Human Rights of Women
ABANTU for Development and ActionAid-Ghana have called on government and all political parties to ensure that they maintain their respective commitments of promoting increased women's participation in the electoral process.
The two women rights advocacy groups admit that though concrete steps have been taken to address disparities in certain sectors like meeting school enrolment under Millennium Development Goal (MDG3), governments and political parties also have a responsibility of removing disparities between the representation of women and men in decision making relative to the 2012 general elections.
They have thus reminded political parties of their promise of 40% women representation which unfortunately was not achieved and consequently resulted in a decrease in women's representation from 11% in the 2004 elections to the current 8%.
According to Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, Director of ABANTU, "The only way to increase women's representation in Parliament is through affirmative action given the inherent discrimination and inequality in the current political arrangements in the country. We call on government and all political parties to ensure greater opportunities of representation for women in elections 2012."
The progress for increased women's participation and representation in Ghana has been slow. Women have continued to be underrepresented in participation and in decision-making; hence they have been unable to contribute effectively to national issues.
Currently, women constitute 8% of Members in Parliament, which is clearly unreflective of the 51% female population in Ghana.
In an effort to ensure Ghana attains United Nations and African Union goals and enhance the involvement of women in decision making processes, the elections in 2012 offer a huge opportunity.
Consequently, ABANTU with support from Actionaid-Ghana has began media interactions to afford them the opportunity to learn, analyse and exchange ideas on the best practices that will promote gender responsiveness in national processes.
The media's role has been identified as critical in social improvement. Madam Hamida Harisson, Programme Manager of ABANTU, acknowledged the mass media plays a pivotal role in educating and shaping public opinion as well as influencing government policy decisions.
"The media is therefore a natural ally in the work that we are doing and ABANTU wants to see that this collaboration is strengthened by engaging with the media on issues of concern on women's increased participation, greater voice and positive visibility in Election 2012."
She hoped the media interactions would facilitate the exchange of knowledge and broaden opportunities for social advocacy for gender equality in the upcoming elections.
"We believe that equal participation of women and men in decision-making provides a balance that reflects the composition of society and is leverage for integration of equality. We continue to value the critical role of the media and we believe that they can partner us in advocating for more pro-gender policies that can promote increased women's representation in election 2012."