France and Ghana’s Gender Ministry explore cooperation on women’s economic empowerment

The French Embassy in Ghana and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection have begun discussions to strengthen cooperation on women’s economic empowerment, focusing on entrepreneurship, agriculture and gender-responsive development.

The Ambassador of France to Ghana, Diarra Dime-Labille, led a delegation to the Ministry for a courtesy call on the Minister, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, where both sides explored areas for collaboration. The Ambassador said the engagement aimed to deepen the longstanding relationship between France and Ghana while identifying opportunities for French support to complement the Ministry’s priorities.

She identified women’s entrepreneurship and agriculture as areas with strong potential for cooperation, particularly in promoting innovation, food security and economic opportunities for women.

She also expressed interest in ongoing initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs and how future programmes could better integrate gender considerations.

Dr Lartey welcomed the engagement and stressed the need for gender to be deliberately placed at the centre of programmes designed to empower women economically.

She noted that although gender is a cross-cutting issue, concerns affecting women can sometimes be overshadowed by broader sector priorities, particularly in agriculture where women have historically played significant roles, often informally.

The Minister said Ghana’s transition towards more formalised and technology-driven agricultural systems must not leave women behind, adding that the Ministry was ready to work with the French Embassy to ensure investments in women-focused initiatives deliver sustainable results.

She also urged the Embassy to involve the Ministry from the planning stage of programmes with gender dimensions, citing the proposed 2027 Women Economic Empowerment Programme as a potential area for collaboration.

Dr Lartey further encouraged the French delegation to share relevant gender action plans and programme documents with the Ministry to ensure alignment with Ghana’s national priorities.

She pointed to the National Gender Policy as a key framework for guiding interventions and said the Ministry could support public institutions and local-level structures in developing and implementing gender plans while monitoring progress through established reporting mechanisms.

Both sides expressed interest in identifying practical areas of cooperation and strengthening the partnership to expand opportunities for women and advance gender equality in Ghana.