Young Urban Women’s Movement, an activist group of Young Females in the Upper East Region, is demanding urgent action to fully implement Ghana’s Affirmative Action Law.
Affiliated to ActionAid Ghana, the group in a communique as part of a Regional Women’s Forum to mark the International Women’s Day, 2025 called for the full and effective implementation of the Affirmative Action Law.
Held under the theme: “Acceleration: for Affirmative Action, the International Women’s Day Regional Women’s Forum sought to educate participants on the relevance of the Affirmative Action Law, and areas women can explore to ensure they demand what is due them.
In July 2024, Ghana’s Members of Parliament voted unanimously to pass the Affirmative Action and Gender Equity Bill into law, a move to bolster women’s participation in governance.
Despite efforts to reduce discrimination and ensure inclusion, inequalities persist.
This is seen in the low level of women representation in parliament, which currently stands at 39, challenges with women ownership of land to the point that women in some areas despite having their own resources, struggle to buy land.
Presenting the communiqué, the Chairperson of the Young Urban Women’s Movement, Dorcas Zoogah, noted that women are deeply affected by poverty and inequalities.
She explained that the passage of the law is not enough to guarantee the needed changes and is, therefore, calling for the full implementation of the Affirmative Action Law.
“Today, as we join the world in commemorating International Women’s Day, we, the Young Urban Women’s Movement in the Upper East Region, stand united to demand the full and effective implementation of Ghana’s Affirmative Action Law, which was passed in July 2024. This law marks a significant milestone in our nation’s journey toward gender equality, inclusive governance, and social justice. However, we recognize that passing a law is only the beginning—its success depends on deliberate and urgent action to ensure that the provisions of this law translate into real and tangible change for women and girls across Ghana.”
“For decades, women in Ghana have been underrepresented in leadership and decision-making spaces. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Report, women occupy only 14.5% of parliamentary seats, despite constituting over 50% of the population. This stark gender gap continues to hinder the country’s democratic development and economic growth,” the group said.
The Movement had the following demands;
“Fast-tracking the development of implementation guidelines and frameworks to ensure the law becomes fully operational without delay, Commitment to a 40% quota for women’s representation in all public and political appointments as stipulated in the law, to ensure women’s voices are heard at all levels of governance, increased funding and support for women’s empowerment programs to address economic inequalities and promote leadership development, strong enforcement mechanisms, and accountability structures to prevent the manipulation or dilution of the law’s objectives and National and local-level awareness campaigns to educate the public on the importance of affirmative action and the need for gender-inclusive policies.”
