Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) has urged women groups in Ghana to join forces together to help increase activism aimed at strengthening women’s movements in order to speed up the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill (AA Bill) into law.
According to Programme Manager of NETRGHT Madam Patricia Blankson Akakpo, there is an urgent need to bridge the intergenerational gap between the old and younger folks to help maximise total human resources whilst making collective efforts to speed up the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law.
Speaking at intergenerational dialogue for Affirmative Action (Gender Equality Law) for Ghana by Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) in collaboration with the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition on 30 June 2021 in Accra, Madam Patricia Blankson Akakpo insists: “We need to mobilise supports and increase activism to speed up processes of getting Affirmative Action Bill passed into law”.
Since 2011, the Affirmative Action Bill has been in Parliament but has not been passed into law. Efforts were made to get it passed in 2016 but hit the rock.
Ghana currently has forty (40) women MPs out of 275 lawmakers forcing Women groups to be at the forefront of pushing for urgent legislation to scale up women’s participation in governance.
With 51% of women representing Ghana’s population, there is an urgent need for appropriate law that fuels equal participation of women in all spheres of life.
Dr Charity Binka who delivered a speech on behalf of the Convenor of Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, Madam Sheila Minkah-Premo has urged women’s groups to work together towards the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law.
She noted that the “Affirmative Action Bill has been in the pipeline since 2011 but has not been passed into law. Women need to fully participate in governance”.
According to her, the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition will not relent on its avowed fight to achieve the passage of the bill.
“40 women out of 275 MPS is not too good and we need legislation to scale up the number and improve women part in governance,” she disclosed.
The dialogue seeks to broaden the scope of engagement and understanding among different generations of women and men on how to speed up the process of getting the Affirmative Action Bill passed into law.
Meanwhile, Rector of The Law Institute and Former Chair of CEDAW Lawyer Hilary Gbedemah want roadblocks to the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill removed whilst giving affirmative action oxygen of publicity.
The programme was co-funded by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) under its grant awarded to NETRIGHT for the Ghana Feminist Forum project and the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) project supported by Plan International Ghana with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
Source: Jerry Akornor
