‘Just a femocrat just doing my job’: Working within the state to advance women’s empowerment in Ghana

Abstract

This chapter examines the opportunities and challenges involved in advancing women’s empowerment from within state institutions, using Ghana’s Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs as a case study. Following international efforts to integrate women into development and later promote gender mainstreaming, many governments established national institutions responsible for advancing gender equality. The chapter explores how these goals were interpreted and implemented within Ghana’s state bureaucracy. Drawing on the experiences of a former senior official in the Ministry, the authors examine how gender issues were understood institutionally and how feminist actors attempted to influence policy and practice from within government. The analysis highlights constraints including limited resources, unclear institutional mandates and the difficulties of promoting gender equality within established bureaucratic structures. At the same time, it shows that individuals working inside the state can create opportunities for change by using their institutional positions, professional relationships and personal commitment to women’s rights. The chapter therefore provides insight into the possibilities and limitations of “femocrats” — feminists working within government institutions — and the complex relationship between feminist activism, bureaucracy and state-led efforts to advance women’s empowerment.