Two International Organisations based in Ghana, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, have reiterated the need to as a matter of urgency pass the Affirmative Action Bill into law.
The Bill seeks to address sectors where women fall short in decision making at all levels of National Development.
At a media launch of Advocacy for the Passage of the Bill, an Executive member of FIDA, Irene Aborchie-Nyahe said refusal to pass the bill violates article 36(6) of the 1992 constitution.
She added that Affirmative Action is a right and must be treated as such.
The Affirmative Action Bill which dates back to the 70s aims at setting the needed measures designed to correct the history of systematic discrimination and exclusion of women in development issues.
There have been calls upon calls by groups, institutions and some individuals to pass the bill into law but that has proven futile though the government keeps assuring women of its passage.
FES and FIDA in this regard have reechoed the importance of the Bill. An executive member of FIDA, Mrs Aborchie-Nyahe said the constitution of Ghana and other conventions have stated categorically that Affirmative Action is a right, therefore it has all the legal backings to be passed into law.
A gender consultant and Former Chairperson of the Affirmative Action Law National working Committee, Mrs Joana Opare gave the benefits of the Bill to the country hence the need to pass it into law.
In a contribution, Manasseh Azure who represented the media on the panel charged the media to champion the course using different platforms to the latter.
An Executive member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA-Ghana, Irene Aborchie-Nyahe says perception that the Affirmative Action Bill is all about women is wrong. She said it’s all about the growth of the country.
Addressing the media in Accra, she emphasised that equal opportunities will help reduce the burden on the next generation. She said that the Bill requires all hands on deck in passing it into law.
