Speaking at a public forum in Accra last Monday, the Founder and President of the group, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, observed that the low representation of women at all levels of government and unequal opportunities were the main causes of the widening poverty gap between the sexes.

“Parliament is the focal point from where laws and policies on poverty eradication and women empowerment should emanate. But parliamentarians have not done enough to remove all barriers to inequalities. For me, it is not only about the Executive because it is Parliament that must lead the process of empowering women,” he noted.

Forum

The forum was organised by IMANI, in collaboration with the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and meant to explore ways by which issues of poverty and inequalities could be integrated into the national development processes from 2017.

It drew participants from civil society organisations (CSOs), the media and a cross-section of the public.

Key areas of inequalities against women that were identified as contributing to poverty included education, agriculture, grassroots participation in decision making and low representation in Parliament.

In presentations that were made by some researchers with IMANI, the emphasis was laid on lack of deliberate policies by political parties to empower women, citing the seeming lack of political will to implement affirmative action and other pro-women policies.

Call on political parties

Specific references were made to the promises made for women empowerment in the 2016 manifestoes of four political parties; the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

The Director of Programmes and Events at IMANI, Mrs Josephine Adjei-Tenkorang, urged political parties to make good the provisions of affirmative action by allotting 40 per cent of government positions to women.

“Political parties make promises in their manifestoes to better the lot of women, assuring better opportunities, but fail to live up to those promises. Parties must begin to field women in parliamentary seats that are safe for them to win,” she suggested.

On the issue of educational opportunities, she called for measures to be put in place to prevent the dropout rate of females at all levels on the academic ladder, adding that it was when equal educational opportunities were given that women would be empowered.

The Head of Social Policy of the group, Mr Festus Ankrah, while highlighting the lack of inclusiveness for all citizens in governance, asked for the diversification of rural economies and expansion of social protection to reverse the trend.

He further underscored the need for women to be empowered through pragmatic policies that would give them equal access to land, loans and other agricultural inputs just like their male counterparts.