IWD 25: Ghana must consolidate women’s rights gains – Dwamena-Aboagye
On Ghana’s progress, she acknowledged the strides made in education, affirmative action, and women’s political participation since 1975. However, she cautioned against complacency, urging the government—especially the Gender Ministry—to strengthen coordination across all sectors to ensure sustained progress.
Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, Executive Director of The Ark Foundation, has urged Ghana to consolidate its progress on women’s rights by strengthening gender mainstreaming across all sectors of the economy.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s The Forum during a special International Women’s Day edition, on Saturday (8 March) Dwamena-Aboagye highlighted the persistent challenges women face, including discrimination, violence, and economic exclusion.
She stressed that gender-based violence is a cross-cutting issue linked to broader inequalities in areas such as land rights, inheritance, education, and political participation.
“Women’s issues are interconnected—whether it’s spousal property, land rights, or human rights. When women are pushed to the margins, the likelihood of violence against them increases,” she noted.
Dwamena-Aboagye pointed to the exploitation of young girls migrating from northern Ghana to urban areas, where they often fall victim to abuse due to homelessness and economic vulnerability. She described how some are forced into exploitative arrangements, including sexual violence, just to secure a place to sleep.
On Ghana’s progress, she acknowledged the strides made in education, affirmative action, and women’s political participation since 1975. However, she cautioned against complacency, urging the government—especially the Gender Ministry—to strengthen coordination across all sectors to ensure sustained progress.
She emphasized that empowering women is not just a social imperative but an economic one, calling on policymakers, including former President John Mahama and the Gender Ministry, to champion sector-wide consolidation of gender policies.
“The Gender Ministry must not focus only on women-specific programmes. It must have the power to ask, ‘How are we mainstreaming gender in agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, education, health, and sports?’ This is not just about money—it’s about policy cohesion and lifting the consciousness of all ministries to incorporate gender-responsive budgeting,” she explained.
“At this point, we can’t afford to go backwards. We must build on what we have achieved and ensure that gender equality is coordinated at all levels—from national policy to local governance,” she stated.
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