The Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), in partnership with the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF Ghana), and the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, as part of an advocacy initiative under the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) project, is demanding an immediate passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law.
During a 2-day Northern sector consultative forum on the passage of the bill in Bolgatanga, all interested groups joined hands to urge the 8th Parliament to pass the bill, considering its importance to women in the country.
The forum aims to enhance advocacy efforts regarding the bill by increasing awareness of it and soliciting input from key stakeholders on collective and individual actions that need to be taken to realize the passage of the bill into law by the current Parliament of Ghana.
Speaking to the media at the forum in Bolgatanga, Madam Fati Abigail Abdulai, the Executive Director of the Widows and Orphans Movement, said the major aim of the forum is to further learn more about the bill and make inputs that will bring development to the country as the bill is currently before parliament.
“We are holding the Northern Sector Consultative Forum on the passage of the affirmative action bill, as a lot of the speakers have already mentioned. This bill has been in Ghana for 12 years now; fortunately, it is currently in parliament. So, the idea is that we will get the opportunity to share what is in this bill with different stakeholders. But more importantly, we will be able to identify the gaps, if there are any, and purpose in the bill to ensure that if the bill is finally passed, it will address different sectors, and we will be achieving the ultimate aim.”
The Northern Sector Consultative Forum brought together all stakeholders, including NGOs and CSOs across the five regions of the North, who are passionate about the immediate passage of the Affirmative Action Bill.
Hajia Lamnatu Adam, the Chief Executive Officer of Songtaaba, explains that if the bill is passed into law, it will address the longstanding gender gap in the country. Hajia Lamnatu said, among other things, that when the bill finally passes into law, it will make provision for 30 percent representation of women in various sectors, considering females are the majority in the country.
On his part, Maxwell Banu, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for TEERE, a member of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), said the need to have appreciable female representation at the various decision-making bodies is an urgent need for the passage of the bill by the 8th parliament. According to Mr. Banu, it is unfortunate that women, with the large population in Ghana, are always either missing or less represented at the decision-making table; hence, the bill as a law will address this issue.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com | 101.1MHZ | David Azure | Bolgatanga |