MFWA forum panelists with other dignitaries
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has premiered a documentary on women in politics as part of ongoing efforts to increase the participation and representation of women in governance.
The documentary highlights the difficulties women in politics face, but it also serves as a reminder that there will be light at the end of the tunnel, as all the women featured are making headway in the political space.
At the forum, issues concerning women’s successful participation in politics were discussed. It was stated that women often faced intimidation and abuse when they decide to enter politics.
Former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba stated that women’s participation in politics is pivotal to the country’s development.
The former Minister, who is also the Executive Director of Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, stated that despite improvement in representation of women in the political spheres over the years, they are still massively underrepresented.
“According to the inter-parliamentary union, women occupy only 13% of parliamentary seat and less than 4% of the local governance level. Only 40 women are parliamentarians out of 275, and that is appalling,” she said.
Convenor of Affirmative Action Coalition, Sheila Minkah-Premo, on her part stated that the passing of the Affirmative Action Bill into law is a step in the right direction.
She said the law, when effectively implemented, will ensure that women are represented in politics, parliament and governance as a whole.
She added that it is also in fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 which states, “All members of the UN should achieve gender parity by the year 2030”, adding, “so we believe that this law is something that is going to get us there.”
She reaffirmed that this new law was backed by article 17 of the Constitution which states that there should be no discrimination on the basis of gender though women have been discriminated against for years.
Both speakers brought up the media being the perfect tool to be used for the propagation of matters involving women.
They asked that the media leads conversations and make women’s issues burning topics instead of burying them.
By Vera Owusu Sarpong & Ransford Wletsu