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Regional News of Thursday, 29 July 2004

Source: GNA

Young Women's Leadership Conference ends

Accra, July 29, GNA - Participants of the Second Annual Young Women's Leadership Conference have called for the review of the PNDC Law 111 on Interstate Succession Law to ensure equitable distribution of property upon divorce or death of a spouse.

They said the Attorney General's Department must ensure that Parliament fulfilled that constitutional obligation as mandated by Article 22 of the 1992 Constitution.

This was contained in a communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the Conference, which was attended by about 200 participants from all over Ghana.

The Conference created a forum for the young women to interact with each other and to deliberate on national issues concerning women. The Ark Foundation, Ghana, a local gender advocacy Non-Governmental Organisation hosted the Conference, which is to be climaxed with a public event later on Thursday.

This public event is to expose participants, who are mainly alumni of the Foundation's Women's Law and Human Rights Institute Project, to broader networking with policy matters, legislators and civil society on gender equality and women's human rights.

The communiqu=E9 called on the government to empower the relevant Ministries and Agencies to incorporate education on gender and women's legal rights into the school curriculum.

It said the Ministry of Education should also factor into the primary and secondary school system a programme to respond to all forms of child abuse.

It also asked the government to pass the Domestic Violence Bill as quickly as possible and also provide shelter and counselling centres for women living with HIV/AIDS.

The communiqu=E9 further urged the Government to take steps to inculcate entrepreneurial skills in school curricula with emphasis on providing skills for the girls.