Women’s participation in local governance in the new Juaben Municipality

Abstract

A very important role of local government is enabling local community members to take part in decision-making process in matters that affect their lives and also enhancing citizen’s participation. This formed the basis of this study. Women’s understanding of local governance and factors that affect women’s participation in local governance were sought. Qualitative approach was adopted with interview guide being the instrument used to elicit information from the participants of the study. Purposive sampling procedure was used to draw the thirty influential respondents including men and women respondents for the study. The analyses were done qualitatively using narratives and themes. The study revealed that, women exhibited awareness of local governance even though their level of participation in their various communities was low. Women expressed concerns of their low participation and discussed issues such as low level of education, financial constraints, and intimidations among others that hinder them from participating fully or as expected of them in their communities. The study therefore concluded that, women’s unequal status in terms of decision making in the community are as a result of structures and through the choices made by these women. Therefore, to raise women’s level of participation in decision making in their communities, it is incumbent on the women themselves, programme implementers, civil societies and the government to create the enabling environment for their participation. Digitized