Overview
The Inclusive Legislatures for Gender-Responsive Policies (ILGRP) Project is a 4-year Government of Canada-funded program implemented in partnership with the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, Ghana, and the Parliamentary Centre, Canada. The project seeks to improve the effectiveness of elected officials in Ghana, Kenya, and Togo, to advance inclusive and gender-responsive laws, policies, and budgets, and improve the engagement of civil society and marginalized people (particularly women and girls) in decision-making and democratic processes. The project started in March 2022.
ACEPA and the Parliamentary Centre are working with civil society and parliamentarians in Ghana, Kenya, and Togo to improve development outcomes and human rights by ensuring consideration of the differential impacts of policies, laws, and budgets on the poorest and most marginalized populations, particularly women and girls. ILGRP will enhance the capacity of the two legislatures to 1) formulate and operationalize detailed gender-responsive institutional strategies and plans: 2) implement administrative reforms for efficient gender-sensitive resource utilization and service delivery: 3) amend and pass inclusive gender laws, including gender-sensitive budgets; 4) oversee the achievement of gender equality commitments by executive branches; and 5) connect with citizens, in particular women and girls, to take into account their views and needs in legislative and oversight processes. The project will strengthen the knowledge of CSOs working on parliamentary-related issues and their capacities to engage effectively with parliaments.
Interventions
Activities will include citizen engagement, institutional strengthening, knowledge exchange, parliamentary networking, and practical training. The project will explore mechanisms to facilitate public participation, including digital technology. This will be used to engage about 35 CSOs, including Women’s Rights Groups, along with an estimated 300,000 women and girls, particularly the poorest and most marginalized, to enable them to share their views on legislation/policies and to provide direct feedback to decision-makers on how government programs impact their lives. These efforts will inform the development and institutionalization of policies, tools, and practices for enabling parliaments’ legislative and oversight work to be more inclusive and gender-responsive. Representing different governance and legal systems, as well as differing pandemic realities, the experiences of Ghana, Kenya, and Togo will provide opportunities to share good practices and models.
Outcomes
The project is working towards three intermediate outcomes:
1. Strengthened the efficiency and transparency of the legislatures of Ghana, Kenya, and Togo in representing the needs of the poorest and most marginalised people, particularly women and girls.
2. Improved effectiveness of elected officials in Ghana, Kenya, and Togo in advancing inclusive and gender-responsive laws, policies, and budgets
3. Increased engagement of civil society and the poorest and most marginalized people, in particular women and girls, in decision-making and democratic processes in Ghana, Kenya, and Togo.
Partners
- Parliament of Ghana
- National Assembly of Togo
- Parliament of Kenya (National Assembly and Senate)
- Parliamentary Centre
- Global Affairs Canada