Mr Williams Billy Williams, Australian High Commissioner to Ghana says, the Australian Government would continue to promote women empowerment in West Africa to enhance their status in society.

To this effect, he said the High Commission in Ghana had funded a number of small grants projects to support the developments of activities of non-governmental organizations, including women’s economic and social empowerment.

Mr Wlliams who was speaking at a launch organized by the Commission to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day in Accra, emphasized that women’s empowerment and capacity building was the priorities of the Australian Government.

The celebration which was on the theme: ‘Supporting Economic Empowerment for Women’ was attended by a cross section of Ghanaian women, civil society, the private sector as well as ministers of state and the media.

“Nearly half of Australia’s overall aid programme is invested in activities that either have a primary or secondary objective of promoting gender equity and empowering women, High Commissioner Williams said, adding as Australia’s activities’ in West Africa expand, including diplomacy, trade and development investment, we will continue to make women’s right a priority”.

Mr Williams said the Australian High Commission in Ghana was funding a number of small grants projects to support the development activities of non-governmental organizations including women’s economic and social empowerment.

“Currently the Australian Africa Community Grants Scheme, funded by AusAID, is implementing approximately eight projects in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana worth 953,644.00 Australian Dollars (1,732,500 GhC) which impacts directly on the lives of women”.

In Ghana, Australia is supporting the Network of NGOs in the Western Region (WERENGO) with AUD 74,727 (GHc 135,757) project to improve the maternal and child health in the poorest communities in the six districts expected to benefit about 285,000 women and children.

“It is clear that supporting women’s cooperatives and promoting skills is a good way to ensure that economic and social transformation can take place more quickly,” The High Commissioner said.

He said Australia was supporting women’s role in development through the Australian Youth Ambassador for Development volunteer programme, under which 24 young Australian women had been placed in a host of organizations to support local capacity building since the programme commenced in Ghana in 2010.

In addition, he said, under the Australian Award scholarships program for Africa in 2012, 46 percent of long-term awards recipient and 39 percent of short-course awards recipients were women.

By 2013, the Australia awards program will offer 1,000 scholarships annually across Africa, the High Commissioner added.

Other Africa Community Grants Scheme, funded by AusAid, include World March of Women- Burkina Faso, Search for Common Ground- Cote d’ Ivoire, and Equilibres Et Populations- Mali.

The rest are Health Poverty Action - Sierra Leone, Volunteers to Support International Efforts in Developing Africa- Liberia.