The Role of Public Service in Women Empowerment in Ghana: Initiatives, Challenges and the Way Forward
Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection
By Mrs Magdalene Kannae
Ghana Daily Graphci
Thursday, 09 July 2015 03:10
June 23 has been earmarked by Member States of the United Nations Organisation and the African Union as Public Service Day. It is a day that is dedicated to the celebration of the values and virtues of public service, as well as to recognise the contributions made by public servants to national development and the well being of societies worldwide.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “The Role of Public Service in Women Empowerment, Innovation, and Accessible Service Delivery in Africa”. In Ghana, this year’s Public Service Day has been celebrated with a number of activities organised and coordinated by the Public Services Commission (PSC) in collaboration with heads of public service organisations in Ghana.
Activities were climaxed with a colloquium held at the Banquet Hall in Accra on June 23, 2015 with various public servants, professionals, academics, and women activists coming together to discuss and share experiences related to the theme.
This article intends to highlight key legislative, policy and programme initiatives that have been implemented in the Public Service by succeeding governments to strengthen the participation of women in decision making and in the delivery of public services in Ghana.
It also discusses the challenges still confronting the effective participation of women in the Public Service and proffers strategies for addressing them to ensure more inclusive and equitable participation of all men and women in the execution of the core businesses of the Public Service for the optimum benefit of the citizenry at large.
The Public Service in Ghana
There is confusion some times, even among public servants, as to what constitutes the Public Service and what constitutes the Civil Service, hence the need to set the distinction clear from the onset.
Article 190 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana defined the Public Service to consist of the following, first: the Civil Service, the Judicial Service, the Audit Service, the Education Service, the Prisons Service, the Parliamentary Service and the Health Service. The rest are the Statistical Service, the National Fire Service and the Customs, Excise And Preventive Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Police Service, the Immigration Service, and the Legal Service.
Second, public corporations other than those set up as commercial ventures; third public services established by the Constitution; and lastly other public services as Parliament may by law prescribe.
From the above definition, it can be said that the Public Service of Ghana consists of all the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, Commissions, and Authorities that existed at the time of the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution and those established thereafter up to date and whose functions are not profit making oriented. The Civil Service is only one of the several services (i.e., public service organisations) under the Public Service.
Functions
The Public Service plays an important role in promoting the socio-economic growth and development of Ghana. The Public Service performs the following roles/functions, among others.
It assists the government in the formulation and implementation of national policies; it serves generally as the government’s administrative machinery and supports the development of society, by ensuring social and economic equilibrium, and providing life’s certainties to the citizens and the satisfaction of their needs.
Other functions are making the state, or the ruling powers, visible to the citizens by forming tangible links between the government and the people and secure the continuity of government as political administrations change, thus strengthening democracy.
Simply put, the Public Service exists to help fulfil the mandate of the government of the day, serves and provides the requisite developmental needs of the people, in the areas of health, water, shelter, revenue generation, law and order, justice, regulatory services, education, social welfare, transportation, environment, physical infrastructure, among others.
Why the Need for Empowerment of Women in the Public Service
The concern for the empowerment of women in the Public Service revolve around two-interrelated issues, namely, women’s underrepresentation in higher positions of decision making and the lack of adequate consideration of women’s issues in national development planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
According the 2010 National Population Census females form a majority, representing 51.2 per cent of the population of Ghana. Yet, they are underrepresented in management positions in most of the key public service organisations.
The situation is clearly reflected in the composition of the current Chief Directors and Directors of the twenty seven (27) Ministries, District Coordinating Directors, District Chief Executives, and Assembly Members of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and Members of Parliament.
It is quite clear from the table that very few women are in management positions in most key public service organisations. Thus women tend to be concentrated in lower-grade and lower-pay occupations, more likely to work part-time or temporary contracts, due mainly to family care responsibilities.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) notes three reasons why it is important for women to play an equal role in decision-making and states that it is a question of human rights.
Women constitute more than half of the population and more than one third of the workforce globally. Therefore, equality of opportunity and treatment in employment is their right and a matter of social justice. Discrimination against women is at its harshest when it comes to employment in the public sector.
Women sometimes have to compromise unethically to be given opportunities. Women’s participation in the public service is essential for the acceleration and effectiveness of development, as they are able to contribute their abilities and creativity. They can also ensure a better balance in the allocation of resources and distribution of the benefits of progress. (“Women: Looking Beyond 2008”, United Nations, New York, 2009).
Indeed, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognised gender equality as a human right issue because gender discrimination squanders human capital and results in the inefficient use of individual abilities, limits women’s contribution and undermines the effectiveness of development policies.
- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/45919-the-role-of-public-service-in-women-empowerment-in-ghana-initiatives-challenges-and-the-way-forward.html#sthash.rpIrF3ME.dpuf
By Mrs Magdalene Kannae
Ghana Daily Graphci
Thursday, 09 July 2015 03:10
June 23 has been earmarked by Member States of the United Nations Organisation and the African Union as Public Service Day. It is a day that is dedicated to the celebration of the values and virtues of public service, as well as to recognise the contributions made by public servants to national development and the well being of societies worldwide.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “The Role of Public Service in Women Empowerment, Innovation, and Accessible Service Delivery in Africa”. In Ghana, this year’s Public Service Day has been celebrated with a number of activities organised and coordinated by the Public Services Commission (PSC) in collaboration with heads of public service organisations in Ghana.
Activities were climaxed with a colloquium held at the Banquet Hall in Accra on June 23, 2015 with various public servants, professionals, academics, and women activists coming together to discuss and share experiences related to the theme.
This article intends to highlight key legislative, policy and programme initiatives that have been implemented in the Public Service by succeeding governments to strengthen the participation of women in decision making and in the delivery of public services in Ghana.
It also discusses the challenges still confronting the effective participation of women in the Public Service and proffers strategies for addressing them to ensure more inclusive and equitable participation of all men and women in the execution of the core businesses of the Public Service for the optimum benefit of the citizenry at large.
The Public Service in Ghana
There is confusion some times, even among public servants, as to what constitutes the Public Service and what constitutes the Civil Service, hence the need to set the distinction clear from the onset.
Article 190 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana defined the Public Service to consist of the following, first: the Civil Service, the Judicial Service, the Audit Service, the Education Service, the Prisons Service, the Parliamentary Service and the Health Service. The rest are the Statistical Service, the National Fire Service and the Customs, Excise And Preventive Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Police Service, the Immigration Service, and the Legal Service.
Second, public corporations other than those set up as commercial ventures; third public services established by the Constitution; and lastly other public services as Parliament may by law prescribe.
From the above definition, it can be said that the Public Service of Ghana consists of all the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, Commissions, and Authorities that existed at the time of the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution and those established thereafter up to date and whose functions are not profit making oriented. The Civil Service is only one of the several services (i.e., public service organisations) under the Public Service.
Functions
The Public Service plays an important role in promoting the socio-economic growth and development of Ghana. The Public Service performs the following roles/functions, among others.
It assists the government in the formulation and implementation of national policies; it serves generally as the government’s administrative machinery and supports the development of society, by ensuring social and economic equilibrium, and providing life’s certainties to the citizens and the satisfaction of their needs.
Other functions are making the state, or the ruling powers, visible to the citizens by forming tangible links between the government and the people and secure the continuity of government as political administrations change, thus strengthening democracy.
Simply put, the Public Service exists to help fulfil the mandate of the government of the day, serves and provides the requisite developmental needs of the people, in the areas of health, water, shelter, revenue generation, law and order, justice, regulatory services, education, social welfare, transportation, environment, physical infrastructure, among others.
Why the Need for Empowerment of Women in the Public Service
The concern for the empowerment of women in the Public Service revolve around two-interrelated issues, namely, women’s underrepresentation in higher positions of decision making and the lack of adequate consideration of women’s issues in national development planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
According the 2010 National Population Census females form a majority, representing 51.2 per cent of the population of Ghana. Yet, they are underrepresented in management positions in most of the key public service organisations.
The situation is clearly reflected in the composition of the current Chief Directors and Directors of the twenty seven (27) Ministries, District Coordinating Directors, District Chief Executives, and Assembly Members of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and Members of Parliament.
It is quite clear from the table that very few women are in management positions in most key public service organisations. Thus women tend to be concentrated in lower-grade and lower-pay occupations, more likely to work part-time or temporary contracts, due mainly to family care responsibilities.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) notes three reasons why it is important for women to play an equal role in decision-making and states that it is a question of human rights.
Women constitute more than half of the population and more than one third of the workforce globally. Therefore, equality of opportunity and treatment in employment is their right and a matter of social justice. Discrimination against women is at its harshest when it comes to employment in the public sector.
Women sometimes have to compromise unethically to be given opportunities. Women’s participation in the public service is essential for the acceleration and effectiveness of development, as they are able to contribute their abilities and creativity. They can also ensure a better balance in the allocation of resources and distribution of the benefits of progress. (“Women: Looking Beyond 2008”, United Nations, New York, 2009).
Indeed, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognised gender equality as a human right issue because gender discrimination squanders human capital and results in the inefficient use of individual abilities, limits women’s contribution and undermines the effectiveness of development policies.
- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/45919-the-role-of-public-service-in-women-empowerment-in-ghana-initiatives-challenges-and-the-way-forward.html#sthash.rpIrF3ME.dpuf
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