Source: Ghana News Agency
Mrs Hillary Gbedemah, a Lawyer and Gender Activist, on Thursday stated that women needed to develop “thick skins” as they aspire for leadership positions in society.
She said leadership was fraught with challenges, which women must be ready to confront, to give meaning to the bid to overturn procedures and precepts that hinder women’s quest for decision making positions.
Mrs Gbedemah was speaking at the Volta Regional Consultative Meeting on the Affirmative Action Legislation (AAL) in Ho on Thursday.
She said it was important women corrected the innate wrong perceptions about their capabilities and also change the negative views of others about them.
The Affirmative Legislation Action is an attempt to get a gender neutral legal instrument for some equity in the participation in affairs of the State.
Mrs Gbedemah said the move was in line with the constitution and the many international conventions signed by Ghana.
She explained that the proposed legislation was non-discriminatory, but just another of the national responses, such as that which sought to address the gap in education between the North and the South of Ghana.
Mrs Gbedemah said the Affirmative Action Legislation was seeking to correct the under-representation of women in decision making across all areas including governance, to make decisions reflective of various sections of society.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is the main sponsor of the regional rounds.
Mrs Joana Opare, Chairperson of the Affirmative Action Legislation Committee, observed that culture, tradition and religion had contributed to the exclusion of women from decision making.
She observed that Ghana needed more of the resourceful management abilities of women to enable it develop faster.
Mrs Opare said there might be the need to use the quota system or proportional representation to correct the gender imbalance in politics, which ideally should not be above 60 per cent and not below 40 percent for either side.
Mr Joseph Amenowode, Volta Regional Minister, noted that poverty could persist if women are kept at the fringes of affairs of the State.
He said that was why the Government had continued to offer more women opportunities to serve the nation at all levels.
Mrs Eyra Kpe, Acting Volta Regional Director of the Department of Women, said the regional fora were to make the legislation representative of the aspirations of the people.
Togbe Dadzawa, Paramount Chief of Shia, who presided, suggested that women only should be allowed to stand for elections as parliamentarians at the new constituencies to be created.
Concerns and suggestions raised during an open forum included extending the consultations to the districts, allocating part of the district assemblies’ common fund for girl-child education activities and teaching Affirmative Action issues in schools.
Chiefs, queens, representative of political parties, religious leaders, trade groups, officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, students and a number of public sector workers were at the well attended forum.
