The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme has awarded GH¢820,000.00 (US$150,000) to five innovative women-led enterprises across the country to support and expand their businesses.

The programme aims at creating Jobs for women, ensuring food security, enhancing viable utilisation of biodiversity products to meet international standards and income flow to women within the limits of sustainable land management.

Ms Silke Hollander, the Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP, speaking at the presentation ceremony said the grant given to the enterprises included the acquisition of technologies for transforming nature-based raw materials into finished products that meets local and international standards.

She said the programme would also provide business management, training in product development and design, and finance facilitation to the poor and vulnerable women entrepreneurs.

That, she said, would enable the women to become competitive in the local market as well as integrate women enterprises into regional, national and international markets.

Ms Hollander therefore called urged the awardees to judiciously use the funds to achieve partnership, whilst leveraging additional resources with the private sector and other partners for greater impact.

Dr King-David Amoah, Chairman of the National Steering Committee of UNDP Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP), said the UNDP GEF-SPG programme provided financial support to local community groups to invest in environmental management, adding that US$200,000 had been expended to support sustainable community mining in the northern savannah ecosystem in the country.

Dr Amoah said the implementation of the grant would be expected to generate employment and build capacities of 5,000 women entrepreneurs in small to medium size enterprises in the country.

He urged all partners to support the women and called on the government to support to build the capacities of rural women in improved technologies that would move them from the rudimentary technologies.