Bolgatanga, April 24, GNA - Political parties have been urged to support more aspiring Assemblywomen to contest the forthcoming District Assembly election scheduled for the third quarter of this year. The Chairman of the Upper East Regional Inter-Sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET), Mr Daud James Abang-Gos, made the call during a stakeholder-meeting held at Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital on Friday.

RISEGNET is a gender network that seeks to promote women participation in governance at all levels and dealing with other negative issues affecting women in society. Mr Abang-Gos stressed the need for political parties to stop paying lip services to giving more positions to women while in government and actualize the promises they make to the course of women. He explained that in spite of the fact 30 per cent of women should participate in the District Assembly, it was not so and this was affecting issues of development.

Mr Abang-Gos noted that RISEGNET in the past had organized series of capacity building programmes including public speaking, lobbying skills, sensitization programmes in communities among others for aspiring assembly women through support from Action Aid Ghana (AAG) and Ibis Africa, all Non Governmental Organizations. He added that this had led to victory for some women, who contested the Assembly elections. He said through the efforts of RISEGNET, the region now had Assembly Women caucus made up of 55 of which 21 were elected and 34 appointed by government. Mr Gregory Dery, Gender and Women's Rights Programme Officer of Action Aid Ghana (AAG) and also a member of RISEGNET said governments have failed to take advantage of the opportunity available through the Constitution to appoint 30 per cent of assembly members in favour of women. He said among all the nine districts in the region, it was only the Kassena-Nankana and Bongo District Assemblies that seemed to have considered a number of women for appointments. Mr Dery appealed to political parties to bury their political differences and to dialogue and team up to support aspiring Assembly women irrespective of their political lineage if only they were capable of performing.

He noted that some political parties supported aspiring women in the last district assembly election without taking cognizance of their abilities to deliver and that had affected the performance of many assemblies. A former Assembly Woman for Zoliba Tindongo in the Talensi-Nabdam District in the region called on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to come out early with its educational programmes to sensitize the public on the need to vote for women contesting the assembly election. The Bolgatanga Municipal Director of NCCE, Mr Cletus Abang, said his outfit had lined up a number of programmes including presentation of manifestoes, public speaking, campaign strategies, radio discussions, among others to support Aspiring Assembly women during the forthcoming District Assembly Election. The stakeholder-meeting attracted participants from Civil Society Organizations, NCCE officials, Media practitioners among others. They pledged to encourage and support more women, who would be contesting the election. 24 April 10