The article focuses on processes of translating the global strategy of gender mainstreaming into practice at the local, Ghanaian level. Analysing mainstreaming from an institutional perspective, the roles of the national
gender machinery and the gender desk officers in sector ministries are scrutinised according to critical elements for their functioning. The main finding suggests that successful mainstreaming processes to a large extent
depend on individual women at the state level (femocrats) as a consequence of a low level of institutionalisation of the strategy.
Commitment to gender mainstreaming has been expressed worldwide as a result of the Beijing conference in 1995. The introduction of gender mainstreaming in the Beijing Platform for Action was regarded as a victory for gender ambassadors from the South, including the women’s movements. However, an empirical study from Ghana on the processes of ‘translating’ gender mainstreaming into practice demonstrates that gender mainstreaming has not lived up to the expectations for transformation _/ the Ghanaian women’s movement has not played the role imagined in taking gender mainstreaming further. ‘Agenda-setting’ of the women’s movement and taking gender mainstreaming in a more democratic/participatory direction seems to be more of a vision than a reality in this context.
