Akim Oda, Feb. 21, GNA - Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, has said the Kufuor administration has formulated sound policies to promote and enhance the status of women and children since it came into power in 2001.

She expressed regret, however, that due to women's tight work schedules and the lack of access to radio and television, they were often not able to access information and benefit from those policies. Hajia Mahama was speaking at a forum for women groups drawn from the Birim South District at Akim Oda on Monday, to educate them on government policies that affect the well being of women and children. She noted that for any development policy to make an meaningful impact, there was the need to get information about the policy to flow to the target groups, adding "it is important that they understand the policy so that they will support and play a meaningful role in its implementation."

Hajia Mahama said last year, her Ministry outdoored a three-year strategic implementation plan to put the national gender and children policy in operation with the goal to establishing decentralized machinery, to reform policies and initiate innovation programmes. She said the prioritised areas, which the Ministry would focus on this year included the facilitation of women's access to micro-finance, training of beneficiaries and monitoring loan repayment, among others. On health, she said the main objective of government policies to address concerns of women included the improvement of the efficiency of health service delivery, hence the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Hajia Mahama said the national reproductive health service policy focused on the improvement of the well-being of the population, especially mothers, children and adolescents.

In his welcoming address, the District Chief Executive, Mr Frank Kwame Busumtwi, observed that a society which neglected women's interests stood to lose half of its energy and creativity which, in turn would cause serious set back in the nation's development process. He said it was imperative that women were given the necessary support in all spheres of life to enable them to contribute their quota fully to nation building.