The Gender Equality Inclusivity, and Intersectionality (GEII) Project is a collaboration of 13 African research councils that aim to address gender inequality. Their focus is on making the research granting process in science, technology, and innovation (STI) more equitable. This series of posts highlights their work – to find out more about the project, click here.

The science granting council in Ghana is using the momentum of change to drive their actions, and their philosophy is that “no one must be left behind”. Ghana has numerous developmental challenges, such as the impact of climate change, epidemics (cholera, HIV/AIDS), social conflicts, and significant gender disparity, particularly prevalent in STEM education and careers. Researchers in Ghana have recognised that these challenges need innovative scientific solutions and human resources.

Senior Programme Officer at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Judith Awo Semabia, explains how gender equality is starting to shape public discourse in the country. For example, in government policy, they’re trying to include more women, and parliament has shifted the presence of women from 5% to 20%. These gradual shifts are encouraging and speak to a growing commitment to GEII.

The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation has set itself the target of advancing GEII in research and evaluation processes by 2026. To achieve this, they provide targeted, comprehensive training to researchers to help them integrate GEII within the research and evaluation processes.
Senior Research Scientist at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Mavis Akuffobea-Essilfie, explains how women have been left behind. However, they are working on policies to draw attention to this issue and to address it.

As the science granting council in Ghana, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation is contributing to the broader aim to include more women and promote women’s participation in STI and research innovation . They’re also collaborating with partners and stakeholders already engaged in GEII activities. For Ghana, GEII is a multifaceted approach that uses co-learning, co-creation, and multi-stakeholder approaches through expert-led sessions, interactivity, peer-to-peer learning, and tailored workshops. Through these interventions and processes, they hope to build research capacity at institutions and universities to integrate GEII into research work from design to dissemination.