By: Fred Yaw
Sarpong
As
part of celebrating International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8, 2017, the
Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has called on the
government to honour various campaign commitments made to Ghanaian women as
captured in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) party’s manifesto.
The
institution called on the government to ensure the passage of the Affirmative Action
Bill as early as possible.
It
called on the government to “appoint over 30% women as Chief Executives in the
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs); reactivate and
strengthen the Gender desks at all Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs),
MMDAs to give more recognition and focus to women and gender issues in the
design and implementation of public policies and programs.”
The
think-tank body said the day was celebrated under the theme: “Be Bold for
Change” and it presented a unique opportunity for government and all
well-meaning Ghanaians to reflect on challenges, including cultural and
traditional factors that impede progress towards women inclusion in public
life.
The
CDD-Ghana also mentioned that government must ensure that the Ministry of
Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) and the National Commission for
Civic Education (NCCE) are well-resourced to engage in public education on some
of the practices that are an affront to the progression of women and girls empowerment.
The
Center urges the new government to fulfill all campaign commitments made to
Ghanaian women as captured in the party’s manifesto which include: appointment
of women to at least 30% of available public positions, set aside 50% of
Microfinance and Small Loans Centre MASLOC funds for female applicants, and
reintroduce and enforce the administrative directive on the Reservation of 30%
of poverty alleviation/credit funds of Municipal/Metropolitan/District
Assemblies (MMDAs) to service women’s enterprises. In addition, CDD-Ghana urges
the government to:
“CDD-Ghana
wishes to specifically mention the incidents of child marriage which is gaining
prominence, particularly in the three regions in the north. Available
information suggests that in Ghana, 1 in 4 women (27%) married before the age
of 18,” CEE-Ghana stated.
It
said as Ghana marked International Women’s Day, “it is important that Ghanaians
evaluate the success (or otherwise) of our collective efforts to advance the
course of women and girls in this country.
According
to CDD-Ghana “without a doubt, some progress has been made in this endeavour;
we note that women are breaking barriers and excelling in areas initially
believed off limits. Yet, more efforts are needed to create opportunities for
women to be in public decision making positions and to tap the potential and
competencies of women to promote inclusive society.”
The
CDD-Ghana noticed with regret that the 4th Republic has not seen appreciable
representation of women in the governance structures, particularly the
Legislature. Although, women form more than half of the population and
significant steps have been taken by relevant stakeholders to empower and
mobilize women for elective positions, the results have been unsatisfactory.
“In
this current Parliament, the women representation saw a marginal increase from
10.9% to 13.5% as compared to 86.5% male representatives. This is unacceptable
for a country that prides itself as a leading example of democratic good
governance in Africa.”
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