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Women’s ability to organize for collective action, the state of their organizations and their ability to influence policy changes that promote positive livelihood outcomes, social development and substantive democratic ______ for women are all elements of women’s enjoyment of their citizenship.
rights
Women’s organizing in Ghana has come a long way from the ______ efforts of women to establish associations to promote women’s interests in the colonial period.
fledgling
These efforts resulted in two national organizations in the post-independence period, which were merged to form the ______ Council of Ghana Women.
National
This became an integral part of the then ruling ______ Peoples Party (CPP), and was disbanded with the party when the government of Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966.
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This resulted in close to 15 years of a gap in national organizing, and a proliferation of local women’s ______ groups until the early 1980s.
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Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the ______, led by Mrs Rawlings, the wife of Ghana’s then head of state, dominated the landscape of women’s organizing.
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Independent women’s organizations in that period found themselves ______ from the public arena and alienated from the national machinery for Women, the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD).
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Over the years, political instability and repression of mass movements under one-party rule and military regimes in the first 20 years of Ghana’s independence proved damaging for efforts to build a mass movement and a strong civil society base for ______.
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Close to 30 years of economic ______ and the transformation of the policymaking culture has created the need for small quick-response organizing for effective participation in policy dialogue.
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It has left the mass movements in Ghana fragmented and weakened, suffering from the co-optation and distortion of their ideas, constant shifts in ______ priorities, and experiencing challenges from fundamentalisms of different shades.
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NGO-ization has been identified as one of the key challenges facing women’s movements the world over since the ______.
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NGO-ization refers not to the existence of ______ per se, but more to the growing dominance of a particular organiza- tional form and politics.
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The national and global ______ agendas that actively promote certain organizational forms and practices.
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Three decades of NGO-ization has been identified as a key factor in the lack of progress on questions of ______ rights around the world.
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It is ______ that have the power to change the most embedded and hierarchical systems.
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While research, advocacy, campaigns and other interventions by NGOs do change formal mechanisms such as laws, policies and ______ allocations, it is movements that have the power to change the most embedded and hierarchical systems.
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Study Notes
Women's Organizing in Ghana
- Women's ability to organize for collective action, influence policy changes, and enjoy citizenship rights are interconnected.
- Women's organizing in Ghana has a long history, dating back to the colonial period, with initial efforts to establish associations promoting women's interests.
Post-Independence Period
- Two national organizations were formed in the post-independence period, which later merged to form the National Council of Ghana Women.
- The National Council was an integral part of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) but was disbanded when the government was overthrown in 1966.
1966-1980s
- A gap in national organizing occurred, with local women's welfare groups emerging in the absence of a national organization.
- In the early 1980s, political conditions led to the establishment of new national women's organizations, including the Federation of Ghana Women and the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM).
1980s-1990s
- The DWM, led by Mrs. Rawlings, dominated the women's organizing landscape, enjoying close relations with state institutions and donor agencies.
- Independent women's organizations were squeezed out of the public arena and alienated from the national machinery for women, the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD).
Challenges to Women's Organizing
- Political instability, repression of mass movements, and economic liberalization have damaged efforts to build a strong civil society base for women.
- Close to 30 years of economic liberalization have created the need for small, quick-response organizing for effective participation in policy dialogue.
- NGO-ization has been identified as a key challenge facing women's movements globally since the 1990s, characterized by a lack of mass base, connection, and accountability, and donor dependence.
Consequences of NGO-ization
- NGO-ization has led to the substitution of NGOs for civil society and mass movements, and a short-term, project-based approach that favors magic bullets over long-range, broad agendas for women's rights and gender equality.
- Three decades of NGO-ization have been identified as a key factor in the lack of progress on women's rights worldwide, as NGOs lack the capacity for sustained change and struggle to deal with the state and powerful forces on a footing of strength.
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Description
Learn about women's collective action, policy influence, and citizenship rights in Ghana, from colonial period to post-independence era.
