The chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms. Josephine Nkrumah has entreated women in the political sphere to encourage their fellow women to get involved in politics to shape Ghana’s political ideologies and contribute to nation-building. Speaking at a forum organised by the West African Young Women in Politics in Accra, Ms. Nkrumah called on women to contribute to the political discourse of the country. The discussion was on the theme, ‘Young women’s political participation an ensured right: Exploring various global continental, regional and national instruments on Young Women’s political participation’.
The forum brought together women from West African countries. Ms. Nkrumah urged the women groups at the forum to mount pressure on lawmakers to pass into law, bills that are in the best interest of women. ‘For over a decade, we have been fighting to pass the Affirmative Action Bill and other bills. These bills would increase the representation of women in governance’, she added.
Ms. Josephine Nkrumah was particularly unhappy about the delay of the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill. “This bill and others that seek the empowerment of women have been sitting on the back burner for so many years. I want to ask all women in politics and in Parliament, what have we done about this?’’ she reiterated.
She also spoke about how important education would go a long way to get women involved in politics explaining that when women acquire the needed holistic education, they become confident to perform well socially and politically. She called on policymakers to give women equal opportunities as men to create a healthy competition and further improve the interest of women in politics. The National Commission for Civic Education, she added appreciates the move by the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) for bringing women from West African countries to empower them to enable them to deal with the cultural, religious and social-political barriers in their countries
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