The shadow cabinet member for women and children’s affairs at the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mrs Elizabeth Quarcor Akpalu, has announced that a government under the party would use proceeds accrued from the oil and gas sector to educate all children in the country. According to her, ‘the budget’ is the most important policy tool of every government that can be used to raise the living standards of the disadvantaged in society, hence, a CPP government will introduce a children’s budget to track public resources devoted to the welfare of Ghanaian children in the sectors of education, skills development and sports. She was speaking to journalists at the 6th in the series of ‘How CPP Will Do It’; a programme designed to present alternative policy visions on key areas of governance to the Ghanaian public, which was held at the party’s headquarters in Accra on Wednesday. Mrs Akpalu restated the CPP's vision to make education compulsory and continuous till a child attains age 18, adding that it will go beyond the free compulsory basic education requirement by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) to ensure a free secondary and tertiary education that would build a formidable workforce to transform the country’s economy. On issues of maternal health and mortality, Mrs Akpalu assured that a CPP government will take steps to accelerate the pace of maternal health intervention. “Delivery in all public hospitals across the country [would be] free to support the reduction of maternal mortality,” she added. To reduce poverty and ensure gender equality, the CPP shadow cabinet member stated that a Gender Desk Officers' unit would be established as part of the District and Regional Planning Coordinating Units to collect gender specific data which will help identify inequalities and allow for budgets to be allocated to support gender responsive activities and programmes. “The bulk of the poor, especially women, are engaged in agriculture - food crops, livestock and fisheries. These areas require serious attention from the state if there is a real commitment to poverty reduction and gender equality,” Mrs Akpalu told the media. Meanwhile, a member of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Mr Ernest Kwesi Anyormisi, who contested for the parliamentary seat of the Ayawaso West Wougon District, has defected to the CPP. Speaking at the same programme, he told journalists that his defection was motivated by a strong belief he has that “the CPP is the only party to bring positive change” to the country. You can read the full statement read by Mrs Akpalu below. Story by Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana STATEMENT BY MRS. ELIZABETH QUARCOR AKPALU, CPP SHADOW CABINET MEMBER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AFFAIRS, AT THE SIXTH IN THE SERIES OF “HOW CPP WILL DO IT” HELD AT PARTY HEADQUARTERS, ASYLUM DOWN ACCRA, ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27, 2010 AT 10:00AM. INTRODUCTION: The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC) was established in 2001 to promote gender equitable policies and programmes for Women and Children in Ghana. Since its establishment a lot has been done but a lot still needs to be done. The growing poverty, deprivation and exclusion of the rural and urban poor have disproportionately affected women and children in Ghana. There is also high incidence of maternal and infant mortality and deaths from illegal and unsafe abortions as a consequence of inadequacies in reproductive health facilities and practices. Irrespective of the fact that women constitute more than 50 % of the population and make meaningful contributions to society, their voices are not heard. This is due to the persisting undemocratic political cultures and processes. Ghana has failed to honour its obligations to the International Instruments signed such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), The Beijing Platform for Action and its Outcome Documents (Beijing +5, 10 and15) and other International instruments to promote gender equality. The results are that decades of efforts at achieving gender equality and equity have yielded very little. CURRENT SITUATION: One in three household s in Ghana (33.6%) has a female head (GLSS2000). Though female headship is not synonymous with poverty, certain characteristics of some female headed households are predisposing factors to poverty. The quality of employment of the household head appears to be more important than other households’ characteristics. According to the World Bank, gender disparities in education and health are greater among the poor (World Bank 2001).41 % of women as opposed to 21.1% of men, as ratio of 2:1 has no formal education. Given that access to most positions in the formal employment sector now require Secondary or higher formal education, female apprentices have a much narrower range of training options than men because of gender segregation in artisanal occupations. Almost all the apprentices training to be carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, mechanics, repairs of electrical and electronic appliances, painters, upholsterer’s car body workers and sprayers, metal workers and drivers are male. The earning capacities of most of these occupations are higher than for sewing hairdressing and catering, the three (3) most popular options for women. “The biggest enemy of health is poverty” as the UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan urged in his address to 2001 World Health Assembly. Poor women bear an increased burden of disease because of their lower social status, poor access to education, health and other resources and harmful cultural practices. Women in Ghana are at a higher risk of dying from pregnancy related causes of maternal mortality. It is estimated at 214 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births as compared with 10 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in developed countries. The picture is even grimmer for regions with high levels of poverty in Ghana. In parts of the Northern region it is between 500 maternal deaths to 800 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The prevalence of HIV&AIDS in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa throw gender inequalities into sharp focus. Apart from physiological factors, socio-economic conditions including gender inequalities are central to the women greater vulnerability to the virus than men. Women are often unable to protect themselves from infections and one of the main reasons associated with this is their inability to negotiate for safe sex, particularly when economically or socially dependent on their partners. Male behaviour arising from their social superiority such as their ability to have multiple sexual partners across a wide range of age groups without suffering opprobrium makes them vectors in the spread of HIV&AIDS (World Population Monitoring, 2001). In Ghana more than 90% of all AIDS cases are found in people between the ages of 15-49 and 2/3 of the cases are female (Ministry of Health 2001). The lessons from other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand suggest that distribution programmes instituted and implemented by the state have been a critical factor in comprehensive poverty reduction. It is clear from the foregoing that there are important gender and regional inequalities in poverty in Ghana. More is needed for poverty reduction and gender equality. What the CPP will do to move the current to the desirable state In 2007 the NPP government began to implement gender equality by starting gender responsive budgeting in three sector ministries; Agriculture, Health and Education. To date, no evaluation of the impact has been documented. MOWAC under the NDC government stated that the three sector ministries will be increased to eleven. The budget is the most important policy tool of every government that can be used to raise the living standards of the disadvantaged in society, including women. Increased resource allocation can only be obtained through the budget process to design policies and implement programmes to address gaps and inequities that have been identified in various gender assessments to be the most pertinent issues. Gender responsive budgeting calls for gender disaggregated statistical data and information needed for effective programme design and implementation. Availability of disaggregated data will facilitate targeting of programmes to ensure maximum results. Gender Budgeting at Sectoral /Departmental level It is at this level that most of the work of mainstreaming gender budgeting takes place. From this level influence can be brought to bear on annual budget decisions taken by the Ministry of Finance. The CPP will therefore establish Gender Desk Officers (GDOs) as part of the District Planning Coordinating Unit (DPCU) and the Regional Planning Coordinating Units (RPCUs). The GDOs working together with the DPCUs and the RPCUs will collect gender disaggregated data which will help to identify the inequalities and allow for budgets to be allocated supporting gender responsive activities and programmes. Currently there are no formal directives from the Ministries of Local Government and Rural Development and of Women and Children Affairs making them part of the DPCU. The bulk of the poor, especially women are engaged in agriculture food crops, livestock and fisheries. These areas require serious attention from the state if there is a real commitment to poverty reduction and gender equality. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in its Strategic Implementation Plan of 2005-2008 stated as its strategic objective to advocate the passage of the Affirmative Policy of 1998 and operationalize it. Among MOWAC’s priorities was to formalize and replicate the gender desk officers at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembles and provide guidelines for setting them up in collaboration with district assembles. Women political participation is central to the democratic governance. Women constitute half of the world’s population and cannot be excluded from either participation or representation. Equal participation of men and women in making decisions is the only way through which women can enjoy their rights as citizens of a country. Ghana as a country has signed documents that make it obligatory for government to introduce measures that will increase the number of women in politics. Yet, the only form of quota that has ever been introduced in Ghana is the quota for 10 women the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in 1960 by Dr Kwame Nkrumah who were elected to special women’s seats. They are Susanna Alhassan, Ayanori Bukari and Victoria Nyarku (Northern region); Sophia Doku and Mary Koranteng – (Eastern region); Lucy Anin (Brong –Ahafo region); Regina Asamany (Volta region); Comfort Asamoah (Ashanti region); Grace Ayensu and Christiana Wilmot (Western region). The absence of a legal framework to validate and enforce an Affirmation Action (AA) Policy as well as the lack of properly thought out, well coordinated strategy for promoting women participation in public life has been a major challenge. The CPP government will intensify advocacy on AA and push for legislation to make it mandatory for political parties to implement AA progressively. This will increase the number of women candidates for district and parliamentary elections as well as all structures in 2012 and progressively reach the 50 percent required by the AU. The CPP government will consider electoral reforms and constitutional amendments to address the gender imbalance. It will also build consensus between political parties, women themselves, important agencies like the Electoral Commission and think tanks such as the CDD, IDEG and IEA among others in preparation for 2012 and beyond. The winner takes all or the majoritarian electoral system is a major impediment for women gaining political positions, especially when compared to proportional representation systems used around the world. A CPP government will focus on proposals that advocate proportional representation with the view to improve the representation of women across board. To ensure that proportional representation system succeeds in Ghana, parties should be required by legislation to submit gender balanced party list and fill seats won with an equal proportion of women. This is where the political funding law should apply sanctions; my comrade for Political Affairs will elaborate on this system fully. Maternal Mortality The Ghana Maternal Mortality Survey of2008 showed a slow decline of maternal deaths from 503 per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 451 per 100,000 live births in 2008.With this trend, maternal mortality will reduce to only 340 per 100,000 live births by 2015 which makes it unlikely for Ghana to meet the MDG target of 185 per 100,000 live births. A CPP government will take steps to accelerate the pace of maternal health intervention. Delivery in all public hospitals across the country is free to support the reduction of maternal mortality. Although this is an important development, implementation of such policies has had serious challenges. There are still issues of access and inadequate personnel in our health facilities. A CPP government will ensure that there are district hospitals, well equipped with trained personnel especially midwives to ensure safe delivery. More nurses, midwifery training institutions will be opened. Education on Family Planning will be vigorously factored into the implementation of this policy. Protection of our Children As a country we have signed unto the United Nations Convention on the Child, passed the Children’s Act of 1998, the Juvenile Justice Act of 2003, and the Human Trafficking Act of 2005. A CPP government will ensure that all these legal provisions and programmes designed to improve the welfare of the Ghanaian child are implemented fully. A CPP government will also introduce innovations to enhance protection and development of our children. A CPP government will collaborate with the Ministry of Health and other related institutions to improve the health status of children especially in areas of nutrition, malaria among others. The state should invest not only in children’s health needs but also in their educational and nutritional needs. Categories of malnourishment in children aged 0-5 years should be fully addressed in both urban and rural areas. Given the adverse impacts these have on children’s physical and mental development urgent attention is required and adequate resources must be provided. A CPP government will expand the School Feeding Programme to cover all deprived areas to ensure that the average child is assured of one balanced meal. Investing in our children is a must and a CPP government will not over look this responsibility. A CPP Government will put in place Formation Programmes for children to train them as was done in the first Republic. Amongst others, a CPP government will introduce a children’s Budget to track public resources devoted to the welfare of the Ghanaian child especially in education, skills development and sports, including those from oil and gas. Although the MDGs call for free basic education, a CPP government will go beyond that to ensure that secondary education and tertiary education are free and accessible to build the formidable workforce to transform the economy. Education will be compulsory and continuous till the attainment of 18 years. Conclusion Ladies and gentlemen, rhetoric alone cannot bring about change that is why policy is important. A CPP government will address gender inequalities with policies to ensure sustainable development and transformation of Ghana. A CPP government will institutionalize gender analysis of policies, plans and budgets as a pre- requisite for approval of all sector ministries. Above all, a CPP government will endeavour to ensure that all sections of the population, male and female will be effectively engaged in all matters of policy making, governance and resource allocation. We need a well resourced (technical, institutional and financial) and focused MOWAC. What we need is a return to Nkrumah’s vision of building a dynamic and confident nation with both men and women having a place at the table. THANK YOU.

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