Pass Affirmative Action Bill Now—CSOs To Government

Civil Society Organizations Platform on SDGs believes its time government show more interest in the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill that has been around for over a decade.

As the world marks IWD 2019, the Ghana Civil Society Organizations on SDGs Sub-platform Goal 5 calls on Government to ensure full and effective participation of women while also providing equal opportunities for them in leadership and decision-making at all levels. We also call on the government to take steps to ensure the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill that has been around for over a decade.

The statement pointed out that though Ghana has made some progress on gender equality, the country is still facing numerous challenges such as child marriage before the age of 18 remains at 23.2% in 2015 and the proportion of women elected as Assembly Members has fallen from 11% in 2009 to 5% in 2016.

Below is the full statement issued by GHANA CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PLATFORM ON SDGs

PRESS STATEMENT:
GHANA CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS SUB-PLATFORM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 5 HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER EQUALITY AND EQUITY IN LIGHT OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s DAY CELEBRATION

Accra, 7th March, 2019 — International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women while also calling for accelerating gender balance. The theme for this year’s IWD 2019 campaign is #BalanceforBetter. The theme is a call-to-action highlighting the need to create a balanced world where girls, boys, women and men have equal opportunity to thrive in life.

As the world marks IWD 2019, the Ghana Civil Society Organizations on SDGs Sub-platform Goal 5 calls on Government to ensure full and effective participation of women while also providing equal opportunities for them in leadership and decision-making at all levels. We also call on the government to take steps to ensure the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill that has been around for over a decade.

Though Ghana has made some progress on gender equality, the country is still facing numerous challenges such as child marriage before the age of 18 remains at 23.2% in 2015 and the proportion of women elected as Assembly Members has fallen from 11% in 2009 to 5% in 2016. (Source: NDPC 2018, SDGs Indicator Baseline Report 2018). More effort is needed to promote gender equality and ensure that the marginalization of women based on gender and disability becomes a thing of the past in Ghana. By providing women with equal access to health care, work, education and representation in decision-making processes, Ghana will progress towards achieving the SDGs.

To celebrate the day, the Sub-platform Goal 5 will be participating in several activities including district durbar in central region, durbar with women with disabilities, social media campaigns and the National Dialogue organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

ISSUED BY THE GHANA CSOs PLATFORM ON SDGs, MARCH 8th 2019