Sunyani, June 9, GNA - Participants at the 11th Ghana Reflect Practitioners' Network Forum of Pamoja Ghana, in Sunyani, have issued a communiqu=E9 to reaffirm their commitment to using Regenerated Freirian Literacy Empowerment and Community Techniques (REFLECT) as a tool for empowering women and girls in particular.

"We have assessed our capacities to advance the cause of poverty reduction through functional literacy by utilizing REFLECT as a tool having considered the urgent need to use literacy as a key component for ending poverty; social exclusion and violence."

A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday reiterated their commitment to collaborate with other literacy partners to contribute to the efforts of the Government to attain its objective of functional "Education for All.

"REFLECT is a right-based approach to development and a participatory tool to literacy, poverty alleviation and community development" it stated. The Forum was on the theme: 93Literacy - A Powerful Tool for Empowering Women and Girls".

Mrs Millicent Akoto, National Coordinator for Pamoja Ghana, said participants noted that about 40 per cent of the Ghanaian population, majority being women and girls, could not read and write, and that literacy of this segment of the population was critical to sustainable national development.

She stated that the group also considered the conscious efforts of Government at reducing illiteracy through the National Functional Literacy Programme (NFLP) and towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially MDG 4 to empower young girls and women to take control of their destiny.

Mrs Akoto, however, called on the Government, as a matter of urgency to increase the proportion of the education budget for Adult Literacy work from below one per cent to the internationally accepted level of three per cent.

She also urged the Government to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of NFLP activities to eliminate waste and ensure quality service delivery that would break the vicious cycle of women and girls illiteracy, and strengthen collaboration and support for private sector actors in the field of education and adult literacy.

Pamoja Ghana is a Network of youth and adult education practitioners, who use REFLECT and other participatory methods for literacy and development work.

The network seeks to empower the poor, the vulnerable and the excluded in society, particularly women, youth and children through the provision of literacy and awareness creation.