Executive Director of the Tobinco Foundation, Millicent Akoto, has called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to be more collaborative with civil society in their quest to empower vulnerable women.
She says the Ministry is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges facing women in Ghana, and should allow civil society on board.
“Since the government can’t do it alone, they need to bring on board organizations like ours, the Tobinco Foundation; organizations which help women in one way or the other so we plan together so that it will be a holistic approach to solving the problems of women.”
Mrs. Millicent Akoto was speaking to Citi News at the Foundation’s Widow’s event to mark this year’s UN International Widows Day.
She noted that the Ministry’s efforts cannot cover all the women needing help in the country, and emphasised the need for collaboration between the Ministry and civil society organisations.
“The Ministry targets some women and we try to fill the gap. The women we deal with don’t benefit from those government projects because they can’t reach out to every widow in this country. It is impossible. That is where we come in.”
According to the Executive Director, the Foundation decided to mark the day in order to bring to the fore, the plight of widows in the country. On their part she said, they are providing skills training as part of a bigger non-formal education project for the widows who registered with them. This she said is aimed at empowering the women and providing them with a sustainable source of livelihood.
“We also have ushered in a skills training project for them that will help them gain economic empowerment”.
The Tobinco Foundation, which manages the corporate social responsibility interventions of Tobinco Group of Companies, supports vulnerable groups including persons living with disabilities, the aged, widows and orphans. It runs a social safety programme under which over three hundred widows are remitted monthly.
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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/Citifmonline.com/Ghana