Madam Anita Jemima De-Sosoo, the National Women's Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has told an international conference in Angola that the Mills administration is determined to better the lot of the Ghanaian woman. She said the government was of the firm belief that the sound economic, health and political condition of women, who were the guardians of the family, could accelerate the development of the entire country. Presenting a paper on "Public Policy and its Impact on Families and the Promotion of Women," at the conference, Madam De-Sosoo said key among issues that had engaged the attention of the government were agricultural development, provision of portable water, job creation and health delivery. The national organiser attended the conference which attracted women leaders from 10 other African countries, at the invitation of the Angolan Women Organisation during the observation of its yearly celebration. As an expression of the commitment of the government to women empowerment, Madam De-Sosoo said: "Government of Ghana under Prof. John Evans Atta Mills has appointed more women to occupy district, regional, ministerial and top positions. Currently Ghana has 21.06 per cent of women in ministerial and top positions and ranked 35th in the world." She said concrete steps were also far advanced to involve at least 40 per cent of the nation's women in decision making and 30 per cent in Parliament, to influence decision and contribute effectively in the decision making process at all levels of society. Madam De-Sosoo said the government had taken the decision to involve women in top decisions because at all historical junctures Ghanaian women had contributed to national economic and political advancement of the country. She said over the last 16 months, the government had rolled out a number of measures to improve existing basic, secondary and tertiary education. These include, free school uniforms for deprived basic school children, the distribution of over 42 million pieces of free exercise books, a 50 per cent increase in Capitation Grant, free school feeding programme and free transportation of school children. Madam De-Sosoo said currently the government was constructing 3,947 basic schools which were under trees in rural communities, 7.3 million Euros earmarked for upgrading technical and vocational facilities as well as one million dollars from the GETFund for the procurement of tools and equipment for technical and vocational institutes in the country. She said the government was providing low interest loans to all tertiary students in both public and private universities, polytechnics teacher and nursing training colleges. Currently, she said there were five public universities in Ghana and that the government was building three new public ones to focus on the study of allied and health sciences, waste and renewable energy among others. "Although the entire impact of these policies are yet to be realised, it had made basic education more accessible and free to young people and have reduced the economic and financial burden on families and increased enrolment in the basic school," she said. She said the sound financial policies of government had led to a decrease in inflation and interest rates, a situation which had allowed Ghanaians, especially business women to access credit at less cost to expand their businesses. Source: Daily Graphic