Govt doing a lot toward women empowerment

Hohoe (V/R), Sept. 22, GNA - Various women groupings countrywide have benefited from the disbursement of a 124 billion cedis facility accruing from the establishment of the Women Development Fund, Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) has said.

She said the Fund has helped to generate employment, improved food security and reduced poverty among the womenfolk, especially those living in the rural areas.

Hajia Mahama, who was speaking at a day's durbar for women groups at Hohoe, said additional 17 billion cedis was released by government, this year, to Rural Banks, National Investment Bank (NIB), Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and disbursed as micro credit support for businesses, small-scale farming and petty trading activities. She expressed the hope that these interventions would lead to the overall achievement of gender equality and empowerment, survival, protection, development and growth of women and children.

Hajia Mahama stated that her Ministry had organized training workshops for 7,983 women beneficiaries of the micro credit scheme to improve their financial management skills and help them acquire business expansion techniques to ensure high loan recovery. The Minister said 10 tractors were procured to support some women farming groups and that 43 agro-processing equipment including shea-butter, gari, oil palm and groundnut equipment had also been procured to add value to their produce.

She announced that two sets of cassava processing equipment, a tractor had been provided to support women groups at Mafi-Zongo, Nkwanta and Damanko in the Volta region.

Hajia Mahama said government policies were in progress in support of free maternal deliveries, promotion of improved maternal child health, control of trachoma diseases and blindness, promotion of family planning, control the spread of HIV/AIDS, good sanitary practices and the overall expansion of health facilities.

She said the establishment of the Girls Education Unit was to ensure that girls got the same opportunities in accessing education as boys, noting that, this has proved successful especially in relation to Science, Mathematics and Technical Education for girls, which is now at the district level.

Mr John Peter Amewu, Hohoe District Chief Executive, noted that outmoded cultural norms, beliefs and practices, which made women subservient to their men counterparts, militated against rapid development of the countryside.

He said the Assembly had given out credit facilities to assist women in small-scale agro-processing and businesses.