The Media has been urged to promote activities and campaigns of the 69 women Parliamentary Candidates contesting Election 2008 to achieve some level of fair women representation in Parliament. Mrs Charity Binka, a Journalist and Media Consultant who made the call said this could be achieved when a media strategy was adopted and critical mass media professionals were created to promote women Parliamentary Candidates irrespective of their political affiliations. She was addressing a two-day media training workshop on “Enhancing Women Leadership and Participating in Election 2008” in Kumasi at the weekend. It was organized by Women, Media and Change (WOMEC) an NGO in collaboration with Abantu for Development, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Women’s Manifesto. The workshop to build the capacity of Journalists on gender sensitive issues before, during and after Election 2008 and equip journalists to promote women’s participation in decision making at all levels of governance was attended by 30 journalists drawn from Northern Sector of the country. Mrs Binka said there was evidence that Ghanaian women were interested in participating in mainstream political representation in the country but were constrained by factors such as socio-economic barriers that confront and discriminate against them. Mrs Joana Opare, Gender and Development Consultant and a Resource Person said government must ensure proper political will towards instituting affirmative action which was indispensable for women’s progress in political participation. “Political parties must also ensure that at least 50 per cent representation of women in party executive and other internal decision making structures,” she stressed. Alhaji Ahmadu Yirisah, Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) commended WOMEC, for the workshop that would build the capacity of media personnel in promoting women in politics. He called on Journalists to support women to participate in governance to ensure they were adequately represented in Parliament.Source: GNA