Accra, Dec. 17, GNA - Participants at the launch of the State of Ghana's Population Report on Friday stressed that unless women issues were adequately addressed the country would continue to wallow in poverty and remain at the bottom rung of the human development ladder. They said that improving the education of women, empowering them economically and enhancing their role in governance would go a long way in the country's fight against poverty.

The State of Ghana's Population Report draws attention to key issues affecting development as well as establish a complex linkage between population, poverty and development.

The report stressed the importance of human resource development as an important prerequisite for socio-economic development. It is the first time that Ghana has published a country specific report.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Samuel Nii Ashong, Minister of State In-Charge of Economic Planning called for improved data and information management to assist in tracking the progress being made in reducing poverty.

"There is the need to disaggregate data on poverty by sex at all levels to clearly bring out the extent of the feminisation of poverty in order to address it adequately," he said.

Dr Ashong reiterated government commitment to reducing poverty through the Ghana Poverty reduction Strategy with focus on wealth creation to accelerate economic growth.

Mrs Virginia Ofosu-Amaah, Chairperson, National Population Council, expressed concern about the inadequate representation of population in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.

She said the best way to fight poverty was to ensure that population was considered in any poverty reduction programme, saying that without this link all efforts would not be fruitfull.

She expressed the hope that the Report would provide inputs for the revision of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Professor Miranda Greenstreet, who chaired the function, said when appropriate linkages were established between population and development, it would help accelerate economic growth.