Accra: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has urged Ghana to integrate gender equality into climate policies through the implementation of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024. The Organisation emphasized that the Act should ensure women are included as Ghana transitions to a green economy.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Gideon Mankralo, National Project Coordinator of the ILO, made this call during a capacity-building workshop for Chief Directors and Gender Desk Officers in Accra on the implementation of the Act. He highlighted the disproportionate effects of climate change on women, noting their prevalent involvement in informal employment, subsistence agriculture, and unpaid care work, sectors highly susceptible to environmental challenges like floods, extreme heat, and changing rainfall patterns.
Mr. Mankralo stressed that climate change could exacerbate existing gender inequalities unless deliberate corrective measures are undertaken, underscoring the indispensability of affirmative action in this context. He urged Gender Focal Persons to ensure that climate action within their institutions is gender-responsive and praised the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for their efforts in advancing the implementation of the legislation.
He further noted that while the Act reflects Ghana's commitment to equitable participation of women and men in leadership, employment, and decision-making, he stressed that 'legislation alone does not produce equality. Implementation does.' Drawing on the ILO's 'Just Transition' approach, he emphasized that the transition to environmentally sustainable economies must be fair and inclusive, providing equal access to green skills, finance, decent work, and social protection.
Mr. Mankralo identified six priorities for Ghana: integrating gender into climate policies, investing in women's green skills, expanding finance for women-led green enterprises, increasing women's access to climate finance, strengthening gender-responsive labour data, and promoting women's leadership in climate governance.
He stated, 'The implementation of the Affirmative Action Act comes at a defining moment. As Ghana accelerates climate resilience and green industrialisation, these two priorities must reinforce one another.' He concluded by urging Gender Focal Persons to see the implementation of the Act as an opportunity to ensure climate action generates decent work while leaving no one behind.