The Gender Center for Empowering Development (GenCED), in partnership with the European Union, Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, and UN Women, has launched the Gender Election Watch Situation Room (GEWSR).
The aim behind the launch is to to promote an inclusive, peaceful, and gender-sensitive electoral process as Ghanaians head to the polls.
In a statement, signed by its Executive Director, Esther Tawiah, they have announced the launch, GenCED explained that there are still barriers hindering the political engagement of women and other vulnerable groups, despite the democratic strides made over the last 32 years.
These barriers range from gender-based violence to systemic discrimination, and hinder the full participation of these groups as voters, candidates, and political leaders.
The GEWSR initiative therefore aims to address gender-based barriers and threats that undermine the full participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups in the electoral process.
The platform will monitor and report real-time gender-related incidents to ensure that no voice is silenced, and no incident of violence, intimidation, or exclusion goes unaddressed.
GenCED will also track traditional and digital media for incidents of cyberbullying, disinformation, and the representation of women in the electoral space.
As part of its monitoring efforts, GenCED has also trained and deployed over 230 election observers to polling centres across the country to report incidents of gender-based violence, discrimination, and other electoral irregularities using a gender-sensitive checklist that will capture specific issues affecting women and marginalized groups during the elections.
The ensure the overall success of its monitoring programme, GenCED will collaborate with eminent women, security agencies, political parties, and civil society organizations to provide timely responses to reported incidents of violence and amplify the voices of women and marginalized groups to uphold the integrity of the process.
