Building critical mass: Empowering young women in Ghana to lead the women’s movement
It was my first week in Accra. I was just getting settled and didn’t know too many people (read: none). I thought it would be good idea to get out of the house for a night. Luckily, a popular bar and restaurant was located just down the street from my host family. I grabbed my book, sat at the bar and ordered my very first Ghanaian beer. No sooner did I open my book when a stylish young man in his mid-twenties (about my age) sat next to me, ordered a Heineken and initiated conversation.
We began with the usual formalities.
Where you from?
Canada.
How long are you here?
Five months.
Are you a student?
Nope, volunteer.
Do you like it here?
Yes.
Are you married?
No..um... yes. Married yes.
Are you sure?
Maybe.
What is your name?
Gabrielle, what is your name?
Steve.
Teve?
No Steve. What kind of a name is Teve?
I was going to ask you the same thing.
After some friendly chatter, we got to discussing the purpose of my volunteer work in Ghana.
I told Steve (not Teve) that I was working for ABANTU for Development, a women’s rights non-profit dedicated to advancing gender equality in Africa. The organization focuses much of its efforts on influencing policy and building the capacity of women to become leaders and decision-makers at all levels of public life. My particular role at ABANTU is to assist in the development of their Young Women’s Mentorship Programme, which cultivates leadership skills in young women.
Crossroads has worked with ABANTU for several years now. Recent initiatives, focusing on young women’s empowerment have led the two organizations and Canadian partner YWCA Canada, to work together closely. The exchange of ideas and practices among the three organizations has fed richly into the mentorship programme.
Why young women’s empowerment? Why now? The program was launched three years ago with the recognition that long-term and lasting change depends on building confidence, skills, knowledge and capacities in young women. Since then its graduates have surpassed the organization’s expectations. Many participants entered the program as timid young women with little confidence and political knowledge. These same women are now amongst the first females to hold leadership positions in Ghana’s national student unions and other governing bodies in various universities and trade schools.
“We think that incorporating the vigor and enthusiasm of young people will be good for the women’s movement in Ghana,” explained Hamidah Harrison, Programme Manager at ABANTU for Development’s West-African Regional Office. Harrison added that aside from developing a pool of young women with the skills to be leaders in their communities, the mentorship programme also aims to address the apathetic political attitude she sees in young Ghanaians today.
“We hope that we can excite these young people, introduce them to the processes of governance whereby their capacities will be built,” she said.
This isn’t what I told Steve, though. I gave him the abridged version of my volunteer mission, highlighting ABANTU’s mandate to increase women’s participation in governance and political life.
“Oh! Women do not belong in politics!” Steve interjected with a laugh, shaking his head before taking a sip from his beer.
For the feminist in me, Steve’s comment was like the ringing bell one hears at the start of a boxing match.
“Ding!” Alright dukes up, Steve! I’ve got four years of Women’s Studies parlance to unleash on you!
The cautious foreigner in me, however, chose to exercise a little tact. So I laughed along with Steve and through a smile asked:
“What?! Why do women not belong in politics?” Hold your smile Gabrielle.
I was met with the expected remarks - women are too emotional and unstable for the politics. They can’t think beyond their own needs or the needs of other women. They aren’t natural leaders. They can’t make decisions etc. etc.
Despite the popular travel advice to avoid discussions on politics or religion, I challenged Steve on his patriarchal views. Luckily, he accepted and enjoyed the challenge and the conversation was quite engaging. The gloves never did come off, so to speak.
I realize now that when I left the bar that night, I really should have thanked Steve. I couldn’t have asked for a better affirmation of the relevancy of both my volunteer mandate and the organization I was to be working with for five months.
I have to admit, I wasn’t so much surprised by Steve’s opinion but at how comfortable he was expressing it. Many Canadians still cling desperately to patriarchal views but good luck trying to get any of them to admit it! “Politically incorrect” views are hard to tease out of Canadians. However, I wasn’t in Canada anymore and it was high time I started learning about what women’s rights looked like on the ground in Ghana.
Fifteen years have passed since Ghana joined the world in accepting the United Nations’ forward-looking action plan on women’s rights, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China in 1995. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action sought to accelerate equality across the globe. However, gender activists in Ghana remain deeply unimpressed. Women in the country occupy a paltry 8.6 per cent of Parliamentary seats — a far reach from the 30 per cent target set at Beijing, and quite a distance from the 18.4 per cent African average.
Fortunately, this disheartening progress has failed to curb the dedication and passion exhibited by Ghana’s women’s movement. To the contrary, the past 15 years have seen the rapid development of an unforgiving, sophisticated and highly visible national campaign for gender equality.
Though their optimism is unyielding, advocates remain realistic about the progress they expect to see in the near future. Meeting the Beijing targets will not only require policy reforms and strong political will, but also a national shift in mindset, away from the patriarchal status quo that excludes women from public life.
The realization of this grander mission will not take place in a mere finger snap, or in a conversation over beers at the local bar. Progress will only reveal itself over the course of generations. However, the time to invest in the young women who will lead this ideological rewriting is now. And no one realizes this more than ABANTU.
“We will no longer have the excuse from male-dominated governments that Ghana can’t find the women,” said Harrison, addressing the often-cited excuse that there aren’t women capable or willing to vie for leadership positions.
“They will be there in critical mass.”
Sorry Steve, but it looks like women aren’t exiting the ring any time soon.
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