By Edward Williams, GNA
Alavanyo (V/R), May 10, GNA – The Alavanyo Traditional Queens under the auspices of Mamaga Ametor Hoebuadzu II, Paramount Queen of the Area, has honoured 30 women from the area to mark the 2026 Mothers’ Day celebration.
The honourees drawn from the Divisions of the Area and beyond were celebrated for their various contributions to the development and growth of the nation, especially in areas of community promotion, unity and peace.
Mamaga Ametor in an interview with the media noted that the Honor was part of a three-day programme organised to empower the women especially mothers of the area towards promotion of community development through unity and peace.
She said it was the maiden event with plans to celebrate it annually and on a rotational basis between the Divisions.
Mamaga Ametor said the programme educated the women and empowered them to know their rights, how to handle and care for the Ghanaian currency and to become peacebuilders for development.
“We are the builders and it is time we know our rights, speak out, get educated and also impact the future generations for national development.”
Reverend Father Anthony Akpalu, the Parish Priest, St Augustine Catholic Church, Alavanyo, said women played significant roles in national development hence celebrating them on Mother’s Day was appropriate.
He said men were also part of the development who played their own roles, but some felt that they were unrecognised, adding that such men must not feel discouraged but rather continued to do their best for the welfare of society.
Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe, the Volta Regional Director of Gender, said women must be encouraged to take interest in leadership roles and contribute their voices towards decision-making and national development.
She noted that the Volta Region had over 52 per cent of the population being women yet their participation in decision-making especially at the lower level, was still very low with six per cent participating in decision-making at the local level.
Madam Kpe said women should take advantage of the laws and policies that government had put in place to encourage women to take part in leadership and decision-making particularly, Affirmative Action Act.
She urged women to also take their position in leadership and decision-making because they were able to articulate their needs, bring to bear all the needs of children, vulnerable in society, and ensure that the local development authority was taking steps to meet their needs.
Madam Kpe said mothers should raise their children to take part in decision-making wherever they found themselves, so they could become women who would be confident and bold to take part in decision-making.
She said there were also lots of policies and programmes government had initiated to support women economically and prevent violence hence the need for them to be economically empowered and bring themselves together in association and economic groups to give them the leverage to take advantage of policies like the Women Development Bank.
Madam Kpe said there were numerous initiatives like helplines that a lot of women could call when they were going through violence and abuse in their homes yet do not know whom to report to or talk to.
She said they could call the Ministry of Gender on their toll-free lines “0800 800 800, 0800 900 900 or 0800 111 222” to report issues of abuse and violence that came up within their communities so that they could get help from government institutions that were mandated to take care of the needs.
Madam Kpe advised women to ensure that there was peace within their homes, communities and society at large because women were the first teachers that every community had, and so they must be role models and teach their children, young men and women to promote peace wherever they found themselves.
She said women must also avail themselves to be part of every peacekeeping initiative, must not isolate themselves nor be a stumbling block to peace because when there was no peace, women and children suffered most.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Edward Williams