Appointments in next government should reflect the passage of Affirmative Action law – Abantu

Abantu for Development, an international women-focused organisation, has reminded all political parties that with the passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act 2024, 30 percent of all appointments by the next government should be for women.

“We are expecting that those who are going to rule us from 2025 would reflect the provisions of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act and reserved 30 percent of all appointments for women.”

Mrs Hamida Harrison, Executive Director of Abantu and a leading member of the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, said given the structure of the political parties’ parliamentary candidature, “we have missed the 2024 elections.

However, any political party who wins the December elections must show commitment to the Act in the various appointments.”

Speaking at a press conference by women groups including the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition and the Women’s Manifesto Coalition to mark the passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act 2024, Mrs Harrison said the Act represents a new beginning with prospects for both women and men to build together a well-developed society for the benefit of all stakeholders.

She said the passage and assent of the President to the Bill, was a testimony of the committed efforts of all stakeholders and debunked the notion that Affirmative Action was a women’s affair, but an act or resolve to push boundaries of gender equality to open opportunities for marginalized groups in society to develop their potentials.

In 2004, the Women’s Manifesto Coalition began the push for a deliberative mechanism to address gender inequality, after many years of advocacy the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act was passed by the Parliament on July 30, 2024, and assented to, by President Akufo-Addo on September 18, same year.

The Act has 31 sections and seven schedules and includes the Establishment of a multi-sectoral Gender-Equity Committee to oversee the Act’s implementation at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Issuance of Gender Equity Compliance Certificates, and a mandatory Gender Equity Policy.

Mrs Sheila Minkah-Premo, Convenor of the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, making a presentation on the impact of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act on addressing social inequalities in Ghana, said it serves as a legal document to back the demand for increasing women’s representation and participation in governance and all level of decision making for holistic development.

She said progressive targets in the first schedule for both public and private sectors was that from 2024-2026 a minimum of 30 percent of women would be represented across all sectors moving up gradually until 2029-2030 when it would reach 50 percent in tandem with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5).

Thus, despite the renaming as an Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act by Parliament, the end goal remained the same to achieve Gender Equality of 50-50 by 2030.

She reiterated that the Act was a game changer in the demand for women’s empowerment and that, there was more work ahead to ensure that the government implemented the law and the Act to the fullest.

Thus, she called for strategies and concerted efforts from all stakeholders to continue to work hard, adding that one of the strategies was a directory on women to be compiled so that the government would have timely access to women with the requisite skills and expertise to nominate into positions.

Dr Adolf Bekoe, National Coordinator of the Domestic Violence Coalition, said the passage of the Act was just a means to an end and called for an institutionalized mechanism to ensure full implementation since about 80 percent of the implementation hovered around the state.