A GOVERNANCE Programme Officer of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) – Ghana, Mr. Frank Wilson Bodza, has suggested the institution of a quota system to eliminate gender imbalance in representation during decision-making.

He said the proposed system would required that women filled a certain number of positions in a given body, be it’s a committee, parliamentary assembly, or list of candidates. Speaking at a media sensitization workshop in Accra on Tuesday, he cited countries such as Rwanda, Sweden, The Netherlands and South Africa as examples of nations where Affirmative Action had been implemented successfully by means of a quota system and expressed the hope that Ghana would soon follow suit.

Mr. Bodza spoke about alarming statistics on the inadequate numbers of women in decision-making positions and said for instance, the current 10-member Board of the Government Economic Advisory Council was composed of all men. Giving a brief history on women’s representation in Parliament, he said the number of female members had fluctuated dramatically, peaking in 1965 when women composed 18.2 per cent of Parliament, but currently only 19 of the 230 members were female, representing 8.7 per cent.

In 2009, he said 15 women were appointed to ministerial and deputy ministerial positions, making up 20 per cent of such appointments, which he said was a far cry from the 40 per cent promised by President John Atta Mills during his sessional address to parliament on February 2009. the Executive director of WiLDAF-Ghana, Ms. Bernice Sam, said her outfit aimed at coming up with a draft proposal on Affirmative Action plans that the country could adopt for future use, adding that “WiLDAF hopes that the cause of Affirmative Action for women will become more visible in the coming months”.

She said the women’s advocacy group hoped to engage the media to better inform the public and garner the attention of the country’s leaders, in order to attain its goals. The seminar closed with an interactive session to discuss possible media strategies for promoting the initiative.

Source: Daily Graphic