Speakers at a forum have appealed to women in the Upper East Region to vote massively for the six women parliamentary candidates contesting the december election to give the region a good representation in the fight for gender mainstreaming.

The speakers at a forum organized by the Centre for Sustainable Development Initiative (CENSUDI), a local non-governmental organisation seeking the welfare of women and based in Bolgatanga, said a vote for women is a vote for development and conflict-free election.

Mr. Phillip Ayamba, the Executive Director for Community Self-Reliance Centre, said women issues are central to development and for that matter when they are given the opportunity to serve in parliament, they could be placed in a better position to debate for the welfare of women and children. He said the ability of women to mobilize and facilitate collective actions cannot be overemphasized and so there was the need to put women issues in the national agenda.

Mr. Ayamba said even though the 2000 population census put women in the majority, continuous discrimination such as the inability of women to have access to land, production resources and credit facilities as a result of cultural practices had undermined progress in ensuring that women attained full independence.

He said it was only morally right that women voted for their fellow women to go to parliament to take actions on their behalf, arguing that women had vast know-how in home management and could translate this into better policies when given the mandate.Women are capable, competent and in a better position to contribute positively to debates in parliament especially those issues regarding women and children.

Another speaker Mr. Emmanuel Atogi, a retired civil servant, appealed to women to be peace brokers and peacemakers during the general elections.He called on politicians to restrain their followers from using abusive and libellous languages when they mount platforms and said rebuff, insults, insinuations inflammatory use of words could charge opponents to revenge thereby creating unnecessary tensions.

The Programme Manager of CENSUDI, Madam Mary-Margaret Issaka, who moderated the function, said women knew best what was good for them and that they could do better when given the opportunity to serve.The Programme is being sponsored by Canadian International Development