‘Assembly women have roles in general governance structure’

The Executive Director of the Centre for Development, Research and Advocacy (CeDRA), Mr George Dzeto, has reminded assembly women to be mindful of their responsibility to actively participate in the general governance structure of the country.

He said by the implications of their election into their various assemblies, their focus should now be to address the demands and needs of the electorate rather than serving their political interests.

He made the statement at a training workshop, organised by CeDRA, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, for elected assembly women in the Eastern Region in Koforidua.

Constraints

"As a centre, we are aware of the various constraints and challenges that face you daily in the discharge of your duties, key of which is inadequate capacity to handle some of the task that come before you. We will, therefore, endeavour to play our part so that you become abreast of the local governance system," he added.

Mr Dzeto noted that women were noted to be effective in promoting honest government, committed to promoting national and local policies that addressed the socio-economic and political challenges facing children and other disadvantaged groups.

However, he said, the number of women contesting and winning elections in the country continued to drop due to a number of factors.

He said it was in that respect that the centre had decided to organise a series of training workshops for elected assembly women across the country in specialised areas.

Gratitude

Mr Dzeto thanked the Friedrich Ebert Foundation for its continued support to the centre and also for supporting women empowerment programmes in the country.

An official of the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council, Mr Hope Dziekpor, expressed optimism that the training would go a long way in building the confidence level of the participants.