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In 2006, women constituted only 5 per cent of elected members and about 35 per cent of appointed members in 97 out of 110 district assemblies.  In this chapter, which is based on life history interviews with 32 elected and appointed District Assembly Women held by the Ghana Hub in 2007, Professor Manuh explores the personal biographies and factors that have enhanced opportunities for them to gain access to political power, including their backers and mentors at local level, and how this influences their agendas as assembly women as well as their experience of politics, how they perceive their roles and the kind of power they claim, and what they can do with it once they are in office. …

In this paper, we address the methodological challenges as well as innovations made possible by a mixed methods analysis of empowerment in a multi-lingual environment. The linguistic challenge of translating empowerment fully reminds us that the concept is both time and place specific. Combining a survey with intergenerational interviews allows us to uncover both whether or not Ghanaian women are empowered and equally importantly the context that makes this possible. Such an approach also allows us to assess the extent to which researchers and the researched share similar understandings of what empowerment means. …

The 1995 Beijing conference was a pivotal moment for legitimating women’s rights work in Ghana, and served as a powerful framing for women’s empowerment. This article explores the Beijing conference and examines its influence on popular notions of and efforts to promote women’s empowerment. We argue that the discursive context provided by the conference shaped popular narratives about women directly and also through its influence on the ideas and practices of public institutions and civil society. There is greater acceptance that women have rights that should be promoted and protected, and that there should be institutions and systems to which they have recourse. …

The Pathways West Africa Team took the opportunity of participating in the 51st Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Chicago in November 2008 to convene their annual Dialogue on Empowerment. The theme of the panel was 'Women’s Empowerment and Development Policy'. Members of the team presented on the Pathways West Africa work. The session was well-attended and provoked a lively discussion. …

The Ghana Team had a unique experience on the weekend of 25-27 April 2008, learning photography and video techniques, under the tutelage of Tessa Lewin, the RPC Communications and Learning Officer and Anna Kari and Guilhem Alandry of Documentography. Participants were from the Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP), Memento Films, and one each from the Institute of African Studies and RPC Ghana and the training took place at the University of Ghana, Legon campus. …

Popular music is a powerful medium for reinforcing and dictating what is in vogue or considered the norm for society. The songs are played on radio, television and the internet, and in the two latter cases are typically accompanied by musical videos which often depict women’s bodies through dance (often quite provocative). Music is heard daily booming from shops, restaurants, taxis, buses, lorries, and other social spaces. Social gatherings such as marriage and naming ceremonies, funerals, commissioning of projects are deemed dull without music. …