Political parties call for 30 per cent rep of women

Political parties with representation in Parliament have called for the establishment of a voluntary quota of 30 per cent positions for women in the administration of political parties, the selection of parliamentary candidates and the appointment of district chief executives.
They have also called for special measures by the Executive in the short term to initiate and support the passage of specific legislation on a mandatory quota system in the medium to long term.
The parties, comprising the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), made the call in a communiqué they adopted at the end of a three-day workshop at Akosombo last Sunday.
Representatives of the parties who signed the communiqué were Mr Hudu Yahaya, the Vice-Chairman of the NDC; Mrs Agnes Okudjeto, the First Vice-Chairperson of the NPP; Ms Araba Bentsi-Enchill, the Second Vice-Chairperson of the CPP, and Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, the Chairman of the PNC.
The communiqué was also signed by Brigadier-General Francis A. Agyemfra (retd), Senior Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
The workshop was organised by the IEA, with the support of the Canadian High Commission, on the theme, “Political parties’ strategy for developing female candidates for primary and national elections”.
The parties said the implementation of the quota for women formed part of the affirmative action to address the imbalances in representation at the different levels of the political spectrum.
According to the communiqué, the measures to be taken by the executive must “support the allocation of at least 10 per cent of public funding of political parties as incentive to political parties which select a minimum of 30 per cent of women parliamentary candidates and that such support should be given directly to the women candidates”.
It said there was the need “to explore the possibility of public funding for independent women candidates and identify a minimum of 20 potential women candidates by each political party each year and mentor them for leadership positions, in collaboration with civil society organisations”.
It further called for the setting up of political and democracy study groups within the various political parties to educate their members on their ideologies, policy directions and national issues and to intensify advocacy on the critical role of women in our society.
The participants also underscored the need for collaboration between the political parties and civil society organisations to strengthen the capacity of political parties on gender issues.
They also pledged to secure the commitment of their political parties to the implementation of those resolutions and develop an action plan for broader consultation and realisation of those commitments.
According to them, they came up with the demands because despite sustained advocacy for the inclusion of more women in decision making, women still lagged behind in representation in the mainstream political decision-making process.
They said they were also disappointed at the decrease in the number of women who won their seats in the 2008 parliamentary elections.
According to the participants, they were aggrieved by the numerous barriers to women’s effective participation in politics and governance, such as finances, culture, religion and family responsibilities.
However, they said they were encouraged by the unanimous acknowledgement by political parties of the critical importance of women’s rights issues in the democratisation process.
They said they were determined to increase significantly the number of women contestants who got elected in order to correct the social imbalance and in compliance with international conventions on the equal representation of women and men in public life.