The Pathways of Women's Empowerment Research Project Consortium (WE-RPC) on Wednesday, met to dialogue on a recent study on women empowerment, and to also solicit for views to address challenges that faced women in their quest for making real gains in all aspects of their lives. The RPC, which operate internationally, brings together academics, activists and practitioners working to advance women locally, regionally and through global policy processes. Prof. Takyiwaa Manu, Head, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, in her presentation on a recent dialogue with women Assembly Members in Ghana, said there was more work to be done in terms of advocacy to ensure true empowerment of women. She said the total liberation of women in areas such as education, employment, finance and politics was critical to enhancing their roles in the society. The programme therefore aimed at building opportunities for communicating and learning between those engaged in policy and practical development work, academics and activists, through sharing of stories of change of some women. Prof. Manu said the RPC acknowledged the difficulty in matching public policy as championed by governments and international agencies and the challenge of securing and sustaining tangible improvements in women's lives. She said it could however, be said that in some places, women were making real gains in changing power relations in their favour and the RPC sought to discover how much such changes had come about so that it could make those pathways visible for radical shift in policy and practice to build on the successes. She said most of the women interviewed were very much challenged upon hearing the experiences of others and were ready to overcome their own petty challenges to contest for political or leadership positions in their localities. She mentioned some of the challenges as socio-cultural, where marriage played major hindrances to many women, as they had to seek permissions from either their husbands or their husband's families to be able to indulge in any progressive activity. Financial barriers were also seen to be another disadvantage, when women were deprived from working and therefore could not participate in active politics. Prof. Manu said women had a lot to offer and should be given the necessary support to be able to exhibit their God given talents. Dr Akosua Darkwa, a research fellow with the WE -RPC, said the strategy of sharing stories of change, of policies and interventions that had made a difference in other women's lives would shed a new light on what works, and how to enhance women's empowerment. She explained that the new strategy had been very effective and had helped in changing the lives of many women, especially those in rural settings, saying, "there is the need to intensify education on the true meaning of empowerment so that women could approach issues positively". Source: GNA