Ghana and South Africa today (March13, 2014) agreed to intensify their collaboration to empower their women economically and socially aside the fight against all forms of gender based violence.

At a bilateral meeting held at the United Nation’s headquarters in New York on the side-lines of the on-going 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Ghana’s Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection,Nana Oye Lithur, and her South African counterpart, Ms.Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities discussed effective measures to address gender inequalities and how to capitalize on their current strengths and success stories.

They particularly looked at how they can make social protection for the elderly an important ingredient of the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals, since it bodes a lot of positive and tangible results vulnerable groups.

Nana Oye Lithur briefed her on various interventions that had been taken at home to improve schools enrollment for girls, support women to acquire economic skills, ensure that the rights of women are protected, indicating that Ghana was ready to learn about the success story of South Africa in the area of women’s sexual reproduction and human rights among others.

On her part, Ms. Xingwana talked about on-going programmes in her country to equip young girls with skills that hitherto were regarded as the preserve of men, including aeronautics, and information telecommunication,apart from weaving and other local handicraft production.

She mentioned that everything was being done to empower women and to get them out of abusive relations that undermined their dignity . She agreed to an earlier request by Ghana for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries on Gender Based violence, and how the two countries can team up, assuring that a team will be appointed soon to start work on the areas mentioned. During the discussion, they all agreed that it was through constant education and sharing of experiences that they can fast-track efforts to empower women,who contribute greatly to the livelihood of their families.

Present at the discussions were members of the Ghanaian delegation attending the CSW and their South African partners.

Earlier, Nana Oye Lithur attended a Gender and Procurement Stakeholder Meeting organized by the Joint Office for the Commonwealth Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York.

It centred on how to make women become economically viable and to galvanize the enormous potentials of females entrepreneurs and business and professional women.