Mr Ambrose Dery, Member of Parliament for Lawra-Nandom Constituency has supported the Songtaa Nyog Women group in Lawra with GH�12,500 as seed capital to establish a credit union.
The money formed part of Mr Dery's share of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) fund and would enable the group to support its members
with credit to go into economic ventures to help reduce poverty.
He, therefore, appealed to government to consider the empowerment of women as its topmost priority in the development agenda of the country.
Mr Dery was addressing members of the Songtaa Nyog Women Association (Helping each other to hold firm) at its 10th anniversary celebration at Lawra on Sunday.
He explained that the empowerment of women should be seemed as the empowerment of the community and that no community or family could be better off if women were not empowered.
"Women are those, who personified society and as such they are the best managers of the family and the community", he noted, and pointed out that the wealth of a woman was the wealth of all.
Mr Dery, who is also the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament pledged to continue to support the group and encourage them to learn modern best practices to sustain their businesses.
He called on other women splinter groups, especially those in the Nandom area to come together and form one association that would qualify them for credit support from financial institutions and government interventions.
Mr Dery told the women that humility and love for people were the cardinal principles of his life and challenged them to ensure that
sustainable peace was maintained in the district for development.
He emphasised that no development could take place without peace and that in times of war it was women and children, who suffered most.
Mr Dery, therefore, advised women in the district to act as agents of peace in their communities by talking to their husbands and children to say no to any violent actions
"Of late the northern regions had been notorious with conflicts and you women must work to change the negative thinking of the people to accept and cherish peace", he said.
Mr Dery, however, encouraged women to stand up against all cultural practices that dehumanize them and other traditional beliefs that impeded
their total development.
"Breadwinning or dowries of women should not be misconstrued that they are slaves to their husbands. It is time for us now to see our wives as development partners and nothing more than that," he said.
Mr Dery called on men to provide the nutritional needs for their pregnant women to help reduce the incidence of maternal and child deaths in the communities.
The Member of Parliament also called on women to bring their best qualities to bear in the country politics to enhance the growth of
democracy.
Mr Dery suggested the opening of an avenue in the electoral system for women participation in Parliament and at the grassroots level.
On the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Mr Dery suggested that the SADA Bill should be made public for some inputs to made by the beneficiaries before passing it into law.
He explained that the people had not been sufficiently consulted and pleaded for time to help to educate them to understand the objectives of SADA before its implementation.
Mr Dery described the NDC government as a government of broken promises and people should not take them serious.
For instance, he said, the NDC promised to provide GH�200 as seed capital for SADA and also provide a GH�100 million each year to the
Authority, but ended up providing only GH�25 million.
Mr Dery said the law establishing SADA had not been passed and urged government to come from its campaign mood and govern appropriately by
providing the people with their basic needs.