A Ghana News Agency feature By Dzifa Azumah
Accra, July 26, GNA - The statistics are cold. There are only nine women holding ministerial and deputy ministerial positions in the present government against 68 men.
There is only of one woman Deputy Regional Minister in the 10 Regions and there are only 19 women parliamentarians in the 200-member House.
This worrying trend and open gender inequality in the society is what women groups and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) with gender bias have targeted to change in Election 2004.
And they have support. The call for women to enter politics has been greeted with such enthusiasm that individuals and benevolent organisations have sponsored some women to register and contest ongoing primaries of the political parties.
Despite the marginal eight per cent increase in the number of women, who contested the last local government elections, there has been no significant change in the political fortunes of Ghana's women. However, they agree that it is at least a change that could develop into greater numbers in the forthcoming elections in December.
Mrs Joana Adzoa Opare, National Co-ordinator, United Nations System Programmes for Promoting Gender Equality in Ghana, said the gap was still big because only a few women as compared to men reached higher educational levels.
She said over the years, women had been made to believe that men were those to take decisions, be it at home, the work place, or at the national level.
They have not reached the top because they believe in stereotypes that some positions are the preserve of men. "As a nation, we have not changed, though affirmative action is gradually being accepted," Mrs Opare said.
There are a number of constraints that have inhibited the progress of women over the years. These problems are threefold - culture, policies and laws and institutions.
Culturally, women are regarded as supporters of their male counterparts. Their roles are limited to taking care of the home, bearing children and engaging in small businesses. Whenever there is a major decision to be taken, it is done by the men, be it a father, husband or brother.
These structures have intentionally or unintentionally been incorporated into most institutions since the colonial era resulting in women finding themselves in low-ranking positions, such as administrative clerks and typists.
Mrs Opare said a lot of Ghanaian women valued marriages, so they were not willing to offend their spouses by engaging in politics, which would seem like power sharing when they got to their homes. She said a few women occupied top positions in some work places, but was quick to add: "These women have had to work very hard to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they are capable of occupying such positions."
Ms Juliana Dogbadzi, a Women's Right Activist and the 1999 Reebok International Human Rights Award Winner, said in as much as women would have wished to be in politics, there were hindrances.
"There are a number of factors that do not help the present call for women to enter politics, even though, enthusiasm is very high; in fact the highest in Ghana's political history. It is just that the women have not been prepared well enough to stand up to the challenge," she said.
Ms Dogbadzi, who is also the President of Survivors For Change, a women's right advocacy group based in the Volta Region, sees a few reasons for this yawning gap.
"The educational and economic inequality between men and women is too wide and the importance of finance in African politics has made it very difficult for women to stand toe-to-toe with men in politics."
The Government has established a Women and Children's Ministry and appointed a woman, Mrs Gladys Asmah, as the Minister. In fact, this is the first time in the history of Ghana's politics that a separate ministry for women's affairs has been established but the question is whether this has led to any significant change.
The Ministry has embarked upon a nation-wide programme not only to create the needed political awareness in women but also to empower them economically by introducing a micro-credit scheme, the Poverty Alleviation Fund, which is aimed at stopping the over-reliance of women on their husbands.
A document from the Ministry made available to the Ghana News Agency stated that the Ministry had so far disbursed a total of over 36.1 billion cedis in the form of credit and agro-processing machines.
A number of NGOs and professional women bodies like the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana have also launched programmes to assist women by training them in skills necessary to enter politics and other decision-making arenas.
Among the NGOs working to give women the much needed power to push more of them to the very top is the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), which is building the capacity of women, who have shown interest in politics and those, who actually contested the August, 2002, Local Government elections.
According to Mrs Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, former Executive Director of CEDEP, the inability of women to go into governance in Ghana had led to serious political and developmental gaps in the nation's economy. "The low level of women in politics in Ghana means that the majority of the populace is not participating in decision-making," said Mrs Amekudzi. Slightly over 51 per cent of the 18 million population of Ghana is female.
"Women's participation in local governance and for the overall development of the nation is very vital. The overwhelming difference made by capable women in leadership positions at all levels validate the need to support women who have given themselves for election to political positions," Mrs Amekudzi said.
This success, it is hoped, would embolden other women to go for elective positions in the future to change the notion that politics is for men.
"Men have ruled this planet since the beginning of time but all we have seen is war, abuse, poverty and pain with women and children bearing the brunt," Ms Lydia Haddad, a Liberian Refugee in Ghana, said angrily, when GNA asked her to comment on the role of women in governance.
Yes, it is time that women were given a chance to nurture, soothe and nurse the nation of all its pains, anxiety and worries.
A Ghana News Agency feature By Dzifa Azumah
Accra, July 26, GNA - The statistics are cold. There are only nine women holding ministerial and deputy ministerial positions in the present government against 68 men.
There is only of one woman Deputy Regional Minister in the 10 Regions and there are only 19 women parliamentarians in the 200-member House.
This worrying trend and open gender inequality in the society is what women groups and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) with gender bias have targeted to change in Election 2004.
And they have support. The call for women to enter politics has been greeted with such enthusiasm that individuals and benevolent organisations have sponsored some women to register and contest ongoing primaries of the political parties.
Despite the marginal eight per cent increase in the number of women, who contested the last local government elections, there has been no significant change in the political fortunes of Ghana's women. However, they agree that it is at least a change that could develop into greater numbers in the forthcoming elections in December.
Mrs Joana Adzoa Opare, National Co-ordinator, United Nations System Programmes for Promoting Gender Equality in Ghana, said the gap was still big because only a few women as compared to men reached higher educational levels.
She said over the years, women had been made to believe that men were those to take decisions, be it at home, the work place, or at the national level.
They have not reached the top because they believe in stereotypes that some positions are the preserve of men. "As a nation, we have not changed, though affirmative action is gradually being accepted," Mrs Opare said.
There are a number of constraints that have inhibited the progress of women over the years. These problems are threefold - culture, policies and laws and institutions.
Culturally, women are regarded as supporters of their male counterparts. Their roles are limited to taking care of the home, bearing children and engaging in small businesses. Whenever there is a major decision to be taken, it is done by the men, be it a father, husband or brother.
These structures have intentionally or unintentionally been incorporated into most institutions since the colonial era resulting in women finding themselves in low-ranking positions, such as administrative clerks and typists.
Mrs Opare said a lot of Ghanaian women valued marriages, so they were not willing to offend their spouses by engaging in politics, which would seem like power sharing when they got to their homes. She said a few women occupied top positions in some work places, but was quick to add: "These women have had to work very hard to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they are capable of occupying such positions."
Ms Juliana Dogbadzi, a Women's Right Activist and the 1999 Reebok International Human Rights Award Winner, said in as much as women would have wished to be in politics, there were hindrances.
"There are a number of factors that do not help the present call for women to enter politics, even though, enthusiasm is very high; in fact the highest in Ghana's political history. It is just that the women have not been prepared well enough to stand up to the challenge," she said.
Ms Dogbadzi, who is also the President of Survivors For Change, a women's right advocacy group based in the Volta Region, sees a few reasons for this yawning gap.
"The educational and economic inequality between men and women is too wide and the importance of finance in African politics has made it very difficult for women to stand toe-to-toe with men in politics."
The Government has established a Women and Children's Ministry and appointed a woman, Mrs Gladys Asmah, as the Minister. In fact, this is the first time in the history of Ghana's politics that a separate ministry for women's affairs has been established but the question is whether this has led to any significant change.
The Ministry has embarked upon a nation-wide programme not only to create the needed political awareness in women but also to empower them economically by introducing a micro-credit scheme, the Poverty Alleviation Fund, which is aimed at stopping the over-reliance of women on their husbands.
A document from the Ministry made available to the Ghana News Agency stated that the Ministry had so far disbursed a total of over 36.1 billion cedis in the form of credit and agro-processing machines.
A number of NGOs and professional women bodies like the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana have also launched programmes to assist women by training them in skills necessary to enter politics and other decision-making arenas.
Among the NGOs working to give women the much needed power to push more of them to the very top is the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), which is building the capacity of women, who have shown interest in politics and those, who actually contested the August, 2002, Local Government elections.
According to Mrs Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, former Executive Director of CEDEP, the inability of women to go into governance in Ghana had led to serious political and developmental gaps in the nation's economy. "The low level of women in politics in Ghana means that the majority of the populace is not participating in decision-making," said Mrs Amekudzi. Slightly over 51 per cent of the 18 million population of Ghana is female.
"Women's participation in local governance and for the overall development of the nation is very vital. The overwhelming difference made by capable women in leadership positions at all levels validate the need to support women who have given themselves for election to political positions," Mrs Amekudzi said.
This success, it is hoped, would embolden other women to go for elective positions in the future to change the notion that politics is for men.
"Men have ruled this planet since the beginning of time but all we have seen is war, abuse, poverty and pain with women and children bearing the brunt," Ms Lydia Haddad, a Liberian Refugee in Ghana, said angrily, when GNA asked her to comment on the role of women in governance.
Yes, it is time that women were given a chance to nurture, soothe and nurse the nation of all its pains, anxiety and worries.
