A panel of leading diplomats and experts on gender advocacy have lauded the eight years of continuity of Ghanaian female foreign affairs ministers, as a critical milestone in the nation’s quest for gender parity.

They made these observations during a panel discussion organised by the Institute of International Affairs, Ghana (GhIIA.org), to mark eight years of female leadership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI) and to celebrate International Women’s Day 2021.

The distinguished panellists, hailed the record of women’s leadership in Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as evidence of an upward trend of sensitivity to gender balance in Ghana’s public administration and governance.

“Ghana is making gradual progress in efforts at gender empowerment, gender equality and gender equity, and it is beautiful to see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, becoming a torchbearer in that journey”, the panel chorused.

They acknowledged that Ghana still has more grounds to make in the quest for gender empowerment, but stressed the need to celebrate recent successes. “We’re not quite there yet at the promised land of gender equality in public administration. We cannot rest on our oars. But the emerging progress should be celebrated to give more inspiration and impetus to the agenda of gender empowerment”, they reiterated.

This panel included Dr Afua Boatemaa Yakohene, a Research Fellow and focus person for training at the Legon Centre of International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana; former High Commissioner of Ghana to Canada, His Excellency, Nii Ayikoi Otoo and Ambassador William Azumah Awinador-Kanyirige, a retired career diplomat. Others on the panel included Mr Cherk Klutse, head of Programmes and Outreach at the GhIIA and Ms Christabel Dadzie, founder and chair of Ahaspora Young Professionals.

The veteran diplomats, their Excellencies Nii Ayikoi Otoo and William Azumah Awinador-Kanyirige reflected on their experiences working under Honourable Hannah Tetteh and Honourable Shirley Ayorkor Botchway. They extolled the extremely high standards of both women, which had achieved a lot for Ghanaian diplomacy.

Such strong track records of female leadership, they observed, is incontestable proof, that women were definitely key to the talent pool of the global affairs practitioners and could do the job of female leadership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana.

Contributing to the discussions, Dr Afua Boatemaa Yakohene, applauded the continuity of women leadership at the Ministry of Foreign affairs and expressed the hope that, such a feat would be replicated across other key ministries.

“The time has come for women to take their rightful place in the public administration of Ghana, and the achievements of women in this ministry is a glowing tribute to what women can contribute”, she observed.

“Soft power and quite but steadfast diplomacy come naturally to women. No wonder our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has successfully charted Ghana through some treacherous diplomatic waters of late, for instance, the Ghana-Ivorian dispute over our oil resources. Who knows what could have happened if others were in charge? Let’s give women the chance”, she stressed.

Sharing some insights from a research paper from ghiia.org, Mr Cherk Klutse outlined that there is a need to maintain advocacy for gender parity, as key institutions like ECOWAS, for instance, are yet to have female leadership. He further noted in his presentation that, of the 64 countries with actual missions in the country, only 10.9% had female apex leadership, which creates the need for increased advocacy both at national and international levels, especially in the context of new paradigms and approaches to global affairs, for the participation and role of women in foreign affairs and international security.

The event themed “Celebrating Women in Leadership – 8 years of Female leadership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration” was a virtual event with over 200 participants.

It aimed, to among other things, celebrate the achievements of Ghanaian women in the fields of diplomacy and international Relations; provide a role modelling platform for women seeking paths for growth in Ghana and Africa’s International Relations ecosystem; and raise awareness for women empowerment in Ghana and Africa.