By Helena Selby
The fight for the rights of women is not recent, but begun years ago. Society on realising the way women were always being under rated, brought about the fight for women to be heard, and allowed to partake in important decisions and proposals relevant for the development of society.
Even though the fight and plea of women to be heard in society has been going on for decades, the same society still underestimates their abilities and capabilities. Women all over the world, till date, have been fighting for their stand in society, and some have gone to the extent of gaining the position of presidents in their nations, but others keep on fighting, to no avail.
It didn’t just begin with the Beijing Conference in 1995, which brought about the slogan, “What a man can do, a woman can do, and even better,” but a conference held in Mexico. The first world conference on the status of women was convened in Mexico City to coincide with the 1975 International Women’s Year, observed to remind the international community that discrimination against women continues to be a persistent problem in much of the world. Even though these conferences have come and gone, women are still doubted about their ability and capabilities, due to one reason or the other.
Women in Ghana
The fight for women’s rights Ghana has never been a nine-day wonder, but a day to day activity. The aggressiveness of women gaining power compelled many political parties to make promises for women. One might not know the reason, but according to sources, these political parties made their promises due to way women outnumber men in the country.
These political parties are of the notion that if these promises are made, the possibility of women voting for them was high. Irrespective of what society might think, what are women doing for themselves as women? The campaign for women’s rights might go on everyday, but the question is, what is the perception of women about fellow women? The saying that “women are their own enemies,” in one way or the other, seems to be a truism. The majority of women in Ghana and many parts of the world, whether educated or not, shun the fact that their fellow women lead them. According to their reason, women are conceited when they are in power, are kind of too strict, never heed advice, and tend to be very disrespectful to society and their spouses as well, while some people also see a group as being unlucky when it is being led by a woman.
According to Mrs. Gladys Akins, she once decided to buy an item from a nearby store, to her dismay the shopkeeper refused to sell the item to her with the explanation that she is a woman.
According to the reason of the storekeeper, it is bad luck, if a woman is the first to buy from a shop early in the morning, and that she could only sell to her if she waited for a man to come and buy first, or she goes somewhere else. Looking at the scenario of Mrs. Akins and the storekeeper, what is the possibility that a woman will be voted into power during election time? Many political parties have the desire to allow a woman to stand for them in certain constituencies, but fear that they will not be voted for by their fellow women.
Women in the fight for their rights
Irrespective of what some women do to underrate their fellow women, others have thought of the need to allow women’s voices to be heard in society, and continue to fight for their rights. There are a lot of organisations fighting today for women’s rights, but so far ABANTU for Development, through the Women’s Manifesto Coalition and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana, are the two major women’s rights organisations.
They have been championing the cause for Affirmative Action Policy for Women’s Participation in Ghana. In April 2008, WiLDAF Ghana, ABANTU for Development, with sponsorship from Canadian Crossroads International (CCI), organised a roundtable discussion on the “Affirmative Action Now” Campaign.
The objective of this discussion was to enable participants ascertain the status of the Ghana government’s commitment to the implementation of Ghana’s affirmative action and development of an affirmative action policy. This was to enable participants discuss action plans and engage the government towards an affirmative action policy in all sectors, particularly political decision-making. In February 3, 2009, a courtesy call on President John Evans Atta Mills, among other demands, was for the Affirmative Action Policy.
These organisations had always thought that with the promise of the present government in power, their dreams of being represented greatly will be fulfilled, as they were promised 40% women representation in government. However, this dream has been a mirage, as the promise of this present government was not really backed by any documentation, but just a saying. Women in government in Ghana
During the 2008 presidential elections, all the presidential candidates promised to give women a chance to have their portion of percentage in government. The elected president, his Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, promised the women of Ghana of a 40% representation in his government. However, this promise of the President has not come to pass, as women are still being underestimated, when it comes to power in government. According to a research by WILDAF, after five months in power, though appointments for the various government positions have been done, the promise of 40% representation of women in governance has not come to pass.
So far, the Government Economic Advisory Council has a total membership of 10, which is composed of only men. Does this mean that there are no woman economists in Ghana? The Council of State, with a total membership of 25, has 22 men and only three women.
The total number of ambassadors is 32, with 25 men, and seven women. Cabinet Ministers total 19, with 15 as men and four women. Regional ministers are a total of 10, with 9 as men, and only one woman. Proposed way of representing women in government Many a time, there are complaints that women are not very interested in the politics and government appointments, so enough women are not gotten to take certain positions. In view of this, there has been a proposal as to how women will be trained to take an interest in governance. According to Madam Beatrix Allah Mensah, a member of WILDAF, there is the need to revise and implement existing affirmative action measures, including 40% representation of women in public appointive positions. It is as well very important to strengthen the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and its agencies with technical, financial and logistical support, and adopt and implement Gender Budgeting.
Gender-specific provisions need to be incorporated in development strategies with monitorable indicators. Moreover, the government needs to designate special funds from public or state funds, to support programs to increase women’s representation.
Women are to be helped to adequately lobby for public positions, by supporting the development of a core training manual on women’s leadership, commitment to the implementation of political parties commitment to increase women’s presence in politics, re-organize women’s wings to be more integrated into the party structure and adequately resource the women’s wing financially and logistically. Additionally, commit to selecting women to contest a selected number of their safe seats, and support to the development of a training manual for women leadership.
Conclusion
The cry of women is to just to have some kind of say in government, and be given a voice to speak for themselves, and to some extent, for the nation as a whole. It will be a good thing if the present government gives women a chance to prove themselves, by giving them 40% in government. It will be a sign of good governance and democratic rule, if the government in power will give women that chance.
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