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The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MOGCSP) has indicated its commitment to work earnestly towards the submission of the Affirmative Action draft bill to Parliament by December this year. This is part of efforts aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, for sustainable national development. The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, announced this at a validation workshop on the draft Affirmative Action Bill in Koforidua in the Eastern Region. She said the draft bill had been submitted to the Attorney�General and �we are steadily making progress to meet this timeline.� She said the workshop was to seek inputs from the participants, especially in identifying and filling gaps to ensure that when passed into law, Ghana�s Affirmative Action Law would adequately address inequality in all spheres of life. Legislative drafting process According to her, the ministry was not resting on its oars, while the legislative drafting process was on�going, in addition to the launch of the gender equality policy guidelines for the media and political parties. �We have also initiated processes to rid our society of early and forced marriage, alleged witchcraft against elderly women and female genital mutilation, among other harmful socio�cultural practices which all present the multi-faceted nature of gender inequality,� she added. Nana Oye Lithur added that the ministry had co-sponsored the Intestate Succession and Property Rights of Spouses Bills which were both before Parliament while the Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Regulations was also being finalised. She said as the country advocated the promotion of gender equality, the key message was not for women to compete with men but simply for equal opportunities for both men and women to enjoy dignified lives. Contribution to the process She urged the participants to contribute to the process �to enable us to develop a comprehensive law which will make women and those who are under-represented an integral part of our national development process because an equal representation of women and men in decision-making reflects a more accurate composition of the society.� The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Miss Mavis Ama Frimpong, hoped the validation of the report would make Ghana a better place since it would go a long way to ensure equality in the country. She was not happy that Ghana had not been able to achieve the 40 per cent target of women�s representation in the decision-making process, but commended the government for ensuring that more women were put in responsible positions in the country.