‘Promote gender-equitable governance’

Daily Graphic. Pg11. Thurs. June 25/09

Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

A Gender consultant, Mrs Dede Bedu-Addo, has called on the media to promote a gender-equitable governance and elections that will be globally adjudged as free and fair.
According to her, “media critics feel that the media have not effectively taken up their responsibility to promote women's political participation”.
Mrs Bedu-Addo made the call at a two-day media sensitisation workshop in Accra which was organised by Women, Media and Change (WOMEC) and supported by ABANTU for development with sponsorship from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
It was on the theme “Promoting greater visibility for women in leadership”.
Mrs Bedu-Addo said that “just as the media have assisted male politicians to gain popularity, they should do the same for women”.
She said the media must recognise the enormity of their assignment and handle it with dexterity and seriousness .
She observed that cultural inhibitions had contributed immensely to women not participating in politics and that gender roles put women at a disadvantage where very often a woman's voting right is subjected to external influences, constraints and domination. Sometimes she is intimidated by her spouse to vote for particular candidates or parties.
She said this was one area where good public awareness and public education could help diffuse some of these inhibitions and reduce the undue domination of women by their male relatives and colleagues.
She observed that generally, African politics placed a lot of emphasis on individual connections and affiliations at the expense of ability and qualification and therefore called on the media to take up its responsibility as 'the fourth estate of the realm' or 'the fourth arm of government'.
She said the media should be at the front pushing for both legislative and constitutional reforms that would give credence to women's participation in politics, without the usual cronyism and nepotism that kept women out.
She also advised women politicians to maintain their contacts with media houses which assisted in their campaign during the 2008 elections.
Mrs Bedu-Addo called on women politicians and the media to also foster a relationship that would be sustained till the next election, and beyond, “if we are to see increased participation of Ghanaian women in governance”.
On increasing women's participation in decision-making through Affirmative Action, Mrs Bedu-Addo said targets had been set for governments which could aid them in addressing the gender imbalance in politics.
Such targets, he said, included the United Nation's 30 per cent representation of women in politics by 2005, government setting up a system of monitoring and evaluating women's participation in politics and decision-making and the development of structures and systems that gave more opportunities to women to be represented in politics.
Other measures she said were making funds accessible to women and persons from marginalised sectors who want to participate in politics, as well as instituting measures that would eliminate structural constraints and ensure a safe and violence-free environment for all women aspiring for public office.