By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 29, GNA — Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has reaffirmed Parliament’s commitment to promoting accountable, transparent and gender-responsive legislative planning.
He stated that Parliament would sustain reforms initiated under the Inclusive Legislatures for Gender-Responsive Policies (ILGRP) Project implemented by the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs and Parliamentary Centre of Canada.
Mr Bagbin said Parliament remained determined to consolidate gains made under the project and called on all stakeholders to work collectively to strengthen gender-responsive oversight and governance.
Mr Bagbin gave the assurance in a speech delivered on his behalf by Dr Sylvia Anneh, Special Advisor on Gender and Health Matters, at the closing event of activities under the ILGRP Project at Parliament House in Accra on Thursday.
Mr Bagbin stressed the need for institutional ownership of the project to ensure its long-term impact on parliamentary democracy and governance.
“The responsibility now is to ensure that the lessons of ILGRP become part of how Parliament plans its work, manages its resources and evaluates its performance,” he said.
The African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) presented a number of policy manuals to Parliament, including manuals on gender, anti-harassment, inclusiveness and gender budgeting.
The ILGRP Project was implemented from 2022 to 2026 through a partnership involving ACEPA, the Parliamentary Centre of Canada and the Parliament of Ghana.
The initiative sought to strengthen the capacities of Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff, civil society organisations and women’s rights groups to promote gender-responsive parliamentary oversight.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Rasheed Draman, Executive Director of ACEPA, described gender responsiveness as a fundamental requirement for effective and accountable governance rather than a favour to women.
He noted that legislatures could not fully deliver on their democratic mandate if policies, institutional cultures, processes and resource allocation systems failed to adequately respond to different needs and experiences of women and men.
“Gender responsiveness must move from being a project objective to becoming an institutional habit,” he stated.
Dr Draman explained that beyond increasing women’s representation in Parliament, inclusion should influence how institutions function, whose voices are heard, what issues receive attention and how public resources are allocated.
He urged Parliament to integrate gender considerations into legislation, budget scrutiny, oversight and representation functions to ensure that no group was left behind in governance processes.
The Executive Director of ACEPA cautioned that gains made under development projects could easily be lost if they were not institutionalised.
“What is not institutionalised is at risk of being lost,” he said, adding that the knowledge, tools and capacities developed under the ILGRP Project must be permanently embedded in Parliament’s structures and processes.
According to him, gender responsiveness should inform institutional planning, human resource management, budgeting, parliamentary procedures, and oversight mechanisms.
Dr Draman said the ultimate success of the project would not be measured by the number of workshops held or participants trained, but by whether gender analysis became an integral part of parliamentary decision-making and oversight activities in the years ahead.
He called for collective ownership of the reforms across Parliament to ensure sustainable progress towards inclusion and accountability.
He expressed ACEPA’s appreciation to Global Affairs Canada, Parliament of Ghana, the Parliamentary Service and other stakeholders for their support throughout the implementation of the project.
“Projects have timelines, but the responsibility to build inclusive institutions does not expire with a project,” Dr Draman said.
He expressed the hope that the reforms championed under the ILGRP Project would become part of Parliament’s institutional culture, helping to create a legislature that was more effective, inclusive and equitable for all Ghanaians.