UNAIDS COUNTRY COORDINATOR PAYS COURTESY CALL ON MINISTER

The Country Coordinator of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Leo Zekeng has paid a courtesy call on the Hon. Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms. Akua Sena Dansua in her office.

The visit created the opportunity to discuss collaborative ways of fighting HIV/AIDS and its debilitating effects on efforts at advancing the cause of women and children in the country.

Dr. Leo Zekeng noted that the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country seemed to have slowed down since the prevalence rate dropped to 2%. He warned against complacency since some districts in the Eastern Region such as Agormenya still had a prevalence rate of 5% and added that for every two cases being treated in the country, there are five new cases.

Dr. Zekeng called on Government to mainstream HIV/AIDS into developmental programmes such as the Savannah Accelerated Development and other policies since HIV/AIDS has a large impact on development.

The UNAIDS Country Coordinator expressed his outfit’s readiness to support the Ministry in its fight against Domestic Violence and abuse since it has been established that HIV/AIDS is linked to gender and sexual-based violence. He also pledged his outfit’s support to Government in its fight against HIV/AIDS.

MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S AFFAIRS TO COLLABORATE WITH ALGERIAN EMBASSY IN GHANA TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

The Deputy Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hon. Hawawu Boya Gariba has called for support from the Algerian Government towards the economic and educational advancement of women and children, especially those in Moslem communities.

Hon. Hawawu Boya Gariba made the call when she paid a courtesy call on the Algerian Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Lakhal Benkelai at the embassy to discuss ways of cooperation and collaboration between the Ministry and the Algerian Government in improving the lives of women and children.

The Hon. Deputy Minister pointed out that a lot of Moslem women lacked formal education. This, she said, did not augur well for the country’s development since women played vital roles in nurturing and shaping the lives of their children.

Hon. Boya Gariba said that people living in Moslem communities live under very deprived and challenging conditions. She reiterated Government’s commitment to addressing this situation and called for support in this direction.

She called on the Moslem youth to desist from engaging in cyber fraud which is popularly known as “Sakawa” since it is against the Islamic religion.