At the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, China, President John Dramani Mahama has outlined Ghana’s expanded many social protection programmes that directly benefit women and girls.
He said among these were the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative, which as part of this initiative, the Government targets female-headed households.
Others are the Ghana School Feeding Programme, which sources food locally and improves nutrition and school retention, especially for girls.
He also mentioned a policy that reserves 50 per cent of the microfinance and small loan funding for women entrepreneurs.
The President cited the nationwide distribution of free sanitary pads for schoolgirls to address their menstrual health and prevent absenteeism from school.
He also stated the free tertiary education for persons with disability, especially women, and the No Academic Fee Policy for first-year tertiary students.
He said the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund, which was soon to start, would also ensure equitable access to treatment for non-communicable diseases, especially for vulnerable groups.
These interventions, President Mahama said were anchored on a strong legal and policy framework, and that they had enacted and revised a suite of key instruments.
These include the Revised National Gender Policy (2025–2034), the Ghana National Social Protection Act, the Domestic Violence Act (2007), the Human Trafficking Act (2005) and the Justice for Children Policy.
President Mahama said Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), was recently passed, mandating a minimum of 30 per cenr female representation in public appointments by the end of 2026, 35 per cent by 2028, and 50 per cebt by 2030.
He said to also empower women economically, Ghana was establishing a Women’s Development Bank to provide low-interest loans, financial literacy, training, and business development support to their women entrepreneurs. This initiative, President Mahama said aims to promote financial inclusion and
create more opportunities for women across all sectors of our economy.
He said the global order was changing rapidly, threatening to reverse the gains made under the Millennium Development Goals and the ongoing Sustainable Development Goals.
He noted that the global multilateral order and their rules-based trading systems were being jettisoned, giving way to more unilateral actions by some global players.
President Mahama said in this unpredictable environment, they need to focus on safeguarding the gains made by their women and other vulnerable groups since the Beijing conference thirty years ago.
“The African woman is particularly vulnerable, and I wish to use this platform to call on my colleague African leaders to focus on the welfare and empowerment of our women,” he said.
He said gender equality was more than a matter of justice; saying “it is a catalyst for sustainable development”.
He said when women succeed, families thrive, communities become stronger, and nations progress.
He said their experience in Ghana demonstrated that investing in women produces tangible benefits in productivity, innovation, and social cohesion.
President Mahama said as they: “As we look to Beijing +30, I call on all governments and partners to move beyond platitudes and commit towards transformative action.
“Let us ensure that this milestone becomes a turning point—one that accelerates the realisation of gender equality and women’s empowerment all over the world.
“Together, we can make the next decade one of bold progress and shared prosperity for women and girls worldwide.”
GNA
