Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo is challenging authorities to take real steps to enforce legislation that gives quota for women to occupy certain positions to ensure true gender inclusion.

She said “If you look at the proportion of women in parliament and their participation in the top-level within the corporate world, it is not good. But at the middle level, we are doing ok. 

“Some countries for instance and go to the extent of having rules and regulations that have enacted proportions, showing the minimum number of women who should be in parliament and sometimes allocate some seats that can only be contested by women”.

“So we cannot continue to speak gender equality and have very few practices that are formally geared to ensuring that we realize it because we are lagging behind,” she added.

The former Chief Justice was speaking at an event to celebrate the International Women’s Day in Accra.

The event organized by MTN Ghana was under the theme: Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.

The Human Resource Executive for MTN Ghana Amma Benneh Amponsah also called for more flexible company policies to allow women to participate effectively at work. 

According to her, most women in the workplace are struggling, a lot of women within a certain age have children and sometimes catering for old parents which will require them having some flexibility at work to meet these demands. 

She said, “We need workplace accommodation practices that are flexible and will allow women to show up at work, be at work, contribute at work and not get discriminated at work so she can have the same and equal opportunities like the male colleagues at work”.

This year’s International Women’s celebration also marked the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The Declaration provides a roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere.