Appoint more women for District Assembly
Gilbert Boyefio
06/09/2006
The Women's Manifesto coalition, a group of women activists, has appealed to District Assemblies to use the 50 percent quota of appointing membership to nominate more women because it is evident that they do not have enough funds to finance campaigns to get them elected into the district assemblies.
Speaking at the second anniversary celebration of the launch of the Women's Manifesto for Ghana, the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Esther Ofei- Aboagye, said attempts to set up a fund to help finance women in their campaigns had met lots of challenges.
"The process of putting women in assemblies in 2006 has been a difficult experience as individuals, corporate entities and developing partners, who agreed initially to support the fund, are now reluctant to contribute to it," she disclosed.
Touching on the rights of women and the law, she said advocacy, public education and the use of bye-laws could create a more enabling environment.
She stated that women needed to be informed and encouraged to undertake activities in women empowerment. "National laws and policies that improve women's situations and protect them must be well-known and enforced at the local level. Laws like PNDC Law 111 and 112 are most meaningful for women's lives at the local level," she added.
Rosaline Obeng-Ofori, a gender and development consultant, said the women?s manifesto is a political document, which outlines critical issues of concern to women in Ghana and makes demands to government and various stakeholders.
According to her, the manifesto was developed through various nationwide consultations at all levels. She said it is therefore a document which has inputs from civil society, government functionaries and traditional and religious authorities.
She bemoaned the politicisation of the document saying; "Although the document was produced through a broad-based consultation process people continue to politicise it. This has been a major setback in the implementation of the issues raised in the manifesto."
Mrs Obeng-Ofori indicated that due to inadequate funding, there are organisations who cannot afford the cost of competent and technical human resource to address gender issues in their organisations. She said there is almost a shared responsibility for gender experts in every organisation thus limiting their time in advocacy work highlighted in the document.
She also cited inadequate commitment by women centred organisations as one of the factors impeding the implementation of the manifesto. She said although there have been some gains in the implementation of the manifesto there is still the need for more women, civil society organisations and individuals to champion the cause of the manifesto.
She encouraged women centred NGOs, gender advocates and individual women to see the manifesto as a blue-print that should guide them in their advocacy work for women empowerments programmes.
"There is the need for more capacity building for women groups, NGOs and government institutions to understand the important issues raised in the manifesto, and to work towards its implementation," she added.
06/09/2006
The Women's Manifesto coalition, a group of women activists, has appealed to District Assemblies to use the 50 percent quota of appointing membership to nominate more women because it is evident that they do not have enough funds to finance campaigns to get them elected into the district assemblies.
Speaking at the second anniversary celebration of the launch of the Women's Manifesto for Ghana, the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Esther Ofei- Aboagye, said attempts to set up a fund to help finance women in their campaigns had met lots of challenges.
"The process of putting women in assemblies in 2006 has been a difficult experience as individuals, corporate entities and developing partners, who agreed initially to support the fund, are now reluctant to contribute to it," she disclosed.
Touching on the rights of women and the law, she said advocacy, public education and the use of bye-laws could create a more enabling environment.
She stated that women needed to be informed and encouraged to undertake activities in women empowerment. "National laws and policies that improve women's situations and protect them must be well-known and enforced at the local level. Laws like PNDC Law 111 and 112 are most meaningful for women's lives at the local level," she added.
Rosaline Obeng-Ofori, a gender and development consultant, said the women?s manifesto is a political document, which outlines critical issues of concern to women in Ghana and makes demands to government and various stakeholders.
According to her, the manifesto was developed through various nationwide consultations at all levels. She said it is therefore a document which has inputs from civil society, government functionaries and traditional and religious authorities.
She bemoaned the politicisation of the document saying; "Although the document was produced through a broad-based consultation process people continue to politicise it. This has been a major setback in the implementation of the issues raised in the manifesto."
Mrs Obeng-Ofori indicated that due to inadequate funding, there are organisations who cannot afford the cost of competent and technical human resource to address gender issues in their organisations. She said there is almost a shared responsibility for gender experts in every organisation thus limiting their time in advocacy work highlighted in the document.
She also cited inadequate commitment by women centred organisations as one of the factors impeding the implementation of the manifesto. She said although there have been some gains in the implementation of the manifesto there is still the need for more women, civil society organisations and individuals to champion the cause of the manifesto.
She encouraged women centred NGOs, gender advocates and individual women to see the manifesto as a blue-print that should guide them in their advocacy work for women empowerments programmes.
"There is the need for more capacity building for women groups, NGOs and government institutions to understand the important issues raised in the manifesto, and to work towards its implementation," she added.
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