Members of the female Caucus of the ECOWAS Parliament (ECOFEPA) on Thursday paid a courtesy call on First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo in Accra to discuss issues relating to women’s empowerment and representation in national development across the West African Region.

Mrs Akufo-Addo acknowledged the many issues confronting women across Africa and said it was up to women themselves to work together to attain their goals.

“We got to be united and see what we can all do,” she said, charging female teachers in schools to nurture and educate the girl child to become who they wanted to be and be able to occupy leadership positions.

The First Lady, therefore, was elated that a female political group made up of Members of Parliaments, spanning the whole sub-region, had taken it upon themselves to work at empowering women, protecting the girl child and ensuring that women representation at the upper echelon of political authority was increased.

She informed the MPs that the Rebecca Foundation had since its establishment in 2017 engaged in several activities which were in tandem with the objectives of ECOFEPA.

“Just like ECOFEPA, which is keen on securing the future of the girl-child by helping her access quality education, the Rebecca Foundation also has a mentorship programme geared at encouraging girls to stay in and complete their schooling while also encouraging and empowering those out of school to acquire some skills to be economically self-sufficient.

The First Lady, therefore, assured members of ECOFEPA of the continued support of the Rebecca Foundation, to achieve the common goal of empowering women and girls, stating that with the two bodies sharing a common objective and with their influence stretching to all corners in the sub-region, working together would achieve desired results.

Madam Filomena de Fatima Ribeiro, President of ECOFEPA, on behalf of her colleague Parliamentarians, expressed gratitude to Mrs Akufo-Addo for her cordial reception.

She said ECOFEPA recognised the good works of the Rebecca Foundation and the many successes it had chalked over the years in supporting women and the girl-child in the areas of education, skills acquisition, economic empowerment and maternal health.