The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has urged Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) across the globe to act collectively to ensure that no one, especially women and girls, are left behind in any aspect of their national life.
According to him, there would be a time when women and men would enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including cultural, social, political and economic decision-making.
Speaker Bagbin is of the view that there can be no peace without justice and the much talked about peace, prosperity and sustainable development will continue to elude the world without gender equality.
Addressing the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly in Kigali, Mr Bagbin stated that since women constitute the majority of the world’s population, their interest must equally find expression in whatever we do, adding that this is a sine qua non to ensuring a more resilient and peaceful world.
“The reverse produces an antithesis – a polarised, divisive, bitter, poor, unjust, undeveloped and war-prone world,” he said.
The event, which is being held under the theme: “Gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world”, has attracted over 1,200 delegates, including Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliaments, representative of diplomatic corps and international observer bodies.
Mr. Bagbin stated that given the current demographics of more than 50 per cent of the global population being females, their equal participation in whatever society does is an imperative to ensure inclusive and responsive governance.
He said gender equality, when promoted through gender-sensitive, parliaments would be one of the most reliable and effective drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world.
Mr. Bagbin noted that, it is against this background that Goal Five of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target seek to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life.
He said Ghana’s Parliament is the heart and life blood of democracy and good governance, hence its composition ought to be a true reflection and a mirror of the people it represents.
This, he said, means all the people must be equally represented, heard and given equal opportunities.
Mr. Bagbin told the assembly that parliament itself could play a significant role in the creation of a gender-sensitive institution and that parliaments could remove barriers to the full participation of all sections of society, such as women, the youth, physically-challenged and minorities through legislation and policy adaptation mechanisms.
He disclosed that, in executing its mandate, a gender-sensitive parliament ought to ensure that policies and legislations are well scrutinised and subjected to gender analysis to include the articulation of the interest of all groups.
Mr. Bagbin said Ghana had definitely made conscious effort to support gender equality since 1958 and that her Parliament had been working to ensure the realisation of that goal, adding that the need to be a driver of change through a number of policy measures has not been lost on Ghana’s Parliament.
He said the efforts of Ghana towards the emancipation of women and the girl-child started from the creation of a desk in the Office of the President to the setting up of a Secretariat and from the creation of National Commission on Women and Development to the establishment of a full-blown Ministry of Gender and Children.
