Civil Society organisation, SEND-Ghana, has appealed to the Minister of Gender Ministry to speed up the process of getting the Affirmative Action draft bill into law.

According to SEND, whose vision is to promote the idea of having a society where people’s rights and well-being are guaranteed,  the passage into law of the Affirmative Action draft bill is long overdue.

Recounting commitments made by government on the passage of the Affirmative Action law, SEND Ghana observed that, promises made by the Ministry has not been fulfilled.

At a Market Place event organised in Accra to honour Ghanaian women as part of International Women Day celebration, it came to light that, one of such promise was made at the 6th Biennial Conference of District Assembly Women on the 23rd of June 2013, where Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection said her Ministry will by the end of September of 2013, lay an Affirmative Action draft bill before Parliament to help address the gender imbalances in the society.

The law according to Nana Oye Lithur, would address the startling gender inequalities in the society and ensure the full inclusiveness of women in the decision making process.

She added that, the law is the only way for Ghana to attain gender equality with respect to women’s participation in decision making.

Stressing that, the passage of the affirmative action law is a strategy to achieve gender equality.

Nana Oye Lithur, on 1st July, 2014, announced again at a validation workshop on the draft Affirmative Action Bill in Koforidua in the Eastern Region that, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MOGCSP) has indicated its commitment to work earnestly towards the submission of the Affirmative Action draft bill to Parliament by December this year.

And on 8th March 2015, the same Gender Minister, Nana Oye Lithur said the bill “will head to Cabinet before the end of the year.”

Speaking the event, Honourable Dela Sowah, Member of Parliament for Kpando and Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection took the opportunity to praise the efforts of Ghanaian women.

“Women hold the economy of this country. Rural women are the reason why we get food to eat every day.”

The basic convention is to stop all forms of discrimination against women and girls.

In Ghana, even though we have gone a long way, we agree there is a lot to be done. Though women forms about 51% of Ghana’s population, however if you look at the society even in the political arena, you will find that, that representation is not reflected. Meanwhile when things are in put the hands of women, there is a lot we can do. If women were fully in charge in this nation, I am sure a lot of the things we hear about, we wouldn’t hear, Sowah said.

Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF-Ghana) and the GROW Campaign partners in Ghana also took the opportunity to pay special tribute to women and called on government to create equal social, political and economic opportunities for women.