ACEPA Builds Capacity of CSOs in Effective Legislative Process and Parliamentary Engagement
As part of its capacity building and sensitization programmes, the Africa Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) in collaboration with the Parliamentary Centre and with funding support by Global Affairs Canada for the Inclusive Legislatures for Gender -Responsive Policies (ILGRP) have organized a two-day training workshop in Accra for selected Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on approaches to effective engagement in the legislative and oversight process of the parliament of Ghana.
The training was to equip the CSOs with the requisite knowledge on how to effectively engage in the oversight process of parliament, Ghana’s governance’s gender equality commitment and how the CSO could design and undertake engagement with parliament and its select committees as part of legislative process.
Mr. Issifu Lampo, Senior Governance Advisor at ACEPA took the participating CSOs through various topics including effective engagement in the oversight process of parliament, how to design and undertake engagement with parliament linked to the legislative process, among other practical sessions.
Speaking to EXPRESSNEWSGHANA after the two-day workshop on Thursday, March 14, 2024, Mr. Lampo said CSOs play critical roles for the Inclusive Legislatures for Gender Responsive Policies (ILGRP) and emphasized the importance of the promotion of gender-responsive legislation in the country.
He said the CSOs are the gatekeepers of most of the gender based legislation and getting to understand and appreciate the practical process of getting Bills and others legislative process through the select committees is very crucial.
The workshop, Mr. Lampo said, was to build the capacity of CSOs to effectively engage parliament through their input into drafting laws and budget deliberations.
He added that, the training was to also build the professional competence of CSOs for a constructive engagement with the Parliament of Ghana, stressing that it also aimed at ensuring that the participants would utilize the skills and approaches gained to include gender perspectives in their submissions to the Parliament of Ghana.
Generally, he said Ghana is doing well in gender based issues but still lagged behind that of Kenya and Togo in other aspects, especially in political and parliamentary representations and expressed the hope that, the CSOs would use the knowledge gained to enhance their engagement with parliament on gender issues.
Madam Lillian Bruce, Gender and CSOs Advisor of ILGRP at ACEPA, took the participant through the overview of the ILGRP project and the gender roles and norms that continue to affect women’s participation in leadership and decision-making roles.
According to her, despite Ghana’s progress in enhancing women’s representation, challenges remain, particularly in Parliament, business, and other key areas.
She highlighted the potential negative impact of the recent parliamentary primaries of the two leading political parties, thus NPP and NDC and the upcoming general elections on women’s parliamentary seats and expressed the need for continued efforts to break systemic barriers and promote gender inclusivity.
In her closing remarks, the National Parliamentary Advisor and Team Manager of ILGRP at ACEPA, Dr Gifty Adika noted that CSOs are major national stakeholders that are critical to the public policy advocacy of parliament and there must ensure their voices are heard in decision-making processes.
She lauded the participating CSOs for their active role in the process but added that they must do more in sensitizing citizens on new laws that have been passed and bills that are pending before parliament, especially the Affirmative Action Bill, the Spouses Bill, the Labour Act amendment Bill that sought to increase Maternity Leave and introduce Paternity Leave, among others.
Some of the beneficiary CSOs were FIDA, ABANTU, CDD Ghana, IDEG, NORSAAC, AABILL, WILDAF, AFAWI, among others.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
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