Using Affirmative Action to Promote Womens Essay Example for Free

Using Affirmative Action to Promote Womens Essay 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 enhance women’s participation in Ghana. WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN GHANA Although there is no law in Ghana that prevents women from participating in politics or in areas of Ghana’s economic or social life, women are generally under-represented in politics and in public life. There seems to be no long term strategic framework put in place to address this failure. This has been attributed to a lack of political will and a deficient commitment to gender equality among political parties. Gender advocates have asked that government and its agencies, political parties and relevant public and private institutions should take actions that ensure and assure their active commitment to improving the current situation of women’s low representation in politics and public appointive positions at all levels.