Gender Advocates Must Educate Women On Energy And Water - J.H. Mensah

Mr J.H. Mensah, the Senior Minister, has appealed to gender advocates to educate women on energy and water related issues to enable them to use these resources efficiently.

He said this at the opening of a five-day workshop for women under the theme: "Turning Information into empowerment: strengthening Gender and Energy Networking in Africa".

Ghana Gender and Energy Network (GEDA) organised it in collaboration with GRATIS Foundation.

Mr Mensah appealed to rural women to stop felling trees along riverbanks to burn as charcoal because this could cause the rivers to dry up.

Prof Aba Bentil Andam, the Dean of the Institute of Science and Technology for Africa of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, said many rural women spent more than five hours daily to gather firewood for home use when they could be introduced to the use of gas.

She said women were capable of making changes for the better if they were empowered.

Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, said in a speech read on her behalf that due to the importance of energy in a nation's development, the Independent Commission of the United Nations Millennium Project Report had identified energy as an essential part of the means to a productive life.

She said the Ministry was implementing a three-year strategic implementation plan that focused on gender equality, women empowerment, the growth, survival and development of children.