Wa, Dec. 5, GNA - Abantu for Development and Centre for Rural Women Empowerment and Development (CERWED), have initiated an election support project under which female candidates in the Upper West Region are receiving logistics support to facilitate their campaigns towards this year's District Assembly Elections.

The project dubbed: "Bicycle for Ballots Project" is being funded by Abantu for Development, Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) and the Young Women's Christian Association of Canada (YWCA Canada) with the goal of promoting women's leadership and political participation in Ghana. These organizations seek to address some challenges and obstacles that were inimical to women's representation and active participation in political and public life and other decision-making roles. This year's district level election is slated for December 28th. Mrs Helen Koranteng, Executive Director of CERWED last Thursday presented bicycles to some selected aspiring Assembly women in the Region on behalf of the partner organizations to kick start the project. She said the Upper West Region had been selected for the pilot project because of the low representation of women in the political and decision making process in the area. Statistics made available to the Ghana News Agency indicated that the Region recorded the least number of women candidates and assembly women during the 2006 District Assembly elections and also had one Member of Parliament.

In that election, 54 women in the Region contested with only 16 of them winning seats in the Assemblies. Mrs Koranteng said it was their expectation that giving election support to the female candidates would increase women's representation in political office in the Region. Some of the aspiring assembly women alleged that they were being asked to step down for male candidates in their electoral areas and expressed fears that the elections would not be fair. Mrs Cate Bob-Milliar, Regional Director of the Department of Women, advised the women to recruit men, who were sympathetic to their cause, to assist them in their campaigns and to act as their agents on polling day. 5 Dec. 10