Naadu calls for empowerment of women

Friday 13th January, 2012

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Accra, Jan. 12, GNA - The First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has called on governments to focus on women empowerment issues in alleviating poverty world-wide.

 

She said the world had come far in major sectors yet women’s involvement and participation in main policy decisions continued to remain a challenge.

 

An official statement, copied to GNA on Thursday, said the First Lady made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation from CARE; a global humanitarian organisation, from the United States of America in Accra.

 

The group comprised of congressmen and senior US representatives, who are in the country on a five-day learning tour that would focus on health, governance, education, gender, and nutrition.

 

They are expected to experience at first hand how United States investments are making a difference in the lives of people in developing nations.

 

Mrs Mills expressed her delight at the visit as it provided her an opportunity to share some of the major government interventions in addressing challenges facing women and children.

 

On increasing women’s participation in decision making, the First Lady noted that more workshops had been held in all 10 Regions of Ghana to advance the call for women’s inclusion in decisions that affected them.

 

Mrs Mills shared her thoughts on reducing the alarming number of girls who left their homes, especially those in the three Northern Regions, in search of non-existent jobs in Accra and said this development had compounded streetism with its attendant problems.

 

She stressed that it was important for the State and individuals to provide the needed incentives and enabling environment to discourage these girls from embarking on such risky journeys.

 

The First Lady briefed the delegation on her just-ended nationwide campaign on reducing pregnancy- related deaths, which she said was very successful.

 

The campaign, the First Lady said, formed part of the first phase of her tour, which was to bring policy makers to a round table to dialogue on ways of encouraging society to take maternal health issues seriously.

 

The group expressed gratitude to Mrs Mills for championing these major issues in society and serving as a strong voice for the vulnerable.

 

It pledged its commitment to trumpet extensively the good works of Ghana’s First Lady to the rest of the world.

GNA