Enhancing participation of women and persons with disablility in governance (GHSMD0002)

Commitment ID

GHSMD0002

Commitment Title

Enhancing participation of women and persons with disablility in governance

Problem

There is a general call for the needs, priorities and opinions of both women and men to be attended to, and therefore ensuring that both benefits equally from social change and economic growth, and gender inequalities are eliminated. However, the following problems militate against the successful achievement of the above desires:

• Low representation of women and persons with disability in governance.
• Low capacity of women and PWDs on the legal frameworks on local governance, disability, inclusion and human rights that inhibits them from taking up roles and positions in governance.
• Absence of guidelines to institutionalise Gender responsive development plans and budgets
• Societal stereotypes attached to some positions
• Difficulty in accessing and inadequate transparency around the disbursement of the Disability Funds
• Weak sensitization and awareness on gender equality.

Inadequate actions, policy and strategy to address these challenges affecting persons with disability at the District level has led to partial inclusiveness, poor participation in governance, undesired output and reluctance to accept public roles.

Status quo

There are currently low representation of women and Persons with Disability (PWDs) in governance in the District. Despite the efforts of the local government and Non-Governmental Organisations in the District in addressing this problem, there are still gaps in bridging Gender equity and inclusion. For instance, there is 0% of women representation in elected political positions in the district. Only 8% (2) of the General Assembly (25 members) represented by women in the Shama District and only 4% (1) are represented by Persons with Disability. This 8% are not elected but appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the district, and therefore may not necessarily be the representatives of the people. Hence, a lot of these Women and PWDs are mostly left behind in terms of decision making in the District.

In addition to the above, there is some difficulty and inadequate transparency in accessing the Disability Funds. The current process in applying for support from the disability fund is through writing letters by potential beneficiaries to the District Chief Executive. Due to the low literacy level among the disability community, they are not able to clearly articulate their needs through this process.

Action

The commitment is to:

1. Formulate and implement an Affirmative Action Policy to increase the representation of women and PWDs in the General Assembly from 8% to 20% and 4% to 8% respectively.
2. Consciously build the capacity of women and PWDs on the legal frameworks on local governance, disability, inclusion and human rights to empower them to take up roles and positions in governance through sensitisation and logistics support
3. Appoint and train Gender Ambassadors among Assembly members to provide leadership and motivation.
4. Develop guidelines to institutionalise Gender responsive development plans and budgets
5. Develop and disseminate a simple application form for accessing the disability fund
6. Develop a template to compile and publicise the list of applicants; beneficiaries and cost of distributed items

Expected Results

1. An Affirmative Action Policy formulated and implemented
2. Increased representation of women and PWDs in General Assembly from 8% to 25% and 4% to 8% respectively
3. Women and PWDs taking up roles and positions in governance increased
4. Gender responsive development plans and budgets guidelines developed

There will be enough attention given to the vulnerable especially women and PWDs to build capacity, enhance confidence level and remove all stereotypes affecting them in society. This will create the enabling environment for their effective participation in the governance process.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

This commitment will lead to the reduction of structural barriers and community stereotypes that affect the representation and participation of women and PWDs in governance.

Ultimately, it will lead to increased capacity of women and Persons with Disability to accept roles and responsibilities in governance, participate actively in civic engagements and contribute to community development.

Again, the commitments will provide platform for vulnerable groups to excel in their current environment and realise their potential abilities and skills at the district level.

High possibility of increasing Women in General Assembly Election from 8% to 20% and PWDs from 4% to 8%at the District level. Women and PWDs will be motivated to actively engage in developmental activities within their communities.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

The commitment relates to district level and national long-term goals spelt out below:

• Improve the sociocultural status of vulnerable groups in the District.
• Attain gender equality and equity in political, social and economic development (National

Primary Policy Area

Safety Nets & Economic Inclusion, Social Accountability

Primary Sector

Cross-sectoral, Justice

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?