Parliament has just passed the Affirmative Action bill into law.

The Affirmative Action Gender Equity Bill 2024, which has been in and out of Parliament for several years, was finally passed unanimously by the House.

The bill is expected to ensure that a critical number of women hold key positions in governance, public life, and decision-making spaces, thereby improving the lives of women in the country.

Today, Gender Minister, Darkoa Newmann moved the motion for the passage and the vote in the House.

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin explained that there is still more that needs to be done to ensure true equity among the genders.

"Don’t just celebrate and don't really put in place the vision that we have created for the country. But more importantly, I hope that members will commit themselves to the constitutional reforms. We need to do more there to be able to create this free and just society we are looking for to liberate more of our women to be able to support us to be able to develop mother Ghana," he said.

The law also seeks to encourage efforts towards addressing socio-cultural, political, economic, and educational gender imbalances in private and public sectors, per Clause 4 of Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution.

Its objective is to promote the progressive increase and active participation of women in public and active life from a minimum of 30 percent by 2030, under the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).