By Rebecca Ekpe
‘’As women, we feel the issues, Women’s Rights is Human Rights”. ABANTU For Development’s Board Member, Mrs. Magdalene Kannae summarizes it all. The conversation about participation and getting voted for in the Local Level Elections has come up again as Ghana readies to go to the polls in 2023 to elect District Assembly Members.
More women because only 36 women are currently Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, in the 260 Districts of Ghana representing about 13% or so. ABANTU For Development is concerned that this is an issue and more importantly, the population of Ghana has more women and so, it is important that the women are also proportionally represented at the decision-making spaces so that their voices can be heard, ‘’the way it needs to be heard’’, ‘’ We are tired of being represented as proxies’’, ‘’Policies do not impact both males and females in the same way, and we do not want people talking about our problems, they do not know our problems’’, Women’s Advocate, Mrs Hamid Harrison stated. She was facilitating a Media Event convened by ABANTU For Development; dubbed ‘’Voting Women into District Assemblies is an investment’’.
With support from the African Women’s Development Fund, AWDF ABANTU For Development brought together Representatives from the Gender Ministry, Policy Makers, Assembly Women, Human Rights Journalists, Civil Society Organizations, among others, to share in its vision in leading the discussing on strategies that would propel the voting for more women into Local Level Elections in Ghana.
According to Grace Ampomaa Afrifa with ABANTU For Development, the conversation about the low numbers of women in Local Level Elections is a gap that has been identified, ‘’hence the need to begin the advocacy early’’.
In 2023 Ghanaians would go to the polls to elect representatives to the 260 District Assemblies of Ghana. Clearly 34 years down the line, into the establishment of a decentralized system in Ghana, it is arguable that the underrepresentation of women at the decentralized levels within Ghana’s political ecosystem remains to be addressed.
ABANTU hopes to shore up the numbers this time round. It believes that it is critical to prioritize women’s increased representation in the up-coming elections to ensure that democracy functions effectively, by including all views in the decision-making processes.
‘’We have started mobilizing women to begin mapping, mobilizing and training ahead. We are heightening and widening the vices within the media space ahead of the District Level Elections’’, ‘’Let us begin to encourage more women to participate in the process to propel development within our communities’’, Grace Ampomaa asserted.
“The 2019 Statistics show that less than 5% of women are occupying the District Assembly positions, this is abysmally low’’, Madam Harrison described the situation. She stated that women have signed onto various protocols at the international level that demand more action regarding participation of women in public life.
In Health, Education, Informal Sector, Health, ‘’Women are everywhere’’, and there is the need for them to contribute to the decision-making processes.
‘’As women we feel the issues’’, Local Government discusses issues about bread and butter and women are the best placed to discuss the issues.
“We will, they will, and we can and together we can contribute to the ABANTU For Development has a case “Women are necessary and a sound investment in the local governance processes if Ghana is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’’, SDGs which we signed and ratified in 2015, ” says Madam Kannae.
Also, Ghana made commitments internationally including ‘’Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action’’.
“If women are effectively involved, it will guarantee that their and children’s specific interest and needs will be addressed in the local development processes. Their participation will also promote accountability and community ownership of development initiatives, therefore ensuring sustainability, ” according to ABANTU Board Member, Mrs. Kannae.
