Project stakeholders
Opportunity International UK, with the support of UK Aid, has launched its project on ‘Economic Empowerment of Women in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through rural financing at the Golden Bean Hotel, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
The Economic Empowerment of Women Project is designed to help increase the participation of 12,000 women in the rural economies of Ghana and DRC in order to improve productivity, build assets and increase household income.
This will contribute to the achievement of UN Global Goals of No Poverty, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth.
The three-year project will also address key causal factors leading to poverty and disadvantage for women engaged in rural economies of Ghana and DRC.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans, Anthony Fosu, said women’s participation in agriculture value chains in Ghana has improved in recent years, but gender stereotypes keep poor, uneducated women in lower paid, less skilled and more insecure work situations in the agric value chain.
CEO of Opportunity International Savings and Loans, Kwame Owusu-Boateng, also said that women empowerment falls in line with the Government of Ghana’s strategy of sustainable poverty reduction through accelerated private sector-led economic growth and support for wealth creation.
Lydia Baffour Awuah, Senior Programme Programme Manager from Opportunity International UK, anticipated changes in the lives of the target beneficiaries through increased participation in community activities, empowerment of women, enhanced financial inclusion and increased incomes.
CEO of Vision Fund DRC, Jacques Lom, in his closing remarks, pointed out that DRC is the second largest country in the world in terms of arable land after Brazil, with over 80 million hectares of arable land of which only 10% is barely developed. Women account for more than 85% of the active workforce in the sector. This project thus aims to empower rural women economically through sustainable and resilient agricultural production systems.
He further thanked Opportunity International-UK and UK Aid for their support in empowering women in Ghana and DRC.
He assured the donors that all the beneficiary institutions would work together to ensure that the deliverables are met on time.