UNDP awards grants to women-led enterprises
Accra, Nov 30, GNA-The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility- Small Grants Programme has awarded GHC 820,000.00 (USD 150,000) to five innovative women-led enterprises across the country to support and expand their businesses.
The programme aims at creating Jobs for women, ensuring food security, enhancing viable utilisation of biodiversity products to meet international standards and income flow to women within the limits of sustainable land management.
Ms Silke Hollander, the Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP, speaking at the presentation ceremony said the grant given to the enterprises included the acquisition of technologies for transforming nature-based raw materials into finished products that meets local and international standards.
She said the programme would also provide business management, training in product development and design, and finance facilitation to the poor and vulnerable women entrepreneurs.
That, she said, would enable the women to become competitive in the local market as well as integrate women enterprises into regional, national and international markets.
Ms Hollander therefore called urged the awardees to judiciously use the funds to achieve partnership, whilst leveraging additional resources with the private sector and other partners for greater impact.
Dr King-David Amoah, Chairman of the National Steering Committee of UNDP Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP), said the UNDP GEF-SPG programme provided financial support to local community groups to invest in environmental management, adding that USD 200,000 had been expended to support sustainable community mining in the northern savannah ecosystem in the country.
Dr Amoah said the implementation of the grant would be expected to generate employment and build capacities of 5,000 women entrepreneurs in small to medium size enterprises in the country.
He urged all partners to support the women and called on the government to support to build the capacities of rural women in improved technologies that would move them from the rudimentary technologies.
The five enterprises include; Accelerated Development Organization which received USD 48,525 and is expected to incubate commercial production and marketing of organic indigenous rice within the Weto landscape for 24 months; Ayorya Women Groundnut Producers Association also got USD 34,100 and is to integrate climate smart groundnut processing and production, and empower women in the Black Volta basin for 24 months;
Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and industry-WA Chamber got USD 15,375.00 and expected to up-scale and improve the quality of shea butter produced by the shea butter processors wing of Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a period of 12 months
Others were; Ripples Ghana which received USD26,000 to sustain the production of shea butter production training project within 24 months; and Women in Sustainable Charcoal Producers Association that also got USD26,000 and is to initiate sustainable charcoal development promotion and adoption for effective energy in line with SDG 7, for 24 months.
Ms Gloria Asare Adu, an awardee, speaking on behalf of the awardees, thanked the UNDP and assured that the grant would be used for the intended purpose to stimulate development in their various communities as well as achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
