CPA Is Committed On Equal Gender Representation In Gov’t: Vice Chairman Leadership Of IPU At Annual Conference In Kigali

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament who also doubles as the Vice Chairman of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has assured the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) on 145TH Annual Conference held in Kigali (Rwanda) that CPA is committed to equal gender representation in government.

Addressing the leadership and members of the assembly at Kigali, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is committed to strengthening gender representation and prioritizes that in all CPA parliament and legislatures. He revealed that in the recent CPA Conference held in Halifax, Canada, the association amended its constitution to increase women’s representation at the executive committee level.

According to him this demonstrate commitment within the CPA family to strengthen gender equality and representation in our parliament.

He emphasised that, “whereas the Association believes some significant progress has been made in the pursuit of gender equality and representation in many commonwealth parliaments, re-gendering parliament should not be seen as an additional burden to be placed on women parliamentarians alone, but rather gender balance and gender sensitivity can only be achieved when stakeholders bond and band together in addressing and eradicating harmful practices and procedures, formal and informal rules norms, behaviours, barriers and restrictive cultures”.

Hon. kyei Mensah Bonsu concluded by urging parliaments of the world to work unrelentingly towards
gender sensitivity.

Source: Opemsuo.com/ Nana Kwaku Boffah