ACEPA Enhances the Skills of Gender-Based CSOs in Parliamentary Advocacy and Engagement
Advocacy is an essential tool used by Civil Society organizations to achieve their mission to advance collective interests, solve shared problems and defend social causes.
As organizations that facilitate communication between citizens and policymakers, parliaments constitute key stakeholders that CSOs engage in the process of inclusive legislation for government accountable for providing services or promoting gender-responsive policies of change.
It is within this context that, the Africa Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) in partnership with the Canadian government’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) organized a 2-day intensive training on approaches to effective engagement in the legislative process of the Parliament of Ghana for CSOs and Women Rights Advocacy Groups.
The training, which took place in Accra from 20-21 June, 2023, attracted participants from ABANTU for Development, SEND Ghana, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI), Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) and the Ghana Federation of Disability (GFD).
The training focused on the CSO’s understanding of the legislative process leading to Bills, Laws and as well as how they could effectively engage parliament and parliamentarians to respond to issues of gender concern.
The participants were also sensitized on the function, structure, types of committees and their specific roles, and how to identify the ability of civil society organizations to effectively engage with parliament.
Parliaments, according to the Organizers have a critical role in the policymaking process with support from the CSOs.
Dr Gifty Adika, National Parliamentary Advisor on Inclusive Legislatures for Gender-Responsive Policies (ILGRP) of ACEPA said “The project will strengthen the knowledge of CSOs and women rights groups working on parliamentary-related issues and their capacities to engage effectively with parliament and it will include a substantial focus on engaging CSOs as well as individual women and girls and having their voices taken into account in the decision-making process.”
“Ultimately, these experiences will inform institutionalization and the development of practices and tools aimed at making the parliaments’ legislative and oversight work more inclusive and gender-responsive,” she added.
The training was a blend of lectures, group works, role play of parliament committees, and experience-sharing sessions. It gave also the occasion for participants to understudy cases of a successful policy reform process and how to get parliamentarians to support the CSOs in the gender response issues in the nation.
A gender-based activist of LAWA, Ms. Becky Enyonam Ahadzi took the participants through the function and structure of parliament, the law-making process, and the opportunities of integrating gender issues in the legislative process, among others.
She stressed the need for CSOs and women’s rights groups to intensify their lobby skills, engage parliament on specific issues, share research findings, develops relations with MPs, and do follow up on matters of interest after such issues are laid before parliament.
When asked how participants were going to use the knowledge and skills gained at their training, Ms. Agnes Titriku of ACEPA said the primary focus will be to provide the participants with an effective way of engaging parliament and parliamentarians.
According to her, inputs from the CSOs help to strengthen and enhance legislation, hence the need to sensitize them on the procedures of enacting laws, especially women’s rights issues.
She told EXPRESS NEWS TV that the training would empower the CSOs to get more involved in the parliamentary process of the country.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
About Author
