The Forum for African Women Educationalists Ghana (FAWE Ghana), a Non-Governmental organisation, has called on other bodies and the public to support the passage and full implementation of the Affirmative Action Bill.
It said the passage of the bill would ensure equitable representation for women in various spheres of life to enable them to develop their full potential and contribute meaningfully to national development.
Mr Emmanuel Gazari, a Senior Field Officer at FAWE-Ghana, made the call when he addressed Queen mothers and some selected students of St. John’s Integrated Senior High Technical School (SHTS) at Navrongo to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on the theme: “Invest in women, Accelerate Progress”.
It highlights the need to advance diverse forms of investment in women to accelerate progress towards a gender-equal world while channeling resources, support, and opportunities towards women’s advancement.
Mr Gazari said investing in women meant giving them equal opportunities in decision-making in all aspects of development, starting from the household to the highest level of political and economic decision-making processes.
“As much as we recognise the great strides we have made in the fight for equal opportunities for women, we acknowledge that there is still more that need to be done, as current statistics indicate Ghana is doing well in terms of parity at the basic and secondary levels, however, we still have a long way to go at the tertiary level and transition to the job market,” he said.
Madam Edith Aduna, the Assistant Officer, Kassena Nankana Municipal Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit, in a keynote address, said women were not afraid of taking on leadership roles as they had such qualities but the rejection by society was what often silenced them.
Only one woman contested for the position of Assembly member in the just ended District Level election in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, and despite being the only female contestant, she was not elected.
That, she said, demoralised them, and society must begin to assess contestants based on their competence and not their sex.
Madam Ernestina Pwadura Atamona, the Assistant Headmistress of Administration, St. John’s Integrated SHTS, Navrongo, reiterated the importance to invest in women as much as in men and called on parents to take the education of the girl-child seriously.
Pognaab Sophia Ayaric, the Queen mother of the Gbedema Traditional Area, and Girl-child Coordinator of the Builsa South District, advised the girls to conduct themselves in ways that would convince their parents to invest in their education by studying hard and excelling in their academic work.
GNA
