Ghana’s Petroleum Laws Is Gender-Biased Towards Women-FIDA

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana, a gender advocacy organization working to enhance the status of women and children, says the current status of petroleum laws in Ghana are gender-biased towards women and suggested a review of the laws and regulations in the petroleum sector.

Mrs. Eleanor Barnes Botchway, a legal practitioner with FIDA-Ghana, said her outfit hoped to change the structural barriers women and children faced in an unequal and hostile economic environment and develop gender sensitive framework to ameliorate the status quo.

She said this at a day’s capacity-building workshop for media practitioners in Takoradi on Tuesday aimed at enhancing gender responsive reportage on issues concerning oil and gas sector.

The event organized by FIDA-Ghana with funding from STAR-Ghana also seeks to promote accountability, equity, transparency in the petroleum sector and increase responsiveness from duty bearers.

It was on the theme, “Strengthening Women’s Agency to Demand Accountability, Equity and Transparency from Industry Actors for Improved Livelihoods”.

Mrs. Botchway said there was the need for deliberate effort by all stakeholders to enhance the capacity of women to participate effectively in the oil and gas industry.

He suggested that all laws governing the petroleum industry should be gender sensitive by ensuring that there was equal representation of both men and women at all decision-making levels.

Touching on petroleum revenue management, she said, women should be given greater voice in the management of revenue accruing from the oil and gas sector and ensure that there was full disclosure of proceeds as well as transparency in all negotiated oil and gas contracts, thus paying attention to gender issues.

She said women played an integral part in the socio-economic development of the country therefore they should be allowed to participate and benefit equally from the petroleum industry.