Women’s participation in radio discourse dips in Ghana

A monitoring report on the level of involvement and participation of women in public discourse on radio in Ghana shows a 10% reduction from December 2013, despite efforts by government and non-governmental organisations to improve gender equity at all levels.

The report, compiled by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) for the month of June 2014, shows that out of a total of 2,172 people who featured on programmes monitored, 1,813 (83%) were men with only 359 (17%) being women.

The report also shows that out of the 24 radio stations being monitored under the project, Bolga-based Radio Gurune and Nsawam-based Fawe FM featured the least number of females on their programmes.

With regard to political party affiliates who featured on the programmes, the ruling NDC recorded relatively higher women discussants than the other political parties.

The monitoring of women’s involvement and participation in media discourse in Ghana forms part of activities under the West Africa Human Rights and Democratisation Programme by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and its partner, Foundation for Security Development in Africa (FOSDA) with funding from IBIS-Ghana.

The project is aimed at positively influencing gender policies and practices among media organisations and political parties in Ghana.