Magdalene Kannae
ABANTU for Development, a gender and policy advocacy organization, has called
for an increase in women representation and participation in local governance,
especially at the assembly level.
ABANTU said women are
playing critical roles in national development and must be afforded equal
opportunities to ensure accountability, sustainability and common ownership to
development initiatives.
At a press conference
held at the International Press Centre in Accra, Mrs. Magdalene Kannae, a
member of the Institute of Local Government Studies, said that women
representation and participation in governance at the local level is still low due
to a number of reasons.
“Financial constraints,
socio-cultural perception about women’s roles in the society, making the public
area to be seen as unstable for women; religious hindrances, intimidation,
harassment and violence perpetrated against women by male competitors;
illiteracy or perceived social handicaps, time and mobility constraints form
part of the many challenges women face in their desire to participate in local
governance,” she said.
She added that
socialization processes do not encourage women to venture into leadership which
also contributes to the low percentage of women in leadership positions at the
local level.
She recommended that in
order to increase women participation and representation in local governance,
women achievers should be given platforms to share life stories of practices
and challenges to help other women and activists to learn from such
experiences.
Male champions, she
said, should also support women who express interest in occupying any
leadership position, especially at the assembly level in order to boost their
visibility and confidence in the development discourse of their assemblies.
“Women’s involvement in
local development discourse is an issue of right and justice. Ghana belongs to
females and males and all must get involved,” she added.
As the local assembly
elections approach in September, Mrs. Kannae urged women
to get involved in community development issues to show their interest at the
grass-roots level and demonstrate commitment, hard work and honesty in
discharging their duties.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio
