GIZ Reaffirms Commitment To Empower Women

The Deutsche Gasellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in a statement to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD), pledged its commitment to support interventions aimed at ensuring gender parity for Ghana's holistic development.

It said the Agenda 2030 of the new European Consensus on Development and the new German Sustainable Development Strategy underlined the importance of gender equality for sustainable development.

'The promotion of gender equality is not just a commitment, but a guiding principle and a quality feature of our work,' it emphasised.

GIZ, the statement said, had supported the Ghanaian women in various programmes on behalf of the German Government.

It mentioned its cooperation with Scania West Africa and the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) to implement the 'Female Drivers Campaign''.

'This initiative is to train women to become bus drivers to open up gender segregated industry domains to women, giving them a larger section of possible jobs and to even out the gender imbalance in the transport sector,' it explained.

It said women were under- represented in the commercial transportation sector in Ghana, therefore, the programme would attract more female bus drivers.

It said out of the 100 shortlisted candidates, a final 60 would be chosen and trained by the vocational school, Government Technical Training centre (GTTC) in Accra, to get a bus driver's license free of charge.

'The selected candidates would have the opportunity to apply for a position as bus drivers for Aayalolo, the Bus Rapid Transport System introduced by the government in 2016,' it said

'The GIZ implemented a regional program, 'Empowerment for Sustainable Development in Africa' (E4D) together with its Ghanaian partner, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

'However, it entered into a public private- partner with Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and SAMSUNG Electronics West Africa to promote female professionals in electronics by supplying them with a sound technical background and capacity through highly practical oriented vocational training.'

It said the women were equipped with technical knowledge and skills through practical oriented vocational training.

'The training is not only to equip women with knowledge and skills; it would improve their communication skills as well as self-confidence in order to be complete in a growing market.'

It said, currently 30 females had graduated and 55 more would graduate in June 2018, with 25 having secured employment with various electronics outlets in Accra, while others were developing business ideas in the sector and were currently receiving support to develop their business ideas.

GIZ is a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, which is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world.

GNA