Political leaders urged to do more to push women to the top

Accra, March 1, GNA - A women's right activist has described as "tokenism" the practice where political leaders once in a while go out of their way to appoint a woman to head an institution to indicate their commitment to gender equality.

According to Mrs Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, Executive -Director of Ark Foundation, such half-hearted commitment by these leaders should be replaced with a systematic and well-structured programme to elect more women into positions of authority and influence.

She said women, who once in a while found themselves in high positions were often "lonely and without support" to fight the cause of other women.

Mrs Dwamena-Aboagye was speaking to members of the Press after the opening of a weeklong national leadership, human rights and advocacy training workshop for 35 women in Accra.

It was organised by Ark Foundation, an advocacy -based human rights organisation that focuses on women and children.

Mrs Dwamena-Aboagye said Rwanda, a country with a history of conflicts, had 50 per cent of its parliamentarians being women and urged Ghanaian women to strive hard since they had come a long way.

She said government should also see the Domestic Violence Bill as an election issue for this year and get the Bill passed into law.

Mrs Dwamena-Aboagye said the workshop aimed at developing the potential and capacity of young women as leaders to champion the human rights of women.

She said the meeting would also serve as a forum to build alliances and network for mutual support in women's leadership activities.