Government’s Affirmative Action Policy lauded

Daily Graphic, Pg 6, Sat. Feb. 21/09

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho & Cara Fanning

THE National Programme Co-ordinator for Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), Ghana Chapter, Ms Bernice Sam, has lauded the government’s commitment to revise, adapt and implement the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Affirmative Action Policy for Women of 1998.
She also said the President’s disclosure that the government would incorporate the key demands of the ‘Women's Manifesto of Ghana’ into that policy, was also laudable.
Reacting to the issues that were raised in the first State of the Nation Address by President John Evans Atta Mills, Ms Sam said, "He's not only given us a response, he has announced to the nation that they will implement the affirmative action policy".
She, however, warned that a lot of hard work still needed to de done towards the attainment of the goal, stressing that "Affirmative Action has to be understood by the people of Ghana".
She also said there was the need for collaboration between civil society organisations and the government to achieve gender equality, and indicated that, “This is where WiLDAF would position itself”.
The Women's Manifesto is a document developed by ABANTU for Development, in consultation with various non-governmental organisations, which makes demands around 10 critical areas of concern in order to promote women's rights.
The NDC formulated an Affirmative Action Policy in 1998 before it was voted out of power in 2000, and the policy seeks to promote the equality of women through increasing their access to education, increasing the number of female politicians, addressing negative socio-cultural practices and discrimination against women and promoting legislation to protect the dignity of women and provide conditions for their advancement.
Ms Sam says WiLDAF still has a lot more concerns that have been presented to the President for his purusal, saying that women's economic empowerment and the current treatment of some elderly women who are accused of witchcraft in the northern regions are still issues that need to be addressed.
The Convenor of the Women's Manifesto Coalition of Ghana, Ms Hamida Harrison, who was also interviewed on the President’s State of the Nation Address, said she was "so happy" there was a commitment to look into these documents.
She said, however, that there was still the need for the government and civil society groups to open up and dialogue through an entry point, probably the Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs.
In a related development, Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho reports that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuem, Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, in an interview after the address, said the gender policy of the NDC government, as outlined by the President in his address, was nothing new.
According to her, the past administration had already established gender units in the districts under the Department of Women and, therefore, the President’s statement that the NDC would establish gender units in all district assemblies was ‘a non-starter’.
She, however, said that the issue of resourcing the women's ministry was a positive step, as according to her, the ministry's budget was small and, therefore, increasing it would enable them to work more to promote gender equality.
She was, however, of the conviction that people would know how committed the government was about ensuring gender equity only when the budget was read, saying that "it was easier said than done".
According to Mrs Kusi, since women and children formed the majority of the country's population, the bulk of monies allocated ended up going to them, but said the issue was how to ensure that the monies were judiciously used.