Gender activists discuss women's representation in governance

Prof Manuh (r) with NDC's Mr Adanu and Sussan Adu of CPP

A FORMER Director of the Institute of African Studies, Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, has lamented the low representation  of women in governance.

According to her, women’s representation in governance must be discussed using a bi-partisan approach that would ensure a socialisation process that is a reflection of the democratic society that the country hopes to achieve.

Professor Manuh made the call at the third in a series of Gender Dialogues organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), in partnership with the United  Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women).

The programme, held on the theme, “Strategising for enhancing women’s political participation, the role of political parties”, brought together gender activists, groups, parliamentarians and policy analysts of the four main political parties, as well as officials of the Electoral Commission (EC).

The forum discussed the role of political parties in providing leadership opportunities for women in Ghana, how to address the challenges confronting women who intend to enter politics, and also facilitate advocacy and networking to support female aspirants in Ghana.

She said it was necessary to level the perceived turbulent political landscape to encourage more women to venture into politics.

She also expressed concern about what she described as the vilification, and sometimes, physical abuse of female politicians,  and challenged political parties to take the necessary steps to ensure a level playing field for all candidates irrespective of their gender or tribe.

“The blanket categorisation of women as vulnerable, thus making men better politicians, ought to be addressed to reflect the country’s democratic credentials,” Prof. Manuh said.

She stressed the need for political parties to reserve safe parliamentary seats for female contestants as part of efforts to increase their participation at all levels of the governance process.

A policy analyst with the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, indicated that society tended to appreciate the role of men better in politics due to various factors.

He said political parties were unwilling to reserve safe parliamentary seats for female aspirants, owing to the fact that they were in the political business to win seats, adding that “reserving safe parliamentary seats for women can also create acrimony among political parties in situations where people might go independent”.

The First Vice-Chairperson of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mrs Susan Adu-Amankwah, however, said the major challenges to women’s participation in politics was due to their perceived social status in society and said that it was not by accident that a number of women’s movements had been concentrating on the need to change this perception.

She urged political parties to increase their interaction with the women’s movement and engage them through educational programmes, not only targeted at their members, but the general public.

There were presentations by the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Earlier in his welcome address, a Senior Fellow at the IEA, Brigadier General Francis Agyemfra (retd) , said the ability of nations to make progress in the development of their human resources depended largely on the links between good governance and sustainable human development.

“It is now generally accepted that unless women constitute at least  one-third of the ‘critical mass’ of people in decision-making, their contribution to the governance process would not be felt,” he said. 

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Fri August 3, 2012