The President of the Ghana Chapter of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Dr Charity Binka, has called for massive support for all women running for parliament in the upcoming elections.

She called on women particularly to vote for the female contestants in their respective constituencies irrespective of their party affiliations to increase women’s representation in the next Parliament.

“Women are more than 50 per cent of the population if we all decide to support our fellow women contesting this election, we will make a huge testament to our gender equality agenda” she added

Speaking at a town hall meeting to promote women’s political leadership through dialogue in Accra, she said it was high time women proved their commitment and resilience towards the much-desired gender equality agenda.

The dialogue which was attended by various women’s groups and political parties was on the theme “Empowering Voices, Shaping Futures, Advancing Women’s Political Leadership.”

The key objective of the meeting organized by AWLN in partnership with the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) was to mobilize and encourage active participation of women especially, as voters and candidates in the 2024 elections.

Currently, Ghana’s Parliament has 40 women out of the 275 representing 14.5 per cent, unfortunately, 11 of these women lost the bid at their parties’ primaries to seek re-election.

Mrs Joana Opare, an eminent member, of the National Peace Council, added her voice to the clarion call for all women contesting to be voted for, adding “We might go below the 14.5 female representation Parliament given the figures of women contesting in the elections.”

According to her, statistics from the Electoral Commission indicated that about 118 women were contesting for Parliament with over 800 men in the upcoming and described it as a gloomy picture for an increased women’s participation and representation in the elections.

She stressed the need for developing strategies to ensure that women’s issues in the next government would be central to every developmental agenda or discussion in pursuit of the Affirmative Action law.

Dr Angela Asante-Essah, Presidential Advisor on Gender and Development, called on the public to support governments agenda and commitment to gender equality by voting for women in the coming elections.