By Edzorna Francis Mensah
Parliament on Tuesday, 30th July 2024, has passed the much-awaited Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill, 2024 into law, aiming to provide equal opportunities for all sexes.
The purpose of the Bill is to effectively address social, cultural, economic, and political gender imbalances in the country, which stem from historical discrimination against women and persistent patriarchal socio-cultural systems and norms. The unequal participation of both men and women in development processes and outcomes reinforces the unequal status of men and women, undermining the sustainable development of the country.
The Bill seeks to provide an accountability framework for gender equality and the empowerment of women, aimed at providing both executive and legislative yardsticks for measuring the country’s commitment and progress towards achieving gender equality. It further seeks to address discrimination against women with disabilities and promotes their full inclusion and participation in social, economic, political, and cultural spheres of life in accordance with the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715).
Presenting the report of the Committee on Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Chairperson Patricia Apiagyie justified the Bill by stating that it is consistent with the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Article 35 of the 1992 Constitution requires the Government to “promote the integration of the people of Ghana and prohibit discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of place of origin, circumstances of birth, ethnic origin, gender, or religion, creed, or other beliefs.”
The Constitution further empowers the State to “take appropriate measures to achieve reasonable regional and gender balance in recruitment and appointments to public office.” The Affirmative Action Legislation is seen as an appropriate measure to achieve gender balance, as previous interventions have not adequately achieved the gender equality envisaged in the Constitution.
Ghana is a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which require the government to demonstrate its commitment towards achieving these goals, particularly Goal 5, which states that “gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls” should be achieved by 2030.
