Expose The Working Conditions Of Women

The media has been called to expose the working conditions of women entrepreneurs to attract the needed support from government and the private sectors.

Professor Smile Dzisi, Vice Chancellor of the Koforidua Technical University (KTU), said the media must as part of their mandate enhance the ability of women entrepreneurs to make their voices heard by focusing on their economic activities.

She said many women entrepreneurs are working under harsh and unhygienic conditions just to create jobs for their families and needed the support of the media.

Professor Dzisi said this at the maiden Eastern Regional Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards held in Koforidua.

The event was held under the theme: 'Repositioning the Eastern Region for Investment and Job Creation: Role of the Media'.

Professor Dzisi said women formed about 51per cent of the Eastern Region's population and mostly engage in entrepreneurship activities 'yet they are usually the economically disadvantaged group in the region'.

She said the media's focus on women's economic activities as part of their renewed efforts to support government job creation efforts in the region would change the situation to the benefit of all in the society.

Professor Dzisi said empirical studies shows that access to the media by women is associated with better income and education, in addition to better health and fertility outcomes.

The Vice-Chancellor said with the onset of the one-district, one factory project and the government's drive for entrepreneurship and innovation, the media must play the critical role of 'proactively searching and bringing to the public's attention business opportunities that can improve the lot of the people'.

She commended the Eastern Regional branch of the GJA for the renewed commitment of playing an effective role by writing useful stories that bothered on jobs and businesses for investment and jobs in the region.

She said the KTU is ready to collaborate with the media in that direction and more so her outfit is on the verge of establishing a 5-strategic Research Centres focused on providing leadership and state-of-the-art research areas that are of regional and national relevance.

She said the centres included a Business Development Research (cBDR) whose mandate would be to collect, analyze, store and produce data on the business opportunities within each district of the Eastern Region, and this would help facilitate the establishment and growth of businesses.

The maiden Eastern GJA Awards saw seven media persons and two veterans- Mr Emmanuel Sarfo, former Regional chairman of the GJA and Editor of the GBC and Mr Edmund Quaynor also former Regional Chair and Regional manager of the GNA, were recognised for their distinguished services.