Upper West women build capacity

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday september 23, 2010
A WORKSHOP aimed at promoting women’s participation in leadership, resource mobilization and natural resource management in the Upper West Region has ended in Wa, the regional capital with a call on government and civil society organizations to intensify efforts to get more women to be part of the development process.

The five-days training programme was organized by the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) with sponsorship from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS)-about 70 women benefited from the training.

Addressing the participants, Naa Seidu Braimah, member of the Council of State reiterated the need for women to be recognized in decision making saying “any society that is disciplined has its women getting involved in the training of children.”

He said the days when women were relegated to the background as far as decision-making is concerned are no more adding “the region needs to benefit from the socio-economic development of the country and we can do it better if we involve women in every effort.”

Naa S.D. Gore II, Dorimon Naa and President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs said the attempt to raise the status of women traditional leaders was receiving the deserved attention and added that a modest allowance of GH¢80 has been approved for women leaders in the various paramouncies.

He said to solve the numerous chieftaincy disputes, the house has decided to set up mediation committees to mediate on cases before they develop into full blown judicial cases saying, “this will depend on the manner the parties present their cases.”

Naa Gore II also touched on the numerous developmental challenges facing the region adding “we as traditional leaders would have to do more to complement government’s effort towards development of the region.”

He called on all traditional leaders to co-operate with the various census agencies for a smooth conduct of the 2010 housing and population census which commences on September 26.

The chief also deplored widespread environmental degradation in the region saying “the permits given by all mining companies needs to be scrutinized.”

Willie Laate, Deputy Executive Director of CIKOD said traditional authorities and existing indigenous institutions is the key to poverty alleviation and development in the rural areas.

He said CIKOD is working hard to help the traditional authorities to develop concrete action plans that would ensure that activities of women are recognized for development.

Isaac Owusu-Mensah, Senior Programmes Manager of KAS said “we are committed to building the capacities of women in leadership for them to optimize their skills to be more competent for the development of their communities.”

He promised that KAS would continue to support traditional institutions and the people to bring about accelerated development.