Swedru (C/R), March 28, GNA - Mr. John Agama, Deputy Clerk of Parliament, has said that Parliament had an important role to play in achieving poverty reduction through gender mainstreaming. He said empowering women to take part in the decision making processes of the nation was paramount to all since the nation could not get to its destination without the active involvement of women in decision-making.

Mr Agama stated these in a speech read for him at a two-day gender-training workshop for the Parliamentary Staff at Swedru in the Central Region.

The workshop is part of the Ghana Parliamentary Committee Project aimed at improving the capacity of the staff of Parliament working on selected committees to ensure gender mainstreaming in their work and the overall reduction of poverty.

The Canadian Parliamentary Centre and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) organized the workshop.

Mr Agama said parliamentarians needed to be well informed about the various sources of micro finance and advise on the most appropriate sources depending on the particular group if was dealing with. "Parliamentarians have a duty to educate their constituents on strategies adopted by government on empowering women economically. In this vein, they rely on the staff to perform these duties well" Mr Agama added.

"As staff, you are charged with the responsibility of conducting research, understanding related issues and inform your members of parliament accordingly", he added.

Madam Marilyn Aniwa of the Canadian Parliamentary Centre said the Ghana Parliamentary Support Project aims at strengthening accountability, transparency and participation in the parliamentary governance of Ghana, with particular attention to achieving gender equity and poverty reduction.