About 100 women in the Krachi West District of the Oti region have received leadership skills to enable them to contribute meaningfully to socio-economic growth.
Seeking to encourage women to take note of important issues that directly or indirectly impacted on their aspirations for leadership, the day’s seminar drew participants from the traditional council, security service, the health and education sector as well as civil society organisations.
It was organised by a women-focused group, the Gloryhill Women Empowerment Foundation (GWEF) on the theme; “Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” at Kete Krachi, the district capital.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of GWEF, Gloria, Dede Abiwu, in an opening address, identified that women in general, based on the societal structures were confronted with daily challenges that stifled their development.
She hoped the seminar would increase the mental fortitude of women to “move out of the space of just being home managers to being resourceful people who can manage affairs at even the highest levels of leadership by giving them the needed exposure”.
Mrs Abiwu expressed the full commitment of her organisation to turning around the lives of women for the best through such seminars, vocational training and mentorship programmes.
Mr Daniel Osei Tuffuor, Executive Director of ExLA Group, organisers of the Young African Women Congress (YAWC), delivering a presentation on entrepreneurship, noted it was very possible for women to “leave the space of dependency to being self-sufficient.”
He identified four important characteristics of entrepreneurs which he encouraged every woman to desire and achieve; vision, innovativeness, taking risks and being able to organise and manage resources effectively.
Mr Tuffour urged women to consider solving problems rather than seeking financial gains, “nonetheless, money always comes as a by-product of providing solutions through entrepreneurship.”
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Director for Krachi West District, Ms. Benedicta Akadusi, sharing her story on her journey to the top position, encouraged younger women to stay focused on their studies, skill or job their hands found doing.
She demystified ill perceptions often associated with women entrepreneurs, insisting that, “women empowerment is for women’s advancement in knowledge towards things that make them function better in society thereby being of greater value to society and not a tool to fight men.”