Regional News of Friday, 17 October 2008

Source: GNA

Women group plans affordable housing project

Accra, Oct. 17, GNA - A group of 50 women in Azizyan, a village in the Greater Accra Region, has agreed to engage with the traditional authorities and government to give them a parcel of land to enable them to develop a long-term means of providing sustainable and affordable housing.

The women also decided to come together to support themselves to prevent the costal erosion of the village. A statement by the Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP), an organization that advocates the empowerment of the most vulnerable in society, said the women made the decision when they celebrated this year's United Nations World Rural Women's Day with the theme, "Climate Change: Rural Women Are Part of the Solution." The statement said the women noted that their communities, environment, industries, services and workplaces were facing rapid changes which included drought, climate change, and water issues which had resulted in an increased cost of doing business. World Rural Women's Day is celebrated in October to highlight the roles played by rural women in food production and food security across the world.

Ms Mardey Ohui Ofoe, Executive Director of FFP, said rural women had played significant roles in communities affected by drought, coastal land erosion and ongoing climate change. "The rural women and climate change initiative is about local women working together and exploring partnerships that improve their family situations and the communities' wellbeing,"