..... urged to lead fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS
Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - The First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor on Thursday challenged African women parliamentarians to set the agenda and lead the way in addressing women's health, HIV/AIDS and poverty. She said the MPs had a visible platform, were closer to governments and had better resources as compared to other women and, therefore, should lead the crusade in dealing with challenges confronting the communities.
The First Lady was opening a two-day conference for the African Chapter of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) in Accra. CWP is the women's wing of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. MPs from Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, representatives of women's group and gender activists, among others, are attending the meeting, which is under the theme: "The African Woman MP; Dealing with Women's Health, Poverty and HIV/AIDS." Mrs Kufuor said, "as spokespersons of your constituencies, in particular, and women in general, female parliamentarians have an obligation to educate women to understand the harm that HIV/AIDS is capable of and the extent to which all of us are vulnerable, and how to fight it".
She said legislation of various kinds was needed to tackle the issues but women's organisations also needed to provide an effective political support to promote the cause of women everywhere. "Women must be encouraged to participate in politics with the same zeal as they display in church activities," she said. Mr Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker, in a speech read for the Speaker, said the basic principle of good governance and democracy rested to a large extent on how healthy the citizenry were. "When our workforce lack good health and it is gripped by poverty, then Africa will find herself continuously lagging behind the world development cycle.
"As African women parliamentarians, you must not rest or else we all stand to lose what has been modestly gained as far as the fight against HIV/AIDS is concerned," Mr Blay said. Mrs Virginia Ofosu-Armaah, Chairperson of the National Population Council, who chaired the meeting, said poverty created conditions for the spread of HIV and this needed to be understood to ensure a pragmatic solution to the AIDS pandemic.
Madam Nana Yaa Lindiwe Maseko, Chairperson of CWP, said coordinated political and parliamentary leadership was needed to deal with poverty and HIV/AIDS.
She urged political leaders to go beyond rhetoric and commit themselves to the cause of the people since that was the only way to get tangible outcomes in the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS.