News:
March 9, 2018
Deputy Majority Leader, Sarah Adwoa Safo is advocating the empowerment of women economically in order to address gender disparity in the country.
The Dome/Kwabenya Member of Parliament noted that empowering women leads to immediate gains for nutrition, health, savings and reinvestment at the family, community and ultimately national level.
“The economic empowerment of women remains one of the surest way of addressing gender disparity in this country” she said.
Ms Adwoa Safo who is the chairperson of the women caucus in Parliament made the call when she presented a statement on the floor to mark International Women’s Day 2018.
According to her it is imperative to continue to retool women with entrepreneurial skills and support them grow their business.
A World Bank data reveals that, nearly 70 percent of women-owned SMEs in developing countries including Ghana are either shut out by financial institutions or are unable to receive financial services on adequate terms to meet their needs.
This means that access to financial services is a critical obstacle to the growth of women-led enterprises or start-ups by women; “Government and the private sector activism to deal with this challenge is crucial”.
She also reinforced government’s commitment to supporting women with the provision of a GH₵10m Fund for women entrepreneurs in the country.
The Fund which is expected to be rolled out in April this year and will be disbursed at low interests rate of less than 10percent across all regions.
“I call on my fellow countrywomen to take advantage of this golden opportunity to improve on their lot. I also appeal to the private sector to come up with similar initiatives to complement the efforts of the government”.
The Deputy leader urged the Gender Ministry and the Presidency to bring to Parliament for passage the Affirmative Action Bill and related bills [Spousal Right Bill and Intestate Succession Bill] into laws to address gender inequality and to empower women at all levels of society.
By Christian Kpesese / ghanamps.com