Women urged to study MDGs to…

Mrs Sabina Anokye-Mensah, National Focal

Person on Gender and Energy Network-Ghana, has called on women to be

conversant with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) so as to contribute

towards its implementation.
She said some aspects of the MDGs concern women and therefore

failure to be abreast with the document would make them less able to make

meaningful contribution to their attainment.
      Mrs Anokye-Mensah, who is also the Gender and Development Manager

of Tema Office of the Gratis Foundation, made the call in a paper she

presented on Energy and the MDGs at the just ended 2nd Civil Society forum

on gender and the MDGs.
She mentioned the promotion of gender equality and women

empowerment, reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health

among others that directly bordered on women’s lives which required their

inputs.
The forum, which was aimed at evaluating the critical role of women

in the attainment of the MDGs, was organised by the Voices of the African

Mothers (VAM) in collaboration with the MDG Global Watch for women’s

groups, queen mothers and students.
Mrs Anokye-Mensah said energy was very important in our daily

lives but expressed regret that the MDG did not capture it.
For instance, she said her outfit at the Gratis Foundation had

empowered some women groups in the Northern Sector of the country to

produce oil from the jathropha plant to run their machines for making items like

pomade and soap.
Mrs Anokye-Mensah, therefore, encouraged women to muster

courage to take up projects that would improve upon their lives and not always

relied on their male counterpart for support.
On education she said the effort being made to promote girl-child

education should not sacrifice that of the boys and therefore called for equal

attention to be given to both sexes.
     Nana Fosu Randall, Founder and President of the VAM said the report of

the outcome of the forum would widely disseminated.
GNA