Women urged to play leadership role in society

A three-day workshop on Women Leadership has ended at Tarkwa with a call on women to play leadership roles in society and not to play second fiddle to men.

The workshop that was organized by Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in mining communities with support from Right and Voice Initiative (RAVI), an international NGO was under the theme "The Role of Women in Development."

Participants were drawn from Akyem, Asutifi, Adansi and Wassa West districts.

The workshop was to equip women living in mining communities with the basic knowledge on their rights.

Mrs. Hannah Owusu Koranteng, the Director of Training and Research, WACAM, said women's knowledge on the their rights was very important because research had shown that women are directly affected by the negative impact of mining than men.

She said women suffered in situations where mining companies destroyed water and other land resources.

Mrs Koranteng said women, knowing their rights, would impress upon the mining companies to respect their basic human rights.

She said WACAM was deeply concerned about the severity of human right abuses that continued to affect mining communities, hence the workshop.

Ms. Miriam Amponsah, a participant, told Ghana News Agency that the workshop was crucial because it was about time women in the country especially those in the mining communities took on mining companies that were violating the rights of the people.

She urged civil society organizations to prompt these companies to respect human rights in accordance with socially responsible corporate practices.

Source: GNA