Accra, March 28, GNA - The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is to assist in the collation of names of women interested in contesting this year's local government election to enable them to benefit from the Women in Local Governance Fund. According to the Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama this would be done through the district offices of the NCCE.

Hajia Alima explained that the NCCE's constitutional role and presence in all the 138 districts placed it in a good position to offer this support.

She was speaking in Accra at a two-day roundtable on "Women, Political Leadership and Participation in Decision-making" being attended by assemblywomen and women in civic union in local governance drawn from the Greater Accra, Eastern, Western and Volta Regions. Hajia Alima said when the names are collated the list would be forwarded to the various regional offices. The Board of Women in Local Government Fund would then assess and make decisions. The Women in Local Governance Fund which seeks to start with a seed capital of four billion cedis was launched early March to serve as one of the continuing efforts towards increasing women's participation in local governance.

"When we decide on the amount of money to give out to the candidates, we would just give a flat sum to all beneficiaries because it would be difficult to share the money according to the size of an electoral area," the Minister said.

The roundtable is a collaborative effort of the Institute of Local government studies (ILGS), ABANTU for Development and the Government Accountability Improves Trust Programme (GAIT II Programme).