Mrs Hamida Harrison, a Steering Committee member of the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition (A. A. Bill Coalition), has called on the Government of Ghana to expedite the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill to hasten Ghana’s journey towards achieving gender equality and sustainable development.

Mrs Harrison observed that, though society may hold different perception about women inclusion, without them there will be no development.

“We may hold different views about women’s right, gender equality, and women’s inclusion in public life but what is very clear is that, without inclusion of women in national development, there would be no sustainable development.”
Mrs Hamida Harrison

Moreover, Mrs Harrison noted that many post 2015 studies and reviews show that, countries that performed poorly in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals did so because of the failure of those countries to pay attention to gender equality.

In addition, Mrs Hamida Morrison stated that the outcome of Ghana’s 2020 elections showed that only 40 women managed to get into the 275 Members of Parliament, a situation which she said, demonstrated the persistence of gender inequality in the country.

“Elections in Ghana have been free and fair but not fair to women in general as only 40 out of the 275 Members of Parliament are women. Leadership must be interested in pushing for a higher number of women into public life and governance in general as women’s low representation negatively affects national development.”
Mrs Hamida Harrison

Furthermore, she asserted that the Affirmative Action Bill was in line with Article 17(4) of the 1992 Constitution and in compliance with Ghana’s international human right obligations. The key ones include: the SDGs – particularly Goal Five, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Declaration, and the African Union Agenda 2063.

Meanwhile, Madam Sheila Minkah-Premo, the Convener of the A. A. Bill Coalition, also noted that the gendered division of labour in the home, patriarchal and patrimonial systems, negative socio-cultural practices and beliefs, education and religious barriers, and the nature of party politics in Ghana contribute to discrimination against women.

She said, the Affirmative Action Law was therefore, needed to remedy the imbalance that exist between men and women in the country and to give both genders equal representation in the public sphere.

Madam Minkah-Premo added that, the Bill sought to promote a progressive increase in the active participation of women in public life from a minimum of 30 per cent to a parity of 50 per cent by 2030 which she said is in line with requirements of the SDGs.

Meanwhile, Minkah-Premo observed that Ghana is far behind in achieving gender equality with regard to leadership in governance and public and private life. She also called on stakeholders and journalists to help make the problem of gender inequality an urgent issue that must be addressed by the Government.

However, Data from Afri-Dev.Info indicates that Rwanda has the highest of 61.3 per cent of women representation in Parliament, Senegal 43 per cent, and Ghana 14. 6 per cent. It is therefore, imperative on Ghana to take a cue from these leading countries if it wants to achieve gender equality.