIFEM announced in a press release in New York this week that the new UNIFEM-managed mutli-lateral Fund for Gender Equality received 543 applications for the Catalytic Category from across the world and 27 were selected in 26 countries- 89 per cent led by civil society organizations and 11 per cent by government agencies.

The recently established Fund is designed to advance innovative programmes aimed at accelerating efforts to advance commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Conventional on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and other global and regional agreements.

The recipients represent broad regional and thematic diversity. Their initiatives range from supporting women in the informal sector to increasing greater political participation by women. Initiatives also focus on women facing hazards of food security and climate change to indigenous women and those in high-risk groups, such as women affected by HIV and AIDS.

Adhere to Gender Equality- WiLDAF

Adhere to Gender Equality- WiLDAF
Daily Graphic, Wednesday, 13th January, 2010; Page 15, (Politics)

A Gender NGO, Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF, Ghana), last Monday reminded political parties to abide by their promises to ensure gender equality and affirmative action at their forthcoming congress to elect national executives.

In a statement signed by their Ms Bernice Sam, National Programme Coordinator, WiLDAF Ghana, it noted that in a few days the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would hold national delegates congress to elect national executives.

“Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) and partners of the We Know Politics Project wish them well believing that multi-party democracy and respect for individual rights have now become part of Ghana’s bedrock for sustainable development.”

“We are also taking this opportunity to remind the parties of their commitment to ensure at least 30 per cent representation of women in their executive structures.”

It said this commitment was made in a communiqué agreed between the Institute of Economic Affairs and four political parties with representation in Parliament on 30 June, 2009 at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

“Interestingly, the NDC has an arduous task to prove its commitment to gender equality above the 30 per cent representation in the Akosombo Declaration.”

It said the party committed itself to 40 per cent representation of women contained in its Better Ghana Manifesto, promises of President John Atta Mills to Ghanaians in statements during the 2008 electioneering and also his State of the Nation address to Parliament on February 19, 2009.

WiLDAF said the NPP, on the other hand, whilst in government, had ratified the Protocol to the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in 2007 and endorsed the Africa Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in 2004.

“As these political parties go to congress, the onus is on them to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality through the election of gender-balanced national executive.”

“The number of women that emerges as executive at the political parties congresses could further be a ‘hint’ of how many women these political parties feature as parliamentary candidates, vice-presidential running mates or presidential candidates in the 2012 general election.”

WiLDAF said if the NDC and NPP failed to meet the target set in the Communiqué of the June 30, 2009, “then it will be an embarrassment to citizens of Ghana before the international community whom our governments have made commitments demonstrated through ratification, signatures and reporting on gender equality.”

It said alternatively, when gender-balance was achieved at congresses, it would be a feather in the cap of the country and a demonstration of its commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

“The fact is the performance of government towards advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in many areas, including discriminatory cultural practices and political representation has not been very encouraging.”

WiLDAF said 2010 marked an important milestone for the United Nations as it reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by states 15 after its adoption.
It noted that Ghana Beijing State Report revealed the appalling statistics of women in political and public life below the 30 per cent threshold agreed States in Beijing.

This year, it added, also marked the mid-point review of Ghana’s commitment to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality which called for 30 per cent representation of women in political life.

“A thousand of a thousand miles starts with the first. As we journey towards the 2012 elections, these initial steps- congresses- taken by political parties will determines how the end result of our general elections will be.” ---- GNA

Five years after ‘Women’s Manifesto’

Five years after ‘Women’s Manifesto’
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, 1st September, 2009, Page 11, Gender and Children
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

Five years ago, a group of gender activists came together to compile a document which spelt out their concerns on the “insufficient attention given to critical issues affecting women” in relation to women in decision-making as well as socio-economic issues.

Known as the ‘Women’s Manifesto’ the document spells out issues that confront women in Ghana and makes demands on governments for addressing them, serves as a working document to the government.

The inauguration of the document on September 2, 2004, also gave birth to the formation on the ‘Women’s Manifesto Coalition,’ a group which seeks to monitor how the government addresses the needs fo women and also advocates the need for greater attention for women in all spheres of life.

As Ghana is a signatory to many international conventions and treaties, such as the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), it behoves the government to ensure that it fulfills the mandates that it has assented in order to improve the lives of women in the country.

The Women’s Manifesto provides a platform of a common set of demands which are on ‘women’s economic empowerment,’ ‘women and land,’ ‘women, social policy and social development,’ ‘women in politics, decision-making and public life,’ ‘women, human rights and the law,’ ‘discriminatory cultural practices,’ ‘women, conflict and peace,’ ‘women with special needs,’ and ‘institutions with a mandate to promote women’s rights,’ all towards the achievement of gender equality and sustainable national development.

Initiate by ABANTU for Development, a non-governmental organisation, and supported by other gender-based non-governmental organizations and civil society groups, the manifesto aims at helping women to articulate their concerns during periods of election, provide information for people concerned about the need to achieve gender equity, and also to encourage political parties to be more accountable for respective needs of men and women as contained in their manifestoes.

Significant achievements made after the launch of the manifestos include the passage of the Domestic Violence Act, the Human Trafficking Act and the Disability Act. Furthermore the ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) has set up a fund to support women who intend participating in local government elections.

A law has been passed to abolish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), trokosi and other obnoxious cultural practices which are detrimental to the health and well-being of women.

However, according to the Convenor of the Women’s Manifesto, Mrs. Hamida Harrison, the biggest challenge currently facing the coalition in ensuring that gender equality and equity was achieved as spelt out in the manifesto, was in the area of women’s economic empowerment. She said although the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) factored in a bit of gender concerns, GPRS I did not, stressing that a number of women still encountered numerous challenges in their bid to access land and financial resources for viable projects.

She also said other socio-cultural factors made it impossible for the large number of women in the informal sector to compete with their male counterparts.

Through advocacy, some women have been able to break trough in the political arena but according to Mrs. Harrison, much still needed to be done through Affirmative Action (AA) to help ush more women into decision-making positions. She said as part of the celebration of the five years of the inauguration of the Women’s Manifesto, the coalition would intensify advocacy on AA to motivate political parties to initiate campaigns at the grassroots to field more women in areas considered safe seats.

She said the coalition was also in the process of reviewing the manifesto to ensure that it re-echoes some of the concerns which had not yet been addressed, as well as ensure that new demands were incorporated into the reviewed version, saying that the coalition, was “critical of the pace taken by authorities in promoting women’s rights and gender equality in the country.”

She expressed hope that as the government has indicated that there would be the need to review the 1992 Constitution, the process would be open, participatory, consultative and transparent so that ordinary people can also make inputs.

MOWAC to assist women in elections

Ministry to assist women in elections
Daily Graphic, Saturday, 8th August, 2009, Page 11, Gender and Children
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs is working on a programme to identify at least 20 potential women in each district to prepare them for the 2010 district and 2012 elections.

The women will be given the needed training and support which will enable them to compete effectively with their male counterparts during the elections to help increase the participation of women in decision-making positions in the country.

The sector Minister, Ms Akua Sena Densua, who made this known in a speech read on her behalf at the opening of the fourth biennial conference of District Assembly Women in Accra, said there was the need ‘to surmount the challenges that have restrained women from active participation in decision-making for so long.’

The conference, which was organized by ABANTU for Development and ActionAid-Ghana, on the theme, “Expanding space for women’s empowerment,” brought together women from across the country to brainstorm on topics such as ‘Critical gender issues in climate change debate,’ ‘Critical gender issues in income security,’ and ‘Critical gender issues in the oil and gas sector.’

The minister’s speech, read on her behalf by the Gender Officer at the Ministry, Ms Evelyn Agyemfra Asiedu, indicated that the government was also reviewing the affirmative action policy which is aimed at increasing women’s participation in decision-making to 40 per cent to positively increase the number of women in governance.

She said the attainment of most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including goal three, which talks about the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, goal four, which talks about reducing under-five [years old] mortality and goal fiver, which talks about the improvement of maternal health, all required the active collaboration of women for their successful implementation.

The Head of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, said organizing such conferences was necessary, as gender and local governance issues were directly linked to broader national contextual issues.

She said the conference would help create a forum where women could expand the space for self and collective empowerment to enhance participation and effectiveness in their in their own localities, as well as in the overall national governance process.

She said the conference would enable participants to draw strength from one another, as well as forge appropriate strategies to increase women participation in governance.

The Country Direction of ActionAid-Ghana, Ms Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, in an address, said there was an urgent need to address the imbalances in the political power and leadership in the country, saying that political will should be translated into an appropriate legal framework with deliberate special measures to ensure increase of women in all levels of decision-making.

The Member of Parliament for New Juaben, Ms Beatrice B. Boateng, who chaired the opening ceremony, called on the assembly women not to give in their quest for higher political power but to forge ahead even when they are being discouraged by others.

She said the time had come for women to put aside their political affiliations and help one another as women, saying that, “you should see yourselves first as women and should not let politics divide your ranks.”

Appropriate Action needed for Gender Equality

Appropriate Action needed for Gender Equality
Daily Graphic, Thursday, July 16, 2009 (Gender and Children) Page 11
Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

The Programme Coordinator of Fredrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Ghana, Mr Danaa Nantogmah, has said that affirmative action which translates into real increase in female participation in politics and decision-making does not happen by chance. He said, “Appropriate policies and laws have must be in place; strategies and action plans developed but, more importantly commitment and the political will to implement these plans to achieve gender equity in out political social and economic life is paramount.”

Mr. Nantogmah said this at the opening of a two-day workshop in Accra on validating an affirmative action strategy document which was aimed at helping to increase women’s participation in politics and decision-making as well as in all aspects of life.
Organized by the ABANTU for Development, a women’s right group, and Women in Broadcasting (WIB), in partnership with FES, the workshop was aimed at improving on the gains of the Women’s Manifesto by deepening implementation on some of the concrete demands on women’s participation in politics and decision-making, particularly on affirmative action.

He said most women who participated in the 2008 parliamentary elections faced a lot of challenges such as limited finances, intimidation, religious and cultural beliefs and a lack of support from other women.

He pointed out that political parties were critical to the successful implementation of affirmative action, and commended the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and the Electoral Commission (EC) for proposing that five percent of the Political Parties Support Fund (PPSF), when established, should be earmarked for political parties that would promote and support the increase of women’s participation in politics and decision-making by filing more parliamentary candidates.

The affirmative action document, which was prepared by Dr Dzodzi Tsikata on the topic “Affirmative Action and Gender Equity in Representation in Politics in Ghana: Justification, Prospects, Challenges and an Agenda for Action,” argues that while affirmative action has been used in Ghana since independence to address imbalances in access to education, health, work and political representation, its success have been variable.

It pointed out that affirmative action as a measure to improve political representation has never been commensurate with the serious nature of the inequalities being addressed. It further states that commitment to affirmative action has been at best ‘half-hearted,’ a situation which, according to Dr. Tsikata, was worsened by the fact that the baisis for affirmative action was not shared or properly understood and its beneficiaries were often seen as “recipients of charity rather than citizens whose wrongs have to be righted.” This situation, according to Dr. Tsikata, has created fatigue and resistance among the political and bureaucratic classes and the general population towards affirmative action programmes.

The paper mentioned some affirmative action policies taken in the country to include the reservation of 10 seats in Parliament for women, measures to promote participation of women in certain professions, scholarship schemes for the three northern regions, fee-free education among other in the 1970s and recently, girls’ education policies as well as lower cut-off point for girls in tertiary education, reserved places for deprived districts, science clinics for girls and school feeding programmes.

According to the paper, although affirmative action has chalked up some successes in the country, it also faces challenges such as limitation of such policies to local government and executive appointments and also how to establish in the public mind that while affirmative action is necessary, it is not sufficient to achieve gender equity in political representation.

She proposed that women, through coalitions such as the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, can present an agenda for constitutional and electoral reforms when the need arises, and this she said, would involve changing the political system to one of proportional representation. Dr. Tsikata further affirmed earlier demands on political parties to use quota systems to increase women’s participation in elections, saying that this will be more effective than a voluntary quota system as is presently being used.

She also recommended that with regard to political party financing, parties which expected to enjoy public financing should be made to adhere to a mandatory quota system.

It further called on women groups to consider setting up a fund as well as establishing a League of Women Voters to promote gender consciousness among women voters as a strategy for making women voters count.

According to Dr. Tsikata, a programme of action, which will help put affirmative action on the public agenda, should include analysing the opposition to the affirmative action in order to identify different forces and their concerns, engaging with the media to generate public dialogue, engaging with political parties, the Electoral Commission, the Commission, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to organise public consultations and hearing, drawing up a programme with clear realizable demands and a strategy for implementation and finally strengthening the capacities of civil society groups to wage successful campaign for affirmative action and monitor the implementation of affirmative action provisions.

Women, Peace and Security: Actualising UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Sierra Leone

Pathways West Africa Hub is launching a research project to monitor and evaluate the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 in post-conflict Sierra Leone, this week. The research will critically analyse the activities and programmes of all stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the resolution and make necessary recommendations to push the process forward. See the full news report in the Awareness Times, published on 6 May 2009.

Women’s Coalition urges action on Domestic Violence, Disability Laws

Women’s Coalition urges action on Domestic Violence, Disability Laws
The Ghanaian Times, Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Page 11
By Times Reporter

A coalition of non-governmental organisations advancing women’s right issues in the country, has urged the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) and Employment and Social Welfare to expedite action on the implementation of the Disability Action Act and the Domestic Violence Act, to help address specific concerns of women.

The NGOs are Network for Women’s Rights (NETRIGHT), the Coalition for Women’s Manifesto in Ghana (WMC) and the Coalition on Domestic Violence in Ghana (DV Coalition).

The coalition made the appeal when a delegation of NGOs called on the Minister for MWAC, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, in Accra.

Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, who led the delegation, also stressed the need for effective management of the oil find to promote gender equitable development in the country. Dr Mensah-Kutin said the NGOs were committed to advancing the cause of women in the country, and therefore there was need to collaborate with the ministry in that regard.

Ms Dansua thanked the group for the visit and assured them that the government was committed to implementing its plans for gender development, saying, “The government had already shown commitment by implementing the Disability Act and by also setting the Disability Council.”

Ms Dansua said the ministry would work assiduously to ensure that gender issues were mainstreamed in all aspects of governance.

Emma Sintim-Only female driver in Parliament

Emma Sintim-Only female driver in Parliament
The Mirror, Saturday, March 14, 2009 (Mirror News) Page 34
Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

“What a man can do, a woman can do better.” This saying has been the cardinal principle of genders activists, who have for some time snot, been pushing issues about women to the fore and putting in programmes to ensure females rub shoulders with their male counterparts. Now, women are seen doing work which was hitherto considered as the domain of men due to the increasing awareness and encouragement by the government and the civil society about how far women can go in life, only if they could shelve the ancient mentality that the woman’s place is only in the kitchen.

When I first saw 48-year old Emma Sintim hanging around the Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben South, Ms Beatrice Bernice Boateng, I though she may be one of those people who trooped to Parliament daily to seek assistance from their MPs.

Little did I know that Madam Sintim was the driver of that female MP. I became curious since all the drivers I had seen MPs over the years were men. How can a female MP be driven by a female driver? That is the question that was asked by a friend I was chatting with. Without waiting for an answer, he exclaimed, “This is real empowerment of women. Soon women will overtake us by the storm.”

Madam Sintim told The Mirror that she learnt driving in 1990 from her late husband and now she is reaping the benefits of her efforts.

The driver, who said she was the Market Queen of the Koforidua Dwaben Serwaa Market, said she had known the MP for the past two years. “I started driving her during the campaign period and I was happy upon winning the election, she decided that I should continue to be her driver.”
Being the only female driver among over 200 drivers chauffeuring the country’s legislators Ms Sintim feels proud to be part of the few Ghanaian women who have taken jobs considered to be men’s preserve.

She is a proud mother of two girls, one of whom has completed the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and is currently working at the Presbyterian Press in Accra. The other one is currently pursuing higher academic laurels in engineering in China.

She expressed her gratitude to Ms Boateng for giving her the opportunity to have a feel of how Parliament is operated and called on supporters of the various political parties not to consider their political opponents as enemies because she realized that Members of Parliament (MPs) were friends rather than enemies. “What I have seen in Parliament surprises me since the relationship among the various parties is cordial and are always seen eating and chatting together after they have finished performing the day’s parliamentary duties,” she noted.

On why she chose a female to be her driver, Madam Boateng said since the Beijing Declaration of affirmative action, women had been employing a number of tactics to practicalise women and gender issues. She explained that in terms of job opportunities, women were less privileged to secure jobs, saying that it was, therefore, an opportunity to reduce unemployment among women in the country. Madam Boateng noted that women were very careful in every field of endeavour they found themselves in, adding that, that explained why women were not normally involved in accidents.

“My gesture is also a ways of saying thank you to women in New Juaben South Constituency, who overwhelmingly endorsed my candidature in addition to encouraging women to strive to achieve higher laurels in all fields of endeavour, “ she said.

A Parliament Misses Women

A Parliament Misses Women
Daily Graphic, Tuesday, March 17, 2009. Page 9 (Features)

Leigh S. Ranck

The elections in December have brought about change, some good and some bad. The bad news is that the number of women in the Parliament has been reduced from 25 to 20 out of the 230 seats in Parliament. The good news is, of course that for the first time in the history of Ghana, a woman is Speaker. Retired Supreme Court Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo holds such a powerful position in Parliament.

“Any elevation of women into position of power and leadership must be celebrated,” Senior Porgamme Officer for ABANTU for Development, Hamida Harrison said. “We all look at them and say we can all get there, but we recognize that one woman cannot make a difference.”
Like most countries, women make up 50 per cent of the population of Ghana, but women represent only nine per cent of members of Parliament, down from 11 per cent in the 2004 Parliament.

Many women groups are calling for this to change. Like ABANTU for Development, the Regional Inter-sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET) called for Parliament and President John Evans Atta Mills, to ensure that women have equal opporunit to serve in their government in a press briefing in early February.

Only 102 women ran for seats in Parliament according to ABANTU. That is almost have the 230 seats available. However, only 20 women won seats. “We (ABANTU) advocate for policies that are gender sensitive,” Ms Harrison said. “We focus mainly on district assemblies. They offer more space [for women] because they have about 5000 seats within the local government compared to 230 [in Parliament].”

District Assembly seats are more interesting to women, because it allows them to stay close to their families and still run the household, according to Harrison. When women win seats in Parliament, they are forced to move away from their families to Accra. This is especially important to women from farther away regions up in the North and West.

The Upper West Region suffers from a serious lack of representation of women. Women make up 52 per cent of the Upper East Region’s population but it has had very few women in commanding roles in Parliament. They have had two deputy ministers, only one district chief executive and one presiding member.

“There has never been a woman regional minister for the Upper East Region and only few women have been in assemblies,” Dr. Daud James Abang-Gos, Chairman of RISEGNET said at the press briefing. “This does not ensure equitable development.”

To combat unequal representation of women in government, in 1960, the Representation of the People’s bill or Women’s Members Bill was passed. It required 10 seats be set aside for women representatives. Almost 50 years later, only 10 more seats have been won by women. “Looking at the cases of other countries, studies have shown that where quota systems have been used, women’s participation in government has increased dramatically,” Ms Harrison said.

Thirty of the world’s 190 countries apply some form of quota for women in government. The African National Congress in 1994 as well as others institutions such as the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 and Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), agreed to have women’s representation at 30 per cent in all forms of government.

Some issues can only be raised and solved by women according to Ms Harrison. That’s why they are called women’s issues. Issues like child care, school fees and birth rights are issues that are important to women. “Policies have different impact on women and men,” Harrison said. “If women are not there, they cannot say whether the policy is gender sensitive.”

ABANTU has a mentoring programme for young girls so that they realize that they too can be involved in government. “Politics is our lives, we can’t leave it to other people. We must make conscious effort to direct the minds of the young people back to politics,” Ms Harrison said. “We have grown up believing that policy making is a man’s job.”