'Ghana is setting the pace in advancing gender equality in West Africa' — ECOWAS Gender Centre Director

The Director of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), Sandra Oulaté Fattoh, has commended Ghana for its leadership in promoting gender equality.

She described the country as a model for collaboration and implementation of gender-focused initiatives in the West African sub-region.

She made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening of the ECOWAS Commission's technical meeting of the Gender Equality Seal Programme Implementation (GES-PI) Committee, being held in Accra from Monday, August 3, to Wednesday, August 5.

The three-day meeting has brought together representatives of ECOWAS directorates, departments and specialised institutions to review and validate evidence for the Commission's self-assessment process and finalise an action plan aimed at attaining the Gold Level of the Gender Equality Seal certification.

"Ghana has been leading a number of gender initiatives and is the African Union champion in charge of gender matters... Ghana has been leading the implementation of some of these programmes over the past 20 years," Ms Fattoh said.

"I think what has struck me here is the collaboration among institutions. We often cite Ghana... the different entities and ministries have been able to come together for better implementation. We often resort to Ghana as one example for better collaboration," she added.

She explained that the meeting forms part of an ongoing initiative being implemented by the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

According to her, the initiative seeks to strengthen gender equality within the ECOWAS Commission itself by assessing areas such as recruitment, staff representation, leadership responsibilities and institutional policies before serving as a model for member states.

The current meeting is the fourth under the initiative and is expected to produce a comprehensive action plan that will guide implementation across all ECOWAS institutions over the coming year.

Participants at the meeting include officials from all ECOWAS directorates and departments, as well as institutions such as the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the ECOWAS Parliament, the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and the West African Health Organisation (WAHO).