African women celebrated for contributing to dev
July 31 was celebrated as the African Women’s Day, a day declared by the African Union after the first Pan-African Women’s Conference in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1962.
This important date honours the achievements of all African women and offers a platform to reflect on progress towards the recognition of women's rights and gender equality at the political, economic and social level in all the countries of Africa.
It is a day for African women to assert their development and extricate themselves from discrimination, conflicts, violence, illiteracy, poverty and diseases which have sunk deeply through the meat of their progress, and impacted on their development on the continent.
African governments
African governments have signed several commitments for the promotion of women's rights in the last few years, from the adoption of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa by the heads of state of the African Union, in 2004, to the enforcement of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (also known as the Maputo Protocol).
However, two years into the Decade of African Women (launched by the African Union) most of these commitments have not been translated into real achievements for African women.
Women across Africa continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination, sexual and domestic violence, lack of access to education, employment opportunities and economic resources and poor access to reproductive health care.
Decision-making
In terms of women's participation in decision-making today in sub-Saharan Africa, women occupy an average of 19 per cent of seats in national parliaments, marking an increase from 9.8 per cent in 2005 but which is still not enough by any standard of equality.
In Ghana, there are 30 women in the current 275-member parliament.
Women's political under-representation at the national and local level means that their voices are missing in the forums where policies that affect their lives are shaped.
In many countries, women, who hold leadership positions, still face significant barriers and intimidation in a male-dominated political and cultural environment so that their elections rarely translate into the shift in power relations that are necessary to achieve gender equality.
Ministry’s statement
A statement issued by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to mark the event said most of the commitments by African leaders to achieve gender equality had translated into real improvements for African women, including the women of Ghana, pointing out that “the Government of Ghana has over the period made efforts to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment and safer environments through the prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”
It said strengthening the legal and policy framework to promote gender equality has been a key focus of the ministry, adding that an Affirmative Action Bill had been prepared and finalised by the ministry.
The statement, signed by the Technical Advisor on Gender, at the ministry, Ms Dinah Adiko, said presently the Bill had been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Department for consideration. Following that, the Bill would be submitted to Cabinet and all enactment procedures would duly follow.
It also mentioned that the Domestic Violence Regulations, intended to facilitate the effective implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, had been finalised and a consultative meeting had been planned with the Parliamentary Subsidiary Legislation Committee for consideration before it is laid in Parliament for passage.
The statement further indicated that the Human Trafficking Regulations had been finalised and laid before Parliament for approval, while a comprehensive National Gender Policy to serve as a guide to the conceptualisation, implementation and monitoring of gender incorporation, had been developed pending Cabinet’s approval.
Policies and legal framework
“These will add on to existing policies and legal framework that seek to promote the interest and well-being of women, thus fostering a strong legal environment on women’s rights issues”, it said.
The statement said the government continued to make efforts to address discrimination against women in the economic and political spheres, mentioning fostering entrepreneurship and leadership and removing barriers to meaningful engagement and opportunity for Ghanaian women.
It also said Ghana had joined the African Union campaign and fight to end child marriage and all forms of harmful traditional practices, as well as intensive campaign against sexual and gender-based violence in all the 10 regions of the country, to ensure attitudinal and behavioural change.
The expansion of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme has afforded a wider reach of government to women and children living below the poverty line.
Despite these efforts, the statement acknowledged that a number of women in parts of the country continued to be disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination, sexual and domestic violence, limited access to economic resources, among others.
Government’s commitment
The statement reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the advancement of women in all spheres of life and underscored the need for all to come on board to engage and work towards dismantling the systems and structures that condone and propel all forms of violence against women.
The role of civil society and the media is well appreciated and they are encouraged to continue to set gender equality and women’s empowerment issues as a priority and together we shall proudly reach our ultimate goal, the statement concluded.
