The Builsa South District Chief Executive, Mrs Elizabeth Jane Afiuc, has started a programme aimed at bridging the gender gap in the District.
She told the GNA in an interview at Fumbisi that as part of the programmes, the Assembly had procured two tractors for some women groups in the area who are engaged in farming.
This has enabled a lot of women?s groups to go into large scale farming and expressed the hope that it would improve the livelihood of the women and their children.
The DCE said the Assembly had gone into partnership with a non-governmental organization called Trade Rights International Limited to empower women?s groups in the District to go into shea butter processing, soap making and rice milling.
Mrs Afiuc expressed concern about the disparity of gender in leadership positions and said out of the 29 assembly persons only three of them were women and there were plans to ensure that more women were brought on board in the forthcoming District Assembly election
She said the Assembly, in collaboration with the District Health Directorate and traditional rulers, would map out strategies including the formation of girls? clubs in cluster schools in the area to educate girls and boys to curb teenage pregnancy in the area.
Ms Afiuc said as part of the gender empowerment programmes, the Assembly would restructure the Fumbisi Market which is one of the largest markets in the country.
?The Assembly is also considering lobbying to get more development partners to help more women to go into rice cultivation in the Fumbisi rice valley which is noted for its potential in rice production,? she said.
Mrs Afiuc announced that as part of the Assembly?s effort to keep the district clean and revive the communal spirit of the people in the area, the Assembly had set aside the first Saturday of every month to embark on cleanup campaigns to keep the District clean.
GNA
