The Volta Regional Director of the Department of Gender, Thywill Eyra Kpe, has disclosed that despite women constituting 52 percent of the population in the Volta Region, only six percent participate in decision-making at the local level.
Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe made the revelation during a thanksgiving service held to climax a three-day workshop organised by Mamaga Ametor Hoebuadzu II, the Paramount Queen of the Alavanyo Traditional Area in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region.
The workshop sought to educate women in the traditional area on peace-building, women’s empowerment, financial literacy, and education on the Ghana cedi.
Speaking in an interview with the media, Madam Kpe encouraged women to develop an interest in leadership roles and make their voices heard in decision-making processes and national development.
She further urged women to take advantage of government policies designed to empower them.
“In the Volta region, particularly, we have 52% of the population being women.
However, we realise that their participation in decision-making, especially at the lower level, is still very low.
As a region, we still have about 6% women’s participation in decision-making at the local level.
We want to encourage women to take advantage of the laws and policies that the government has put in place to encourage women to take part in leadership and decision-making.”
She stated.
Also speaking at the event, Mamaga Ametor Hoebuadzu II explained that the initiative was necessitated by the impact of the longstanding conflict between Alavanyo and Nkonya, which she said had negatively affected development and social vibrancy within the community.
According to her, the programme was aimed at educating women in the community on their importance as mothers and nation-builders, while equipping them with knowledge on women’s rights, domestic violence, and human trafficking.
“For the past years, because of the conflict, a lot of things have come to a standstill.
There is no vibrancy among the women or the ladies in the community.
So, we want to use the opportunity to educate them on women’s rights, domestic violence, human trafficking and why they are very important and their role as mothers.
We should stand for our rights, and we should speak out.
We should educate our young ones because we are their role model to them.”
Mamaga stated.
Mamaga Ametor Hoebuadzu II further revealed that the programme would be rotated annually through all towns within the Alavanyo Traditional Area to ensure more women benefit from the initiative.
Source: Woezor.TV
