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The Foreign Affairs Minster, Hannah Tetteh has described women in parliament as an “endangered species”.

Mrs Tetteh said female voices hardly affect discourse in Parliament adding that this affects the quality of legislation passed.

Speaking at a forum organized by the NGO ABANTU for Development at Dodowa in Greater Accra, Madam Tetteh cited the delay in the passage of women related bill as a sign that male parliamentarians are not interested in the welfare of women.

“We have had the property rights of spouses bill that has been languishing in Parliament for a while now because there is no appetite for our male counterpart to push it forth,” she said.

She argues that the number of women in Parliament do not constitute 20 percent and also, there is the need to have a female voice in every discussion as it represents everyone side.

She said female parliamentarians are “now going to have the affirmative action bill being sent to parliament” and won’t be surprised if it suffers the same faith as the spouses’ bill.

Mrs Tetteh underscored the importance of distinguishing partisan interest and fighting for the cause of women.

“Invariably if we are able to do that successfully, we will also be helping many more women not just to aspire to become members of parliament, but actually to win elections to become MPs,” she stressed.

She also advised female MP aspirants to plan well, draw a budget and get funding for it through appeals to people they know to shore up the numbers in Parliament and promote the cause of women.