Enhancing the status of Women

Enhancing the status of Women
-Ghana’s efforts over the years
Daily Graphic, Thursday, August 7, 2008. Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Salome Donkor

THE launch of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Combined Reports on Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in Accra, recently provided a forum for the enumeration of measures taken over the years to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the country.

The reports cover the period 1993 to 2003 and highlight progress made over the decade in achieving gender equality, as well as challenges and efforts being made by the government towards the realisation of women’s empowerment, equality, equity and sustainable development. It is being disseminated to all stakeholders who have a role in the implementation of the Convention.

The first section of the reports provides an update on Ghana’s socio-economic and political environment. It also discusses the position and status of women in Ghana since the submission of the first and second reports in 1991 and 1992, respectively.

The reports further evaluates what was achieved with regards to the implementation of the “ Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for Promoting the Advancement of Women”, and “ The Platform For Action” adopted after the Beijing Conference.

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) submitted the combined report, which was considered by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in August 2006.

State parties are enjoined under provisions of CEDAW to submit periodic reports to the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women and the three reports provided additional information on questions and issues raised in the report and offers a lot of issues for discussion.

The compilation of the report and other related documents of Ghana’s implementation of CEDAW has been made possible through the support and inputs from ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organisations in conjunction with development partners namely, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which provided financial and administrative support.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides a framework for equality of all persons and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender/sex. It promises to protect and promote all human rights and also prohibits all harmful customary practices.

Chapter 5 of the constitution deals with fundamental human rights and freedoms which conform to the international human rights framework. In addition, to the rights accorded to all persons, articles 22 and 27 deal specifically with women’s rights.

The Minister for Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Hajia Alima Mahama rightly pointed out during the launch of the reports that Ghana has made giant strides in the fulfilment of its national, regional and international commitment adding that Ghana demonstrated its commitment and political will by not only signing the convention, but also through the implementation of various strategies with the view of empowering women.

She was reported to have observed that the government and the people of Ghana had demonstrated their commitment to the tenets of the convention by ensuring that the Constitution and other policies and legislation were consistent with CEDAW.

She said sections of the 1992 Constitution, which guaranteed the fundamental human rights of every Ghanaian irrespective of race, place of origin, gender and freedom from discrimination, which she said were conformity with provisions of CEDAW.

In addition to these, the setting up of the National Council on Women and Development, now the Department of Women, after the 1975 Conference on Women, as a national machinery for women, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs in 2001 with a cabinet status, the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill and the setting up of the Women and Juvenile Unit, now the Domestic Violence and victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, are all positive steps adopted over the past decade to enhance the status of women.

The report points to progress made in women’s health, education and economic empowerment, covering the period under review during which Ghana has seen three consecutive terms of constitutional rule. Despite these achievements the reports assert that some challenges remain in the area of politics, administration and medium and large-scale industrial development, while the percentage of illiterate women remains high, as compared to men.

Although some harmful traditional practices, such as widowhood rites and female genital mutilation have been criminalised under the Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), women are still a long way from achieving equality and these practices persist in some communities due to existing stereotyped conceptions of women caused by socio-cultural factors which perpetuate discrimination based on sex.

For instance the reports mention that one of the thorny issues that needs to be dealt with is polygamy, which it said was an entrenched socio-cultural and religious practice that remained a big challenge to legislators and policy makers.

Nana Oye Lithur, the African Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHI) said polygamy was still an issue and explained that sometimes it was difficult to determine who was the wife in a polygamous marriage after the husband with multiple wives, died intestate. She said that also raised a lot of issues in relation to property rights. Nana Oye also said although there had been a lot of interventions since 2006 when the reports were submitted, to address issues of maternal health, mentioning, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the recent introduction of free medical care for pregnant women, the issue of unsafe abortion was still outstanding.

She said people needed to be informed and provided with a comprehensive care to ensure that those who qualified under the law, had safe abortion.

She also mentioned the issue of witch camps in some parts of the country and explained that although it had traditional ramifications, efforts must be made to ensure that women perceived as witches, enjoyed their fundamental human rights, stipulated under the constitution.

Ms Gloria Ofori Boadu, President of the Women Assistance and Business Association (WABA) pointed out that women must be sensitised to encourage and support fellow women who aspire for positions in decision-making.

Ms Ofori Boadu, who contested and lost the Abuakwa South Constituency primaries on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, indicated that although there were no laws in Ghana that bar women from participating in politics or in other areas of economic and social life;the cultural perception of women as inferior to men has been a major hinderance to women in politics and public life.

She said after all these years of advocacy, it was unfortunate for some people to think that women who got to decision-making positions would relegate their traditional roles to the background.She said there was still the need for increased women’s participation in decision-making at the district level, ministries, department and agencies since they formed about 52 per cent of the country’s population.

The reports also mentioned financial constraints to ensure wide publicity of the convention, for example, translation of articles of the convention into local dialects and incorporation of articles on the convention into the laws of Ghana.

They therefore stressed on the need for all stakeholders, as well as the international community to do more to support the implementation of all articles of the convention to enable the nation achieve the aspirations of gender equality, development and peace.

Promote Women’s role in Politics

Promote Women’s role in Politics
Daily Graphic, Thursday, August 7, 2008. Page 23
Daniel Nkrumah

The Director of the West Africa Regional Office of ABANTUA for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, has urged political parties to play an active role to promote affirmative action policies to increase women’s involvement in politics.

She said by virtue of the fact that political parties had control over nomination processes, it was critical that such a request was put on their doorstep.

In a presentation at the Third Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue, Dr. Mensah-Kutin noted the low level of women representation in Parliament had been identifies as having implications for their well being and their ability to change the culture, practices and outcomes of politics of the country.

“The evidence seems to suggest that even tough civil society organisations are pushing the political parties to focus on the real issues confronting this nation, it does not seem that a gender responsive politics of inclusion, with all the complexities is emerging,” she stated.

She added that in as much as there had been enhanced awareness and discussions of issues of women participation in politics, the political landscape still does not seem to be moving in the direction where concrete actions were being put in place to guarantee that “critical mass” in the political space.

“It is a fact that active presence in terms of numbers may not necessarily transform national politics. But evidence from other countries shows that it can enhance the visibility of women as a minimum condition for addressing gender-power relations within the public decision-making processes over a period of time,” she noted.

She added that the move towards a more equitable and gender responsive governance system had to consciously involved women at all levels.

Dr. Mensah-Kutin stated that the continuous engagement with social, political and economic decision making was critical in deepening the direct link between gender and democratic governance.

She noted that although there had been significant changes in family relations, education, work and status, the lot of women had not changed.

She said women in the country continued to face discriminatory practices, in sufficient access to land, and control of resource such as land, capital and technology.

She added that other issues of concern were the treatment of women by the media in terms of ideology, representation and participation; the negative impacts of conflicts on their well being; the incidence of gender violence and the lack of sufficient financial support and commitment for the promotion of gender equality.

“We therefore need to commit to looking at our governance system and how it can be transformed to benefit both women and men on an equitable basis,” she stated.

She said there was also the need to support women who were active in politics and work with political parties “to promote a transformatory agenda that questions patriarchal authority, promotes women’s rights and moves toward the vision that builds solidarity and also mobilises and advances a gender responsive and inclusive democratic system.”

Hearing Women’s Voices in Politics

Hearing Women’s Voices in Politics
- WiLDAF takes initiative
Daily Graphic, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Page 11 (Gender and Children)
Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah and Gifty Appiah-Adjei

Barely five months away, Ghanaians will go to the polls to elect a President and 230 parliamentarians to be in charge of the country’s decision-making.

However, the issues of low participation of women in decision-making have been of critical concerns to women and civil society organisations.

Available statistics indicate that women occupy only 25 (11 percent) out of the 230 seats in Parliament, comprising 20 females from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and five from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

At the district assembly level, women constitute 10 percent of assembly members, while in Public Service, there are only five female chief directors as against 30 male chief directors.

The country also has three female members of the Council of State as against 21 males, four females ministers out of 30 and 14 female deputy minsters out of 49.

The situation has taken a nosedive as already six women out of the twenty five who are currently in Parliament are not contesting in the in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Female MPs such as Ms Anna Nyamekye (Jaman South) and Ms Hilda Josephine Adoo (Kwadaso) lost their bid to come to the next Parliament to males during the primaries, while Mrs Gladys Asmah (Takoradi), Ms Christine Churcher (Cape Coast), Ms Theresah Amerley Tagoe (Ablekuma South) and Mrs Grace Coleman (Effiduase-Asokere), all of whom did not contest during the primaries, have had their slots filled by men.

It will therefore, be a miracle, if women are to maintain the current 11 per cent representation in Parliament, let alone go beyond it.

But all is not lost as there has been a steady increase in the appointment of females in leader positions since 2001. Mention can be made of the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood; the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mrs Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, and recently the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Jane Naana Opopku-Ageymang.

It is against this background that the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and a lot of civil society organisations have stepped up their advocacy to push women issues to the forefront and make sure that women make an impact during the December elections and beyond.

One of such organisations that has [recently] launched a programme [aimed at increasing] the number of women elected into public office and highlighting gender equality and women’s empowerment concerns is the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana.

Dubbed, “We Know Politics: hearing Women’s Voices in Ghana’s 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections,” the programme seeks to connect Ghanaians from all walks of life – including citizens from rural areas, aspiring presidential and parliamentary candidates, women’s rights non-governmental organisations, the media and legal literacy volunteers/paralegals- to ensure that women issues are raised during this year’s campaigning and the next four years.

The project will embark on a national capacity building leadership workshop for 40 leaders of women’s rights organisations and organise 10 regional consultations involving 500 women and gender advocates to include women’s concerns in the elections.

Again, the project will televise a live Women’s Dialogue between presidential candidates and women from all backgrounds across the country, to inform citizens of their civil rights, the roles of their parliamentarians and encourage them to vote for female candidates through public information and awareness activities.

There will also be an encounter with the leaders of the churches who worship on Sundays to impress upon them about the need to cut short their service to enable their members to have time to vote.

The “We Know Politics” project will organise training sessions for 200 legal literacy volunteers/paralegals from all the 10 regions of Ghana to educate citizens at the district and local levels on their responsibilities during the elections and lobby eminent Ghanaians and key media analysts to include gender concerns in election discussions.

The British Department for International Development (DFID) and the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Ghana are sponsoring the project.

Launching the project, a Member of the Council of State, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, stated that there were many issues of concern to women that must be tackled by politicians, the government, the private sector and civil society.

She mentioned some of these concerns as violence against women, health, economic, empowerment and property rights, among others, and noted that these could be addresses when women deliberated on them with one voice.

“I believe that because women’s numbers count during the elections, no politician would want to ignore what women are saying,” she added.

She explained that the collective agenda of women in Ghana was important, since “each one of us has a role to play in ensuring that issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment do not remain only in the books but are realities that transform lives of the very vulnerable in society.”

She called on women to act and not just talk, in order to achieve goals they had set for themselves.

In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, called on women to improve their skills in public speaking, lobbying and communication as these qualities were critical within the political arena.

She advised women in politics not to allow problems such as low education and lack of financial and material resources to be a barrier in their bid to enhance their participation in politics and decision-making.

The Social Development Advisor of DFID, Dr Sonya Sultan, commended Ghana for giving much attention to issues such as girls’ education, women’s health and employment opportunities.

She however expressed regret at women’s participation in politics, explaining that it was not always easy for women to contribute to political debates.

“A robust democracy requires that political debates, especially at a crucial time such as the run-up to the general election include issues of general concern to women in Ghana, who, after all account for half the electorate,” she said.

The Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Lidi Remmelzwaad, expressed hope that the project would help deepen the debate on issues of gender equity and help address the existing imbalance to achieve a more equitable representation of women in all spheres of the Ghanaian society.

House leadership learn about gender issues

House leadership learn about gender issues
The Ghanaian Times, Tuesday, July 15, 2008. Page 4 (News)
Salifu Abdul-Rahaman

The leadership of Parliament is attending a gender training workshop on mainstreaming of gender issues into the work of the House.

The two-day training which started yesterday is being organised by the Office of Parliament with support from the Parliamentary Centre, a Canadian non-governmental organisation.

It is aimed at increasing members’ knowledge and understanding on the concept of gender.

The programme is under the Ghana Parliamentary Committee Support phase two which also aims at strengthening accountability, transparency and participation in parliamentary governance in the country.

Marilyn Aniwa, In-country Coordinator of the Parliamentary Centre, said it is imperative that parliamentarians and the leadership in parliament are conversant with gender challenges so that they would make meaningful contributions to shape policy direction.

She said gender issues are relevant during elections to encourage more women representation in the work of parliament.

Ms Aniwa expressed concern about women representation in parliament adding that some women who were playing key roles in the work of parliament had lost the primaries [therefore were unable] to contest in the December elections.

Mrs Joana Opare, a gender trainer, said it was important for politicians to “put on their gender cap” so that they could plan well with the minted resources to satisfy the needs of the various groups in the society.

She said gender was not an abstract concept but had to do with equal allocation of resources to meet the demands of both females and males.

Training workshop organised for DOVVSU

Training workshop organised for DOVVSU
Daily Graphic, Thursday, July 10, 2008. Page 11 (Gender & Children)

A three-day training workshop has been organised for 35 newly posted staff to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.

A released issued by the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Freeman Tettey, said the course was sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It said that participants were lectured on the rights and protection of children, child abuse, child labour and domestic violence. The release said the other topics were on Interviewing and Counselling of Victims and Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, Children and Juvenile Justice Acts, Investigating Child related cases, Data Management and Coordination of Domestic Violence activities were also taught.

It said the Director-General of the Human Resource Development of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police Mrs Joana Osei Poku, charged DOVVSU staff to discharge their duties towards the public with professionalism. It said that she urged them to ensure that perpetrators of domestic violence were brought to book whilst at the same time offering full protection to all victims of abuse.

The release said Mrs Osei Poku assured that public that DOVVSU would continue to champion the cause against domestic violence and all forms of abuses. It said she entreated the victims and witness to report perpetrators of abuse to the unit.

It said the Co-ordinating Director of DOVVSU, ACP Mrs Beatrice Vib-Sanziri, asked participants to practicalise their newly acquired skills on domestic violence cases. The release said Mrs Vib-Sanziri expressed appreciation to UNICEF for its continuous assistance to the unit particularly in the areas of logistics and capacity building.

It said forms of assistance she believed had brought the unit to this level, winning public confidence to the point of its nomination bas one of the few government institutions to win the presidential award.

It said a child protection specialist with UNICEF, Mr Eric Okrah, emphasised the importance of networking with all service providers in the field domestic violence. The release said he, therefore, asked participants to endeavour to be actively involved in a recently established Child Abuse Network which was aimed at forming a coordinated and comprehensive network for all interest groups and individuals. It said Mr Okrah also emphasised the importance of proper documentation of all domestic violence cases by the unit to enable the trend to be properly monitored and controlled.

It said certificates were presented to the participants.

People at the Textual Analysis Workshop

Textual Analysis Workshop- 9th June, 2008

Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah, Research Assistant-CEGENSA




Anne-Marie Burgeios, Intern- CEGENSA
and the ICT Directorate

Dzodzi Tsikata, Akosua Darkwa and Nana Akua Anyidoho
WE RPC-Ghana researchers
(Left to Right)

Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Team leader
-Changing Representation of Women in Popular Culture Project

Edward Gborgbor, Research Assistant-CEGENSA and Awo Asiedu, Co-team leader
of Changing Representation of Women in Popular Culture Project

(Left to Right)

Akosua Darkwah and Nana Akua Anyidoho

Akosua Anyidoho, Lingusitics Professor and Coordinator of NYU in Ghana

Textual Analysis tutoring session

Photo Credits: Akofa A. Anyidoho

Gender Networks established for MDAs

Gender Networks established for MDAs
The Ghanaian Times, Monday, June 30, 2008. Page 21
Dorothy Ankomah

The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affair (MOWAC) has instituted an Inter Ministerial Gender Network within ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to help improve coordination in mainstreaming gender into all sector policies, programmes and activities.

The sector minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, announced this on Thursday at a one National Information and Sensitisation Seminar on the ECOWAS Gender and Development Centre (EGDC). The seminar was in pursuance of establishing, developing, facilitating and coordinating among others to ensure that matters related to disparities are incorporated within the framework of the objectives of the ECOWAS treaty.

Addressing the gathering, Hajia Mahama said the government in its 2008 budget and economic policy statement asked the ministry and two others to facilitate the processes of achieving gender responsiveness across all sectors. The others are the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) and the Nation Development Planning Commission (NDPC). That, she explained, is to enhance governments’ efforts addressing critical issues relating to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Hajia Mahama said under the micro-credit programme of the ministry, funds are allocated to vulnerable and organised women’s groups on the fringes of subsistence economy. She noted that apart from gender mainstreaming, women’s groups are also mobilised and offered skill training in micro-finance, group dynamics, entrepreneurial skills and bamboo handicrafts.

Hajia Mahama applealed to the Director of ECOWAS Gender and Development Centre (EGDC) to include gender budgeting in its training programme to facilitate the effective achievement of its national goals.

The Action Director of ECOWAS Gender and Development Centre (EGDC), Aminata Dibba, in a speech, said the most fundamental development challenges facing the ECOWAS region have to do with widespread gender disparities and inequalities which she noted underpin the absence of adequate opportunities for women to participate effective in the country. She said though numerous efforts were made over the years the attainment of gender equity and equality as well as the empowerment of women continues to be a challenge to the development process of the ECOWAS region.

Ms Dibba said it is in recognition of the significance of gender equity and equality to sustainable development of that region that ECOWAS Heads of states and governments decided in January 2003 to set up the ECOWAS Gender and Development Centre. She said she its establishment, the ECOWAS Gender Centre has initiated a number of programmes aimed at bringing together stakeholders to identify measure for achieving gender equality within the context of the integration process in the ECOWAS region.