The Executive Director of FIDA Ghana, Susan Aryeetey, has urged the government and relevant stakeholders to move beyond the passage of the Affirmative Action, Gender Equity Bill by taking concrete steps to implement it across all sectors of society.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Monday, July 28, Ms. Aryeetey noted that although the passage of the bill is a step in the right direction, the real work lies in enforcing its provisions to correct long-standing gender imbalances.

“Going forward, we are still experiencing the imbalance you find almost everywhere. Even on boards, you will find 10 men and three women. The disparity and imbalance are not something we should rejoice in,” she said.

Her remarks come after Parliament passed the Affirmative Action, Gender Equity Bill, 2024, which seeks to tackle the deep-rooted cultural, social, economic, and political discrimination against women in Ghana. The legislation is designed to promote equal representation in both the public and private sectors.

Ms. Aryeetey emphasised that having the law on paper is not enough, adding that “Fine, we have passed the law, which means we’ve taken steps toward correcting it. Now this is where the work starts. The law is there; it shouldn’t just be in the statutory books, it should be implemented.”

The Affirmative Action Bill mandates proactive measures to ensure women are fairly represented in decision-making spaces and leadership positions, including on corporate boards, in Parliament, and within government institutions.