The quest for increased female representation and participation at the local level government in Ghana has not been obtained probably because we have neglected the demand and supply side factors that account for the paucity of policies and programmes to promote participation of women in the local government system in Ghana. Women involvement in decisionmaking processes in governance for sustainable development is very critical not only because they constitute majority of the Ghanaian population but they are discriminated and underrepresented in the socio-economic and political development activities thereby bringing about not only a gender gap but also exclusion of women and their needs, interests and perspectives from governance. This paper examines the demand and supply side framework so as to prompt stakeholders in their bid to enhance the presence of women in the local government system in Ghana. It also looks at the concept of local government system in Ghana and examines the statistics of women’s representation in the district assemblies. It concludes that women must strive to empower themselves by acquiring the knowledge, skills, resources (i.e. time, money) and motivation. NGOs, political parties as well as government and its agencies should put in place positive discriminatory policies and programmes as well as legislations that will bring social change to encourage and attract women in local level governance.

This Framework outlines key considerations for developing a party’s gender policy, and addresses a variety of thematic areas essential for the advancement of women and promotion of gender equality within political parties, including leadership formation, internal decision making, internal oversight and institutional development, candidate recruitment, party programmes and platform development, outreach to voters, and campaigns.

This Sourcebook was developed to provide readily available and usable gendersensitivematerials and resources to build local government capacity for sustainable, equitable and inclusive human settlements.

This report is a call to action. To realize the Sustainable Development Agenda, there is a pressing need to step up actions to close gender gaps and ensure the full economic empowerment of women. After six months of fact finding, sharing best practices and consulting around the world, the Panel presents its findings about proven and promising actions to address gender gaps and accelerate progress. The High-Level Panel hopes that this report and its ongoing actions and commitments will serve as a call to action to men and women around the world to join together in a global campaign to achieve gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps at work are central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet too many gaps persist. How to accelerate progress? Through concrete actions by individuals, businesses, governments, worker and employer organizations, civil society, and multilateral institutions to drive change by addressing systemic constraints. Expanding women’s economic opportunities is central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More than two decades after the landmark 1995 United Nations (UN) Conference on Women in Beijing and with the unprecedented consensus on the 2030 Agenda, the global commitment to gender equality has never been stronger. For the first time in history, governments have set a concrete deadline for the elimination of gender inequality—the year 2030. And the potential gains for basic human rights, for human development and for economic growth have never been larger.

This resource guide provides practical guidance for designing, implementing and evaluating decentralisation reforms and local government practices to ensure they are as effective as possible. It also synthesises and presents current debates on the impact of decentralisation and local government on poverty reduction, service delivery and conflict as well as providing links to cutting-edge research and recent case studies.