By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Mar 13, GNA- Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, First Deputy Majority Whip, has urged political parties to implement an effective quota system to protect women parliamentarians.
She added that the system, ought to create opportunities for more women to enter Parliament.
Reading a statement on the floor of Parliament to Mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) Madam Seyram Alhassan, also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso West Wuogon (NPP), explained that her advocacy for a quota system was not in any way to suggest that women should be handed parliamentary seats on a silver platter.
“However, in the face of the obvious challenges that crowd out women from the political space, a quota system that upholds the principles of competence and meritocracy will go a long way to increase women’s participation not only in Parliament, but the entire governance processes of the country,” she said.
She, therefore, expressed worry about Ghana’s ‘largely insignificant’ contribution to the global proportion of women in Parliament.
“Mr Speaker, the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) has projected the proportion of women in Parliament to hit 30 per cent by 2030 across the globe. In its latest report, the Union said the proportion has increased from 0.6 per cent to 26.1 per cent.
“Currently, the proportion of women in parliament in Ghana stands at around 14.5 per cent, a figure far below the IPU set target of 30 per cent by 2030,” she said.
Madam Seyram Alhassan told the House that ‘to make progress toward the IPU I have set target, there is the need for barriers such as the sexist political culture and the gendered economic inequality that continue to define Ghana’s politics to be expelled’.
She lauded the New Patriotic Party’s efforts at empowering women and girls.
Ms Zuwera Ibrahimah Mohammed, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Salaga South contributing to the statement challenged women to stand up for themselves as there was no barrier and that women remained socialisation agents.
She also called for conscious efforts to mobilise the current MPs in the House to empower and showcase women adding that “changing the narrative of women has the power to change the fortunes of women and the world at large.”
Madam Ihbrahima Mohammed said the growth in women was primarily through their efforts before governance and political systems.
Madam Francisca Oteng Mensah, Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the 50 per cent cut of filing fees for women was not enough and called for a system that would build women’s capacity in terms of confidence and skills to foster development in their constituencies and finances
Madam Oteng Mensah, also the MP for Afigya Kwabre (NPP), called for the protection of women who were doing business through technology for them to do more and embrace the new world of digitalisation.
Speaking on the IWD United Nations theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications Digitalisation encouraged women to take the right steps and introduce initiatives encouraging more women to pursue careers in technology to ensure diversity and inclusion.
She echoed that, despite numerous technological advances, the tech industry continued to be dominated by men.
“Women make up only a small percentage of the workforce, showing the degree of gender disparity,” she said.
On their part, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, MP for Klottey Korle (NDC) and Madam Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada (NDC), appreciated the efforts of women that kept the fire burning in their cycles.
IWD is a global day that is celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender, equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
For the United Nations, the 2023 IWD was commemorated on the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” highlighting gender gaps in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and careers and calling attention to online harassment of many women faces.
While the global theme for 2023 IWD was #EmbraceEquity, which is part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness around “Why equal opportunities are no longer enough.”
GNA