Ghana’s Women Parliamentarians Named Most Active in West Africa CWP Report

Ghana’s Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) chapter has been ranked the most active in the West Africa sub-region, according to the CWP West Africa Sub-Region Annual Activities Report covering September 2025 to August 2026.

The report, which reviewed the work of chapters in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, said Ghana’s Women’s Caucus carried the broadest programme of the year, spanning diplomatic engagement, grassroots advocacy, legislative dialogue and international exchange.

At home, the caucus met with the UK Trade Envoy and MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and held capacity-building sessions on civic engagement.

It took its advocacy directly to the public with grassroots visits to Madina Market and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and also led a campaign on breast cancer awareness.

On legislative reform, the caucus convened a National Dialogue on the Affirmative Action Act and held a strategic planning meeting with the Youth Caucus.

Internationally, members took part in an exchange programme in Germany and attended the Association of Parlements francophones conference in Dakar.

Ghana also used its platform to address regional priorities. The caucus delivered an African Women’s Day floor statement on water and sanitation, and participated in a regional peer review conference on ending violence against women and girls.

The report noted different areas of focus for the other chapters. Nigeria’s chapter centred its year on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, holding town-hall roundtables, the She Leads event, and an art exhibition on gender inclusion in governance.

Other highlights included Speaker Tajudeen Abbas vacating his seat for a 16-year-old girl on the International Day of the Girl Child, 16 Days of Activism events, the Women’s Policy Lab, and a proposal to reserve 33 per cent of parliamentary seats for women.

Nigeria also hosted the 9th Africa Women Conference in Accra, ran regional solidarity programmes in Oyo State, and joined gender-based violence workshops in Abuja and Cape Town.

In Sierra Leone, the Female Parliamentary Caucus reviewed the impact of recent gender-related legal reforms, including the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act and the Ending Child Marriage Act.

The chapter helped form the Network of Female Ministers and Parliamentarians, engaged male MPs as allies in a reflection session, examined gender provisions in the proposed constitutional amendment, and joined the Cape Town regional workshop.

Cameroon’s chapter focused on public health and children’s welfare. Its activities included participation in a malaria financing workshop, a UNICEF-backed children’s rights dialogue, and International Women’s Day events on women’s health and reproductive rights.

Despite the differences, the report said the four chapters converged on common concerns. Reserved-seat legislation, gender-based violence, women’s economic empowerment, and regional cooperation through joint workshops and conferences recurred as priorities across all of them.

The report pointed to a sub-region that is increasingly coordinating its advocacy even as each chapter pursues its own national agenda.

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