Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives

18. The Impact of Structural Adjustment Programs on Women's International Human Rights: The Example of Ghana

Chapter 18 The Impact of Structural Adjustment Programs on Women's International Human Rights;The Example of Ghana Akua Kuenyehia Introduction This paper is not an economic analysis of Economic Recovery Programs , neither does it seek to put forward any economic ideas. It is simply an attempt to put in the context of human rights the privations suffered by a section of one societyas a result of programs fashionedby international financial institutions for the solution of the economic problems that have beset our nation for manyyears.The paper looksat the nature of these programs in the special context of Ghana and advocates that, important as it is that the economy be put on a sound basis, it is also necessary that the social cost of these programs be considered carefully and that every attempt be made to alleviate them sothat the people most affected adverselywould havea chance to enjoy their human rights. The discourse on rights, and specifically human rights, has assumed immense significanceand has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. The question, however, is how women's rights and their international human rights feature in all these discussions. Even though women have enjoyed civil and politicalrights for some time, it has been contended that international human rights law has as yet not been applied to redress the disadvantages that are suffered by women for various and complex reasons. For women in Africa, there is the added complication of the effect on them of structural adjustment programs that have been going on for a decade or more. The severity of the socioeconomic conditions in African countries undergoing structural adjustment is such that it is questionable whether the whole discourse Structural Adjustment Programs—Ghana 423 on rights and international human rights is at all relevant to African women. The paper seeks in the following paragraphs to relate the scenarios of the circumstances of women and children in one African country undergoing structural adjustment to demonstrate the fact that, for women in this country and in many African and third world developing countries, the concerns reallycenter around basic needs. Thus itis put forward the view that, in drawing up the agenda of issues of concern in women's international human rights, it is necessary to develop strategies that will address these basic needs and thus free the women to look at issues of other rights. The paper isdivided into three parts: the nature and form of structural adjustment and howit impacts on the lives of women; what has been done to address some of the negative effects of the adjustment programs; and,finally, where that puts the African woman in the context of international human rights law. The population of Ghana is currently estimated at 14.6million.1 In 1988 the national population was48.1 percent male and 51.3 percent female. The proportions in rural areas were 48.8 percent and 51.2 percent; in urban areas excepting Accra, 47.1 percent and 52.1 percent ; in Accra, 50.3 percent and 49.7 percent.2 Of the total population, 30 percent are presently located in the urban areas and 70 percent in the rural areas.3 The Economic Recovery Program in Ghana (ERP) In 1983Ghana initiated an adjustment process the main objective of which wasto arrest the decline in the economic and human conditions that characterized the 1970s and early 1980s. The country has since implemented a number of stabilization/adjustment programs: ERP (I) 1983—86 and ERP (II) comprising the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP I) in 1987-88 and SAP (II)in 1989-90. The Economic Recovery Program I, 1983-86, was a traditional stabilization program whose major objectives were to shift relative prices and incentives in favor of production within the framework of fiscal and monetary discipline and to increase domestic saving and investment. In line with the stated objectives, the exchange rate was realigned to more realistic levels, government borrowing was reduced, interest rates were raised, and producer prices of cocoa, the main export, were increased. ERP (I) was succeeded by Structural Adjustment (SAP) I, which had two major objectives. First, it aimed to establish an incentive framework for stimulating growth, encouraging savings and investment, and strengthening the balance of payments. 424 Akua Kuenyehla Second, it aimed to improve use of resources, especially in the public sector, and ensure fiscal and monetary stability. The third phase of the stabilization/adjustment program was marked by SAP...