APPOINT MORE WOMEN!
Dear Mr. President,
Your second term has begun.
I would like to introduce you to the Vote4Women campaign with the hashtag #AppointMoreWomen. It’s a non-partisan political effort aimed at increasing the number of women in governance and leadership. How powerful to witness the campaign that has lit up social media introducing us to women with powerhouse credentials. How sadly necessary to once again call on your office, your party to push for the kind of representation in our politics that reflects our nation, and brings fresh ideas, vision and leadership to a politics so often marred by outdated ideas that do not serve a nation’s progress and its citizen’s fullest realization of their skills and talents.
Numbers are instructive here. From 1992 to 2016, a total of 1,610 members were elected to Ghana’s Parliament. Out of this number, only 94 were women. Right now, 40 of the 275 MPs are women. Just 40. Women have always made up a cool 50% of our nation’s population.
This letter is not about making a case for gender. That too is the issue. Women are citizens; therefore our case has been made. We still need to say that women are citizens, and should have the fullest access to all areas of a nation, including governance and leadership.
So, here we stand. This becomes a question of your legacy, Mr. President. The titles have been showered on your office, they have ignited initiatives. The ongoing call is for the kind of governance and leadership within politics that feeds the progress we claim we want.
Each of us has a role to play. Each of our roles is not the same, does not carry the same power or weight, but each is vital in contributing to improving the whole. So, this letter is to engage you to do your work, make action your path, leave the rhetoric in the first term, and turn the noise of politics to the increased numbers of women in governance, as well as Affirmative Action bill implementation. I have spent too many columns writing about the Affirmative Action legislation – a bill that has attracted ire, controversy, advocacy, activism, discussion, derision, campaign upon campaign – but remains unimplemented as we enter your second term.
The barriers to appointment have always been the same. The barrier is a belief system backed by unwritten but staunch policy and discriminatory practice, masquerading as culture. Women lead, no nation works unless they do. It is not a question of capability, but of willingness to do the hard work of confronting that element of our society that elevates women in spaces where they serve men, but chastises them if they seek spaces where they lead men. Power is not a gendered possession.
So, in conclusion, Term 2 here you come. Here we come too. One message, one call to action. Appoint more women.
Sincerely yours,
1 of the 50%
***
Esther Armah is Executive Director, The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice, a global institute implementing a visionary framework for racial and cultural healing. Headquartered in Ghana, it is also registered in the US and the U., The Institute does 3 things: Projects, Training, Thought Leadership. Website: www.theaiej.com.
The post An Open Letter to a Gender Champion President appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.
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