GHANA COMMENDED FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN'S MINISTRY

July 7, 2004 – (GhanaWeb)The African Union (AU) has commended Ghana for her policy initiatives on women's empowerment with the establishment of the Women and Children's Affairs Ministry.

The AU said such an initiative was in line with its attempt to promote African women and bring them in the mainstream of gender equality in Africa.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretary to the President in Accra on Wednesday on the ongoing Third Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The statement said: "African Leaders attending the meeting commended President (John Agyekum) Kufuor for his forward-looking policy initiatives on women that culminated in the establishment of the Ministry.

"Ghana was singled out for praise for the lead role in advancing the cause of African women."

The statement said President Kufuor presided over a special session on Cote d'Ivoire and together with other leaders in the West Africa Sub-Region pledged their support to the Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to break the deadlock in that country's peace process.

It said the Leaders were impressed by the commitment of President Gbagbo to get all the parties involved in the crisis to a round-table discussion soon.

The statement said it was decided that a follow-up meeting on the Ivorian crisis should be held in Accra on July 29. All parties involved in the crisis would attend.

From: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=61170