WILDAF urges more media promotion for female aspirants

Accra, Dec. 17, GNA - Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) has appealed to the media in the country to endeavour to promote women who are contesting in the District Assembly level elections. This, according to WILDAF, would boost women's participation and representation in political decision making in the country. Interacting with the media on the issue on Thursday, Dr Cherub Antwi-Nsiah, Chairperson of the National Executive Committee, WILDAF Ghana, bemoaned instances whereby a lot of women who had good things to offer their communities and the nation had not had their dreams realised due to little or no media publicity.

"We have instances whereby a lot of women who have good stuff to offer have been left in the cold due to their inability to have access to the media to "propagate their good stories", she said. She urged the media to write about women aspirants as their articles and broadcasts in recent times had created awareness and generated quality national debate on women's participation in politics. "Your role has always been appreciated and we shall continue to acknowledge your work to promote women's participation in politics," she added.

Madam Bernice Sam, National Programme Coordinator, WILDAF Ghana, noted that the interaction with the media formed part of the second phase of WILDAF's "We Know Politics" project which was aimed at increasing women's participation in this year's District Assembly elections. She urged the aspirants to take advantage of the media houses which were currently running programmes for women aspirants free of charge in order to boost their chances of winning in the elections slated for 22 December, 2010.

In an open forum, some participants called on the media to endeavour to promote women's aspirants free of charge as some of them did not have money to pay for publicity. They also urged the media not to exaggerate issues talked about during interviews in their reportage as they tended to stop women from granting them interviews. 17 Dec. 10