Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Wednesday March 16, 2011.
It appears women and gender advocates are not happy about certain aspects of the ongoing constitution review process and have therefore vowed to get gender issues properly addressed in a new constitution.
At an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) forum in Accra on Wednesday to discuss issues of gender and its place in a new constitution, it was obvious that the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) had not paid adequately attention to concerns raised by advocates of gender and they feel shortchanged.
Participants, including longstanding gender advocates, could not fathom why gender issues could not even make it to top 25 pressing issues that need to be reviewed if there is going to be a new constitution.
They said the Constitution Review Conference held from March 1, 2011 to March 5, 2011 to climax the review process clearly demonstrated lack of attention being given to gender matters, adding that issues of women and children were not part of the thematic areas thoroughly discussed.
Chris Dadzie, Gender Advocate and member of the IEA Constitution Review Coalition, who spoke on the topic “Gender and the 1992 Constitution” gave an elaborate piece on how issues of gender should be seen as a developmental challenge and not any ordinary issue.
She said the wording as well as certain provisions of the1992 Constitution clearly discriminates against women and they were seeking to take advantage of the current exercise to get comprehensives laws on gender for national development.
Mrs. Dadzie said the 1992 Constitution failed to take into consideration specific gender protection clauses, adding “we are calling for equal rights of all persons. There should not be any form of discrimination whatsoever.”
She said countries like Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa have been able to insert specific gender protection clauses in their various constitutions and issues of gender are no longer left in the hands of the courts to interpret as it is in Ghana.
She said “let us put in what we want and we will use that as reference point to get gender issues addressed for accelerated development.”
She noted that whenever issues regarding politics come up, the authorities are able to find the needed funds to address them but when it involves other social issues including gender, it was difficult for them to provide funds, noting, “The time has come to commit gender issues in our new constitution so that it would not be difficult to such policies to be implemented.”
“The legal framework to address gender disparities is just not there. You need proper inputs in the constitution to be able to address gender issues properly.”
Mrs. Dadzie said gender issues are important in national discourse but their discussions tend to degenerate into issues of women because people have not fully appreciated the role of gender in national development.
“After many years of research and advocacy on gender, it looks like we are not there yet because there are too many gaps in the constitution and the CRC did not deem it fit to see gender as one of the top 25 issues in the ongoing review process.
During contributions, majority of participants were of the opinion that the CRC did not do enough to get issues of gender on the agenda despite strong submissions made by coalition women’s rights.
Dr Rose Mensah- Kutin, the Executive Director of ABANTU said “we have a pressing issue that we need to deal with and it is through public policy that we get gender issues properly addressed. The gaps in the current constitution on gender are overwhelming”
Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, Deputy Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, who chaired the forum said, “We have to be serious when discussing issues of gender. We cannot continue to sideline women’s contributions when we want to accelerate our development.”
Bernice Beatrice Boateng aka B.B, Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben South, said gender advocates would not get anywhere if they refuse to collaborate with their male counterparts in the struggle.
“Ghanaian experts have delivered wonderful papers on gender and many countries have copied them to make it better for women yet we have failed to tap their expertise.”
Cecilia Abena Dapaah, MP for Bantama, cautioned advocates not to attempt to reinvent the wheel saying “we have people who can put their heads together to get a workable document that would encourage affirmative action.”
She bemoaned the rate at which the budget for Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs is being reduced saying “the ministry cannot do much if their budget is below expectation”
ACP Kofi Boakye of the Education Directorate at the Ghana Police Service advised advocates not to antagonize men and other interest groups in their effort to seek recognition for women.
He said the issue of proportional representation should be looked at critically since it is one of the surest ways to get the voices of women heard.
No comments:
Post a Comment