Using Affirmative Action to Promote Women's Empowerment in Ghana
USING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO PROMOTE WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN GHANA
INTRODUCTION
Social Development, by definition, aims at promoting the welfare or well-being content and outcomes of development policy and practice, in ways that at the same time, advance the instrumentality or empowerment of individuals and groups. Social development does not only advocate for an improvement in well-being, but also that policies and programmes should advance a greater ability to effect change. Social Development must therefore be nested in social justice and equity at both individual and institutional levels.
The empowerment of persons who are vulnerable and excluded, promotion of social justice and equity are the main concerns of social policies, and this should transcend all aspects of society, including participation in governance and decision making. Inspite of the pivotal role women in Ghana play within the family, they are invisibly represented in governance and decision making sector of the economy. This is because there is no concrete policy measures in place to ensure that the structural inequality between men and women are taken into account in promoting participation in policy decision. Efforts are being made at various levels to address the marginalization of women in Ghana’s politics and other spheres of life, but this still remains an area of concern. In a country where women constitute about 51 percent, their involvement in development issues and political leadership should be of grave concern, and given due consideration. Affirmative action Policy is therefore viewed as the appropriate instrument to enhance women’s participation in governance and decision making in Ghana. This paper will therefore review women’s participation/empowerment in Ghana; outline various commitments seeking to enhance women’s participation in Ghana; the Affirmative Action Policy and finally look at expected outcomes of the Affirmative Action Policy and how it will
INTRODUCTION
Social Development, by definition, aims at promoting the welfare or well-being content and outcomes of development policy and practice, in ways that at the same time, advance the instrumentality or empowerment of individuals and groups. Social development does not only advocate for an improvement in well-being, but also that policies and programmes should advance a greater ability to effect change. Social Development must therefore be nested in social justice and equity at both individual and institutional levels.
The empowerment of persons who are vulnerable and excluded, promotion of social justice and equity are the main concerns of social policies, and this should transcend all aspects of society, including participation in governance and decision making. Inspite of the pivotal role women in Ghana play within the family, they are invisibly represented in governance and decision making sector of the economy. This is because there is no concrete policy measures in place to ensure that the structural inequality between men and women are taken into account in promoting participation in policy decision. Efforts are being made at various levels to address the marginalization of women in Ghana’s politics and other spheres of life, but this still remains an area of concern. In a country where women constitute about 51 percent, their involvement in development issues and political leadership should be of grave concern, and given due consideration. Affirmative action Policy is therefore viewed as the appropriate instrument to enhance women’s participation in governance and decision making in Ghana. This paper will therefore review women’s participation/empowerment in Ghana; outline various commitments seeking to enhance women’s participation in Ghana; the Affirmative Action Policy and finally look at expected outcomes of the Affirmative Action Policy and how it will