Women’s group urges government to institutionalise Affirmative Action Law

The Kaana Manga Women Association, a women’s group in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region, has called on the government to as matter of urgency take steps to institutionalise and make operationalise the Affirmative Action Law.

The group called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to facilitate the process to ensure that the law and policies regarding its implementation were integrated into state and non-state agencies.

According to the women’s group, it was only through this means that the realisation of the passage of the affirmative Action Law could make real impact in bridging the gender gap and attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of all-inclusiveness.   

Mrs. Florence Bobi, the Chairperson of the Group, made the call during this year’s International Women’s Day held in the Navrongo on the theme “Accelerate Action for Gender Equality.”

It was organised by Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAM), a gender focused non-government organisation (NGO), with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Germany Embassy of Ghana.

While commending the government for the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law, Mrs. Bobi said there were still a lot left to be done to empower more women.

She said there must be a policy directive from government to all state and non-state agencies to ensure that many women just like men were appointed to managerial positions.

“As it stands now though there have been some appreciable gains in terms of gender but most of our state institutions including the education sectors are predominantly men. This we need policy directive to break this negative trend,” she stressed.

Mrs. Anastasia A Musah, a member of the group who doubled as an Assemblywoman, said the Kaana Manga Women Association had been engaging in series of sensitisation programmes through radio programmes and outreaches aimed at reforming certain negative cultural practices that impeded the growth and development of women and children.

She mentioned parental neglect on the part of many men as one of the major problems confronting the wellbeing of the girl-child, stressing, that, “many teenage pregnancies in this area can be attributed to this canker.”

Emmanuel Atiiga, the Executive Director of OLAM, commended the Kaana Manga Women Association for their numerous advocacy programmes on gender issues and stated cited that their advocacy also contributed to the passage of the affirmative action bill into law.

He, however, challenged the group to step up their campaign in encouraging more women and building their capacity to offer themselves to serve Mother Ghana and not to shy awayfrom the service.

Source: GNA

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