Savelugu N/R, Sept 5, GNA - About 10,000 women in the Northern Region are benefiting from more than 6 billion cedis Ghana government' Emergency Social Relief Programme and micro-credit facilities from United Nations Children's Emergency Fund and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

The support, which was channelled through DANIDA funded NGOs such as "Simli Pong" and the Community Life Improvement Programme (CLIP) Loans Schemes was to empower the women and their families economically to reduce poverty.

Mr Osman Abdel-Rahman, the Executive Secretary of DANIDA, said this at a one-day capacity building workshop organised for 13 women contestants in the forthcoming District and Unit Committee Elections from Savelegu/Nanton and Karaga Districts at Savelugu on Tuesday. He said despite all these interventions, women in the area were still faced with challenges, especially in the areas of social structures and cultural systems debar them from active participation in decision-making.

Mr. Abdel-Rahman said this was why the Ghana's Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) II document saw the empowerment of women as key element of policy on good governance and civic responsibility.