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Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, Upper East Regional Minister, has pledged his administration�s support for women to have equal access to opportunities to accelerate development in the Region. �It is virtually impossible to work to achieve positive and accelerated development without the involvement of women and as a Social Democrat party in government we will include more women in our administration,� he stressed. The Minister stated that considering the vital role women played in national development, his administration would create a conducive environment for them to give off their best in contributing to realize the �Better Ghana Agenda�. The Regional Minister gave the assurance at an engagement meeting with past and present Assembly Women Association (PPAWA), at the Regional Coordinating Council in Bolgatanga. The purpose for the meeting was for PPAWA to introduce its Executive Members to the Minister, and to seize the opportunity to solicit his support towards the forthcoming District Level Election (DLE). He mentioned the Regional Development Strategic Plan, and said it would involve Tree Planting, Beautification of the Region and Sanitation, adding that more women would be given the opportunity to participate actively in these programmes. Responding to the women�s request on the forthcoming DLE, the Regional Minister assured the women that he would ensure that the Municipal and District Chief Executives pave way for more women to be appointed and elected into the Assemblies. He noted that the prominent challenge with the DLE was the partisan nature it was assuming, and said it was high time such negative tendency was nipped in the bud. The Minister advocated for an affirmative action in favour of women aspirants in the DLE, and impressed upon them to form formidable groups and support one another to push more of them to represent their interests at the Assemblies. He said President John Mahama�s interest is to involve more women in the decision-making process. However, he expressed regret that there were instances where women were not qualified or did not avail themselves for political positions. The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme who expressed concern about child trafficking in the region, called on the women to serve as a pressure group to help fight the canker. He noted that children were often trafficked by some unscrupulous persons from the region to the southern parts of the country to be engaged in hazardous activities, and indicated that currently an NGO Consortium had been tasked to help check the menace. Mr James Daud Abang-Gos, Chairman of the Regional Inter-Sectoral Gender Network (RISEGNET), stressed on the need for the women to be given the needed support, and said his outfit which is a Gender Advocacy Organization in the region with support from IBIS Ghana and Action Aid Ghana (AAG), developed several modules to empower women to take up women leadership positions in the region.