Women encouraged to venture into politics

The Executive Director of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana, Susan Aryeetey, has urged women to leverage the Affirmative Action Law as a tool for change and to pursue careers in politics.

She emphasised that doing so would help close the gender gap in politics and governance, while promoting equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making processes.

Mrs Aryeetey made these remarks at an inter-party strategic meeting last Tuesday organised by the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Ghana, aimed at increasing the number of women in Ghana's parliament.

Afrobarometer

She referenced the 2024 Afrobarometer report on women’s political participation, which revealed that the representation of women in Africa had only increased by one per cent over the past three years, rising from 25 per cent in 2021 to 26 per cent in 2024.

"The 2024 Afrobarometer report indicates that at the current pace, it will take until 2100 for African countries to achieve gender parity in their parliaments. This highlights the need to revisit our Affirmative Action Act. It is crucial to ensure that we bridge the gap in politics and governance," she said.

"Although women’s representation in Ghana's Parliament has slightly risen from 37 to 40 members, the country is still lagging behind other African nations such as Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia and Rwanda when it comes to women’s representation in parliament," she added.

In her presentation on Africa's political landscape – Facts and Figures, Mrs Aryeetey highlighted that the current 14.5 per cent representation of women in Ghana's parliament was critically insufficient.

She outlined several challenges faced by women in politics, including financial constraints, sexual harassment, unfriendly party regulations, violence against women in politics, religious barriers and a lack of data.

Voting for women

In her welcome address, the Chairperson of the AWLN Ghana Chapter, Dr Charity Binka, urged participants to vote in large numbers for women in the upcoming elections to boost their representation in parliament.

"With just a few days left until the election, there isn’t much time, but if we all agree here that the 90 young women who have registered decide to vote for women, just imagine how many more women could be in parliament. That’s the conversation we are having," she said.

Dr Binka also expressed gratitude to the United Nations, UN Women, UNDP and other partners for their continued support of women in politics.