According to the Co-Chair of the Platform, Mr Joseph Tettey Afangbe, the lack of active par­ticipation of women in town hall meetings due to factors such as the patrilineal nature of the Ghanaian society could prevent the country from achieving SDG 5, which focused on gender equality.

Mr Afangbe made the call at a validation meeting held in Accra yesterday on the voluntary national review (VNR) shadow report on citizens’ perspective and participa­tion in town hall meetings.

The report by the Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs revealed that 58 per cent of male participated in town hall meetings while the re­maining 42 per cent of participants were females.

Mr Afangbe, in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the meeting, said that, “After our engagement with citizens with regards to town hall meetings, we have realised that women are un­able to join town hall meetings and that is having an impact on SDG 5, which focuses on gender equality.”

He also bemoaned the low level of youth participation in town hall meetings due to factors such as the emergence of social media.

He explained that the youth represented the future of the country and therefore it was important for them to participate in town hall meetings at both the national, regional, and local level to en­able them contribute to government policies, including policies on the SDGs.

Moreover, Mr Afangbe said that he was optimistic that Ghana was capable of achieving the objectives of the SDGs set by the United Nations (UN) by 2030.

According to him, the current government as well as successive governments had developed a number of initiatives in various sectors of the economy; including the education and health sector, to ensure that the country achieves the objectives of the SDGs.

“I think that we have come a very long way and having spent 10 years and having left with five years, I believe that Ghana is on its way to at least achieve 45 to 50 per cent of the SDGs,” Mr Afangbe elaborated.

Mt Afang­be said that the report, after the validation meeting, would be shared with key stakeholders while he CSOs Platform on SDGs would further engage women to sensitise them on the importance of their active participation in town hall meetings.

The National Coordinator of the Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs, Ms Levlyn Konadu Asiedu, who shared the prelimi­nary findings of the report, said that although there was a marginal increase in the number of persons with disabilities who participated in town hall meetings, accessibility in town hall meetings was partial at the local level.

She, therefore, called on the Metropolitan, Municipal, and Dis­trict Assemblies (MMDAs) to pay attention to the diverse individu­als who participated in town hall meetings and tailor the meeting to suit the needs of participants.

Other recommendations made by the report were the use of online platforms for the dissemina­tion of information, strengthening of media engagement by MMDAs, sensitisation of the citizenry on the importance of town hall meetings, and encouragement of the citizen­ry to exercise their rights during town hall meetings.