Tumu (U/W) Aug. 9, GNA - Sissala Literacy and Development Programme (SILDEP), a local non-governmental organisation, has assisted more than 1,000 women in the Sissala East District of with micro credit facilities to expand their businesses.

The NGO also provided the women with micro entrepreneurial skills in areas such as dressmaking, batik production, artefacts and other locally woven materials for both domestic and international markets.

Mr Moses Luri, Executive Director of SILDEP, told the GNA in an interview that this was part of the NGO's effort to empower women economically through the provision of literacy skills.

He said the project, which is being carried out in collaboration with the Sissala East District Assembly through the Business Advisory Council (BUSAC), had improved the livelihoods of many women in the district.

Mr Luri said 25 women were undergoing training in beads making and would be provided with micro credit as soon as they completed their training.

He said the NGO had acquired special designing machines for five women in the district who are having training in designing skills to enable them come out with products that would attract domestic and the international market.

He said SILDEP was also creating market linkages in the United Kingdom and the United States to help the women to export their products to the international market.