GHANA'S Women's Parliamentary Caucus has called for closer co-operation with their Zimbabwean counterparts in lobbying for the elevation of women's social, political and economic status.

Caucus chairperson Mrs Boforo Mary Salifu said very few countries had attained gender equality in representation in decision-making bodies.

She said this on Thursday during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe at Parliament Building in Accra.

Among women legislators present was Ms Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah, the daughter of Ghana's iconic founding President Kwame Nkrumah from the Convention People's Party.

"In Ghana women representation is still very low. We are 19 female MPs in a Parliament of more than 200.

"We need to work together in lobbying our governments to put systems in place that ensure women are elevated.

"We are working very hard, we are responsible but we are not empowered," said Mrs Salifu.

She told DPM Khupe that they were in the process of formulating a Domestic Violence Bill to protect and advance women's interests.

"I have travelled in many countries and the same problems affecting women here in Ghana are the same as those affecting women in other countries.

"This is why we need to work together," she said.

Ms Nkrumah called for the formulation of policies and regulations that elevate women.

"We are all in agreement that we must create conditions that empower women.

"We have seen that most of agriculture workers are women, they are the backbones of our economies, we need a higher representation at all levels," she said.

"In politics, the main hurdle is to convince our political parties that we can be good leaders," she said.

DPM Khupe was accompanied by Public Works Minister Theresa Makone and Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Ghana Mrs Pavelyn Musaka.

She is in Ghana to study how women's banks operate after carrying out a similar mission in Bangladesh last week with a view to establishing one such institution in Zimbabwe.

On Wednesday, DPM Khupe met Women and Children Affairs Minister Juliana Azuma Mensah at her offices.

Mrs Mensah outlined what Ghana's government had done to assist women.