They have also been admonished not to give up because when they take up such roles society is transformed.

Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a Presidential Aide to former President John Mahama, who made the call, challenged young women to realise politics and governance as tools for leadership upbringing and “if young women were given the chance, the best can be seen in them towards progress, growth and development of society”.

She was speaking at the third edition of the West Africa Young Women in Politics Forum in Accra, to sensitise and educate them on how to enhance their progress, growth and development within political parties and governance space to contribute meaningfully in their respective countries.

The workshop was organised under the auspices of The Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) a women’s rights advocacy group aimed to help increase women’s participation in decision-making and in governance processes, on the theme: ‘Accelerating the Growth of Young Women within Political Parties in West Africa’, to help participants develop their leadership skills.

It was attended by 80 participants from Ghana, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Nigeria.Issues discussed included ‘Effective Engagement in Political Party Activities’, ‘Existing Structures in Political Parties within the Sub-region’, and ‘Political Growth of Young Women’

Mrs Mogtari advised young women not to depart from hard work and be intellectually focused, steadfast and firm even as they pursued their political and governance ambitions.

“I braced the odds to attain a position in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) so as young women, we need to knock hard on the door, be strengthened, and make sure nothing beats our reputation for us to persevere to also attain our set goals and compete favourably with our male counterparts,” she pointed out.

Chikas Kumle, a Nigerian politician, said politics was a battlefield hence the need for young women to fight for any position they wanted to occupy and indicated that fighting for a position was not about fashion but intelligence, which should play key role in what they stood for.

She explained that fashion without being intelligent and smart would not earn them respect because excuses should never be part of them, in politics any excuse given could be used against them, especially with the notion of being a married woman.

“Young women have been marginalised for a long time and there is the need to build your capacity to improve on your numbers in the political and governance spaces,”Ms Kumle decried.

Esther Tawiah, the Executive Director of GenCED, urged participants to be focused and be fully challenged to create spaces for themselves in the political and governance world to enable them to set standards and demonstrate their ability to perform any role assigned them in governance with excellence.