Mara Foods, an indigenous food processing company in the Upper West Region, has called on the government and stakeholders to include rural women in their digitalization efforts to promote their empowerment in the digital space.
This was contained in a statement issued by Mara Foods on March 8, 2023, to commemorate International Women’s Day on the theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.
The statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Annie Maria Johana Yuorpor, said the theme has presented an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on how women can be included in digital technology drives and how their inclusion can transform society.
“Women's inclusion in digitization efforts means a positive transformation of society. Today, businesses revolve around using one digital technology or another and therefore, women's knowledge of using digital technologies would help them grow and expand their businesses,” the statement indicated.
It indicated that the shifting of the world towards a digital era of technology and digitization has legitimized the need to fully include women in all digitization drives.
It further indicated that “businesses revolve around using one digital technology or another and therefore, women's knowledge of using digital technologies would help them grow and expand their businesses.”
“Consequently, as we mark this important day, we call on the government and all stakeholders to consciously deepen efforts aimed at increasing women's inclusion in the use of digital technologies,” the statement appealed.
It added that telecommunication and internet services should be made available in the rural parts of the country to ensure that no woman is left out on the "DigitALL" agenda for sustainable growth and development.
Mara Foods and its associated brands, Mara Closet and Beautiful Smiles Project, over the years, have been engaging women in productive engagements to help them create new businesses from within their environments and also scale up existing ones.
“We do this through outreach activities and training sessions with and for women from all walks of life across the Upper West Region of Ghana,” it said.
International Women's Day (IWD), March 8 every year, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Download the full statement here: