Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ACCRA364
2005-02-17 16:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

MEETING WITH GHANA'S NEW MINISTER OF WOMEN AND

Tags:  ELAB GH KWMN PHUM PREL SOCI 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000364 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR G/IWI AND AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB GH KWMN PHUM PREL SOCI
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH GHANA'S NEW MINISTER OF WOMEN AND
CHILDREN AFFAIRS: TRAFFICKING FOCUS


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000364

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR G/IWI AND AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB GH KWMN PHUM PREL SOCI
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH GHANA'S NEW MINISTER OF WOMEN AND
CHILDREN AFFAIRS: TRAFFICKING FOCUS


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (U) Summary: On February 16, A/DCM and PolChief paid a
courtesy call on Alima Mahama, Ghana's new Minister of Women
and Children Affairs, to inform her about USG interest in
passage of a trafficking in persons law. She said the
ministry had recently submitted its comments on the draft TIP
bill to the Attorney General. She discussed her priorities
as minister and addressed issues of child labor and the
pending domestic violence bill. End summary.

Trafficking in Persons
--------------


2. (SBU) PolChief noted the USG's strong interest in seeing
Ghana pass a trafficking in persons (TIP) law before April,

2005. Ghana's Tier 1 status could be affected by failure to
pass such a law, he said. Minister Mahama said "we must keep
Tier 1" and pointed out that her ministry had recently
submitted its comments on the TIP bill to the Attorney
General. Moving the bill to parliament depended on getting
the AG to focus on the bill as a priority, which she would
encourage him to do. Mahama did not expect the law to be
controversial, either with the AG or in parliament, but
opined it would be difficult to get a bill passed before this
session of parliament ends in late March.

Ministry's Priorities
--------------


3. (U) Minister Mahama said she had developed a Gender and
Children's Policy and would be working with other ministries
to develop their capacity on gender issues. Her priorities
will track the priorities President Kufuor detailed in his
recent State of the Nation address: human resource
development, private sector development, and good governance.


Human Resource Development: The ministry will promote two
years of preschool for all children, encourage girls'
secondary school education, and support health programs which
target women and children (she cited cancer screening and
insecticide-treated bed nets).

Private Sector Development: She will promote programs to
support rural women with bank loans and by encouraging
microcredit and microenterprises. She wants to support
businesswomen and plans to establish women and child centers

in each of Ghana's ten regions.

Good Governance: Her ministry will work with other
ministries for programs that benefit men and women. She will
pursue a Domestic Violence bill that is enforceable and
acceptable within Ghana's cultural norms. Her ministry will
continue with ongoing sensitization and consultation efforts
throughout the country to gain more buy-in for the bill.
(Note: this bill has been very controversial, generating a
debate about how to best tackle the issue of marital rape.
End note.)

Child Labor
--------------


4. (U) PolChief asked about the ministry's approach to
child labor issues, noting this is a USG priority. She said
the ministry is working with the ILO, International
Organization for Migration (IOM),and the Department of
Social Welfare to develop an anti-child labor strategy. The
ministry's Chief Director (its top bureaucrat) Emmanual
Mensah Quaye noted that child labor has been an issue
regarding Ghana's cocoa farms. He was clear that Ghana does
not condone child labor on cocoa farms but opined that most
such child labor came from children helping their families
and getting some training on weekends, in a non-exploitative
manner. The minister concurred.

Comment
--------------


5. (SBU) Mahama was engaging and helpful. When PolChief
mentioned TIP issues, she got up, grabbed a notebook (despite
being surrounded by four notetakers) and took careful notes.
She stressed her interest in women and business. She and the
Chief Director were disappointing in their dismissive
response on child labor in the cocoa industry and failure to
mention child labor in other sectors. Mahama said her
experience at the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers
University while a Humphrey Fellow in 1999-2000 made her
think about getting into politics. She hopes to engage USG
officials when she attends a meeting next week in New York of
the UN Commission on the Status of Women, of which Ghana is a
member. After the meeting, Chief Director Quaye, who has not
been helpful to us in the past, said he would help push the
Attorney General (reportedly a close friend) to submit the
TIP bill to parliament.

Bio
---


6. (U) Alima Mahama (58) is an ethnic Mamprusi and a Muslim
and comes from the Northern region of Ghana. Prior to
becoming a minister, she was Deputy Minister for Trade,
Industry and President's Special Initiatives (2003-2005) and
Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development
(2001-2003). From 1987-2001, she worked as a Senior Planner,
Gender and Development Coordinator at the Northern Regional
Rural Integrated Program, and worked previously as Director
of Maalizaali, an NGO focused on capacity building of local
government institutions, gender analysis and planning, human
rights, and training for women. She has a B.A. in Law and
Sociology from the University of Ghana, Legon, a law degree
from Ghana Law School, and an M.A. in Development Studies
from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. In 1990-91,
Mahama studied in Canada on a Government of Canada Pearson
Fellowship Award, and in 1999-2000 she was a Hubert Humphrey
Fellow at Rutgers University, where she studied Urban Policy
Planning and Women's Studies. She is not married.

YATES