WiLDAF wants another woman in Chereponi

Frederick Asiamah

There were nineteen (19) female Members of Parliament (MPs) before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Chereponi in the Northern Region, Mrs Doris Asibi Seidu passed away last weekend. Though the Electoral Commission is yet to announce the date and open nominations for the by-election to elect her replacement, the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF)-Ghana is determined to lobby the two major parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the largest opposition party NPP to field a woman each. Mr. Frank Wilson Bodza, WiLDAF-Ghana’s Programme Officer for Governance, while telling the story of the organization, minced no words about the need for another female representative to sustain the struggle for equal representation of men and women in governance.

Organisational Identity

Started in 1993, WiLDAF-Ghana, a rights-based women’s non-governmental organization, is one of the many focal offices of WiLDAF, which is a pan-African network of organizations and individuals established in 1991 in Harare, Zimbabwe. It leads in the crusade for societal reform to respond more positively to law and development issues affecting women in Ghana in particular and Africa in general.

WiLDAF-Ghana’s vision is “A Ghana where women’s rights are respected, promoted and protected.” Its mission statement is to empower women by promoting their rights; and increasing their participation and influence at the community, national, and international levels through initiating, promoting, and strengthening strategies which link law and development.

Nine values underpin WiLDAF-Ghana’s operations and engagement with stakeholders. These include: recognize and respect the rights of others; promote and encourage people to take ownership of their change and their human rights; recognize the potential of people to empower themselves; and commitment to promoting the rights of women in Ghana. The rest are: uphold the fundamental values of pan-African WiLDAF; aim for effective delivery of programme priorities; aspire to good practice in management; value institutional learning, knowledge management and personal development; and work in partnership with government and civil society.

WiLDAF-Ghana outlines six (6) objectives for achieving its vision: to build the capacity of various groups to effectively use the rights-based approach in advocating the rights of women in Ghana; to build a data bank on women’s rights issues in Ghana; to develop the institutional and human resource capacities of WiLDAF and network members to achieve the vision and mission of WiLDAF-Ghana; to develop and establish relationships and linkages with women-focused institutions and individuals in Ghana; to expand the legal awareness programme; and to design and develop sustainable sources of funding for WiLDAF-Ghana.

Its core strategies are: increased and more efficient and effective advocacy on rights of women nationally and internationally; increased research in more areas to enhance the quality of advocacy and legal awareness and to facilitate the design and development of a database and documentation centre on women’s rights issues nationally and internationally; and re-organize and re-structure the human resource base of the organization. The rest are strengthen the network to better influence policies at national, sub-regional and international levels; expand the geographical space of the organization’s areas of operation to two other regions; and expand the funds mobilsation base of the organization.

SWOT

The organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are created by internal and external factors. WiLDAF-Ghana has strength in unique programmes and activities. Its Legal Awareness Programme (LAP) has received general recognition for its developmental impact in target communities. Currently in Ghana, no organization does the kind of paralegal training that WiLDAF is engaged in. The LAP, by training people from the various districts in the regions, is able to extend the organisation’s coverage to many more people. This has positioned the organization as a women’s advocacy organization in its operational areas. Mr. Wilson Bodza says through the LAP, the organization has produced trainees who have proven to be skilled Legal Literacy Volunteers. WiLDAF-Ghana also has permanent offices in four regions – the Central, Western, Greater Accra and Volta regions. It has well qualified staff; ”At least every programme officer is a graduate.” Again, donors deem WiLDAF-Ghana as a credible organization that is worth their support.

However, WiLDAF is still shopping for substantive legal officers to carry out advocacy activities at the local level. The problem is that lawyers are not willing to stay in the regions, Mr. Bodza says. The challenge therefore is being able to convince people to work in the regions.

Opportunities abound for the organization in many respects. For instance, there is increasing demand for rights awareness programmes locally and internationally. And, there is still ignorance of a large section of society on rights and this offers opportunity for undertaking educational and sensitization programmes.

On the other hand, the lack of understanding among organizations with the same objective as WiLDAF-Ghana on how to work together for a win-win situation and not as competitors poses a threat. Another threat is posed by political influence on rights issues.

Funding

The organization has three strategies for securing funding. These are proposal writing for funding projects, consultancy services to increase internally generated funds, and fund-raising activities for specific projects. Mr. Bodza states that the organization has become so attractive that donors now call in to offer support. This is the result of transparent management of funds and teamwork. Presently, there are about ten donors, among them are the Department for International Development (DFID) of UK, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Actionaid Ghana, Womankind and the Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme (G-RAP). The support varies from core funding to specific project funding (SPF). WiLDAF’s relationship with G-RAP has been since the inception of G-RAP and will end in 2010. The G-RAP support has always been core funding.

Programmes

The main thrust of WiLDAF-Ghana’s operation has been to raise issues with some policies, practices, and cultural attitudes which are detrimental to women. According to Mr. Bodza, the organization has two main programmes, namely Community Access to Justice and Women’s Participation in Democratic Governance.

Under the Community Access to Justice, WiLDAF-Ghana works on advocacy issues that give women greater access to justice. It has worked on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights of Women in Africa by advocating ratification and domestication by the government of Ghana and carrying out activities for its implementation in Ghana. It consolidates its niche area in Ghana by strengthening legal literacy work, as well as, venturing into new geographic areas that enhance its work across the country. Counselling, Mediation, Court representation and community education on specific family laws are part of this programme area.

The Women’s Participation in Democratic Governance programme area seeks to build capacity of district assemblies, build solid coalitions across the countries that advocate participation of women in decision making particularly in the decentralization and parliamentary processes; track and report on Government commitment to affirmative action in the nomination of women to district assemblies; and establish and implement a female-youth mentoring on leadership in governance.

Publications

WiLDAF-Ghana has made, and continues to make countless publications. Some of the recent important publications are The Process of Lawmaking in Ghana leaflet (2008), Citizens Education for Election Guidebook (2008), Legal Literacy Education in Ghana (2008), Women’s Participation in Good Governance (2007), Training Manual for Women’s Participation in Good Governance (2007), and Consolidated Concerns of Women for 2008 Elections and Beyond (2008). Others are Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS – Facts, Interviews and Stories (2006), 7 December 2008 Elections in Ghana – How Sunday Voting Affects the Voting Behaviour of Christian Women (2008), Domestic Violence Act 2007, Act 732 – Simplified Version (2008), and Pathways to Law Reform – Advocating Rights of Persons in Consensual Unions in Ghana 2006-2008.

Impact

The Programme Officer for Governance points out, “Today people mention women at every event.” This is because WiLDAF-Ghana has helped to raise awareness about women’s participation in governance leading to the acceptance of women as important actors. Besides, the organisation’s offices have become a point of call for persons seeking justice. This is as a result of the Community Access to Justice Programme. Presently, people are able to secure child labour allowances from errant fathers.

Looking into the future

The major changes WiLDAF-Ghana expects revolve around the organisation’s vision. Mr. Bodza says the expectation is that very Ghanaian Woman will be empowered in whatever way they desire. Going forward, the organization shall keep the pace of advocacy work through engagement with government and educating people to be aware of petty issues.

Mr. Bodza challenges the government to go the extra mile to implement provisions of laws regarding women’s rights. And, the media should make women’s issues central in their reportage.