CONSULTATIVE C'TTEE LAUNCHES FUND TO EMPOWER WOMEN (PAGE 11, NOV 4, 2010)

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), working in the Ahafo area of the Brong Ahafo Region has formed a Women Consultative Committee (WCC) to provide a forum for women, in the Newmont Ahafo concession to discuss and share ideas and issues of concern in the mining communities.
The 85-member committee, which was formed in line with NGGL Gender Plan, was chaired by Nana Ataa Adwoa Agyeiwaa II, Omanhemaa of the Hwediem Traditional Area. It is made up of queens and elected representatives of all community women groups or associations within the Newmont Ahafo concession.
Members of the committee, which was inaugurated in November 2007, meet quarterly and each member is charged to be well informed about the operations of the company to enhance the free flow of information between the women and the company.
In September 2008, the women set up a revolving fund, which is managed by a nine-member committee, with assistance from a consultant, WALTEX Company Limited, contracted by Newmont, to economically empower themselves.
The money was raised through contributions made during their quarterly meetings, fund-raising activities and appeals to institutions and other organisations for assistance and by February 2009, the WCC had been able to mobilise more than GH¢1,060.00 for the first disbursement to contributors to promote their businesses, mostly of the WCC.
To date, a total of GH¢ 15,190.00 has been disbursed to 47 beneficiaries, with 10 being third-time beneficiaries, 20 being second-time beneficiaries while 17 have accessed the fund for the first time to support or start their businesses.
Since it is a revolving fund, a contributor is eligible to access the facility as many times as possible, once she duly completes repayment of the previous credit line.
The minimum amount a member can access is GH¢ 100.00 while the highest amount given out so far was GH¢ 1,000.00. Currently, the repayment rate is about 99 per cent and this has been largely due to the peer monitoring role played by the contributors with the view to protecting their investment.
Just recently, the fund was officially launched at Kenyasi, where the management of NGGL contributed GH¢ 100,000.00, during which the General Manager of Environment and Social Responsibility (ESR) of the company, Mr Dan V.Michaelsen, presented a dummy cheque to the WCC.
He said the Gender Mainstreaming Plan of Newmont, was formulated to change the face of the mining industry in Ghana, hence the establishment of the WCC and the decision by the members themselves to set up the revolving fund to support their activities.
‘‘The businesses our women engage in should contribute to the expansion of the economy here in this area and thus, fall in line with Newmont’s long-term plan to leave a sustainable legacy of economic development. And it is impressive that an amount of GH¢ 15,000.00 has so far been disbursed to nearly 50 contributing members of the WCC,’’ Mr Michaelsen noted.
Madam Elizabeth Opoku-Darko, the Co-ordinator of the NGGL Gender Mainstreaming Programme, also pointed out that research had shown that the mining sector had been a highly gender-biased sector, with income accruing from royalties, compensation, employment and supply opportunities, largely extended to men.
She added that in Ahafo, women made up 51 per cent of the population, hence their needs and aspirations could not be overlooked.
Some of the WCC beneficiaries of the fund, who gave testimonies at the launch, indicated that their lives had been economically transformed after accessing the money to start or expand their businesses
The way forward is that the WCC membership will continue to encourage other WCC members to access the fund while educating other women in the Ahafo host communities on the fund to prepare them towards contributing and accessing credits to improve on their businesses.