Hajia Boya Gariba, Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, has asked young ladies in the tertiary institutions to avail themselves to leadership positions.
“You do not have to be afraid to contest for these positions, but be inspired by women role models among us today,” she said.
Hajia Gariba said this at the maiden Polytechnic Women’s Summit, held in Accra yesterday to equip the participants with the requisite skills to
enable them take on leadership positions.
The event was organised by Leading Ladies Network (LLN), a non-profit organisation in collaboration with National Women’s Commission of Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) on the theme: “ Powering Possibilities: Nurturing the Leadership Potentials of Ghanaian Tertiary-Level Women”.
She said the number of women in leadership positions in the country was low, mainly because many educated and qualified women continue to shy away from competing for leadership roles on the basis of cultural, norms and values.
She said it is good to note that, many parents are educating their daughters to prepare them for bigger roles in various professions they are not
traditionally meant for.
Hajia Gariba said more women are needed in leadership roles in every aspect of national development.
“For this reason, government has made it a matter of necessity to ensure that women, who are capable and willing, are empowered to hold key political leadership positions in the country. “Women in leadership positions should be encouraged to identify their strengths and mentor other women to acquire leadership skills,” she added.
The Deputy Minister called for attitudinal change for women aspiring to be in leadership position, noting that they should be humble, embrace
diversity, show integrity and try to seek the interest of the people they serve.
She urged them to work together to change the negative attitude of their male counterparts who find women in positions higher than them as
undesirable.
Mrs Yawa Hansen-Quao, Director of LLN, said the network seeks to recruit, equip, mentor and connect young women in order to realise their leadership potentials and leverage them to improve their circumstance and that of others.
She said through the partnership with GNUPS women’s commission more ladies were building the confidence to stand for positions of student governance and sharpening their communication skills.
Mrs Hansen-Quao urged the ladies to be abreast of things happening around them to make informed decisions and contributions.
She announced that the network has established the Female Leadership Advancement Mentoring and Empowerment Series programme, a leadership and
personal development event to be implemented on a pilot bases for the next five years.
She said the programme would focus on servant leadership, addressing social entrepreneurship, professional skills building, technical competence
training and personal and community development.
Ms Nancy Dery, National Women’s Commissioner of GNUPS, entreated the ladies to take the advantages the summit offers to build their capacity in leadership to contribute to the development of the country.
Yawa Hansen-Quao
Founding Director
Leading Ladies' Network
PMB CT 498, Cantonments
Accra,Ghana
Office: +233.20.6376427
Skype: yhansenquao
www.leadingladiesnetwork.org
site: http://www.leadingladiesnetwork.org/