Women’s inclusion in local governance still remains low- ABANTU

Women’s inclusion in Ghana’s decentralised system has remained low despite numerous pledges to international, continental, and regional conventions and agreements.

It is obvious that women constitute the majority of Ghana’s overall population, accounting for 51.3 percent of the entire population.

Despite this majority, women constitute a minority in terms of representation in local decision-making.

Member of the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, Kinna Likimani, expressed this sentiment at the “Mobilising for women’s increased representation in local government elections 2023” press conference in Accra.

This she said, even though women constitute the majority of the country’s population, they are underrepresented in governance.

The patriarchal system, according to MsLikimani, if the media change the narrative and language they used in describing women to the public.

Stressing that, there is the need for all and sundry to add their voices to the advocacy for the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law, because of the persistently low representation of women and marginalization of women at the local level.

Sustainability Manager of Abantu for development, Mrs. Hamida Harrison on the other hand urged MLGRD to endeavour to enforce the 30per cent appointment of women into the district assemblies.

She also urged women to increase their efforts in order to fully compete with their male counterparts.Emphasizing that, parity in women’s participation and appointment should be a core concern in the desire to strengthen democratic culture and also build ideals of good governance.

As the country prepares for local government elections in 2023, Grace Ampomaa, the Head of Programs for ABANTU for Development, also emphasized the importance of mobilizing for women’s increased representation in governance.

According to her, the motivation is to support democracy and afford all possible opportunities for all people to participate in decision-making.

Adding that, the local government system is r required to embrace equal participation as a core approach in order to promote accountability, fairness, justice, and access to national resources.

“ ABANTU is therefore making an early call clarion and demand these Local Government Elections 2023 are undertaken within the overall commitment to gender equality of women and men in order to add value and make use of the diversity of experiences in ways that are democratic and define genuine and equal community ownership,” she stated.

Source: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo/newsghana.com.gh