Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday praised Parliament for the passage of the Affirmative Action Gender Equity Bill 2024.
They implored President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to expedite action and assent the bill into law, saying its enforcement would not only bridge the nation’s gender divide, but greatly empower and improve the socio-economic livelihoods of women.
The 23 CSOs, which had committed themselves to implementing a gender transformative approach project in the country, said the passage of the bill would also help tackle bottlenecks, inimical to the economic growth and development of women.
They comprised of Abantu, Codac, Swida, WOMEC, PEYORG, WHF, PROLINK, UADA, RUWA, GHACOE, COPIO, WISE, Songtaba, Youth Harvest, SFWE, Pan Africa and other partners.
In a joint statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the CSOs said the country ought to do more to protect and preserve dignity and remove activities that fight the rights of women and prevent them from achieving their full potential, including taking leadership positions.
As part of such needful efforts, Plan International Ghana and Canada with funding from Global Affairs Canada is supporting the 23 CSOs towards the implementation of the “Women Voice and Leadership” in the country which had traveled from 2019 with remarkable gains.
“Another key operational concept about the action was also geared towards removing activities that fight against the rights of women thereby preventing them to achieve their full potentials, including taking up leadership roles.”
“It will therefore be most appropriate for the President to assent to the Affirmative Action Gender Equity Bill into a proper law to guarantee women in leadership positions and help recognize women’s political participation as an essential ingredient of democratic culture and social justice,” the statement indicated.
“In fact, Ghana had legislated an Affirmative Action Act-the Representation of Peoples Act of 1959-which allows 10 women unopposed to represent the administrative regions of the country and time has come for all social groups to remain resolute and rally solidly behind actions aimed at protecting the rights of women and other vulnerable groups,” it added.
The Affirmative Action Gender Equity Bill 2024 has been in and out of the Parliament since 2011 and parliament has received applause from CSOs and feminist and human rights groups in the country since its passage.
Awaiting to become a law by Presidential assent, the law is expected to ensure that a critical number of women hold key positions in governance, public life, and decision-making spaces, thereby improving the lives of women in the country.
The bill also seeks to encourage efforts towards addressing socio-cultural, political, economic, and educational gender imbalances in private and public sectors, per Clause 4 of Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution.
It consists of 34 clauses and six schedules, seeks a 50/50 per cent representation and participation of both women and men in governance, public positions of power, and all decision-making processes of the state.
