Empower women to achieve their dreams - Mrs. Rawlings

Former first lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings has appealed to Ghanaians to change their mindsets towards issues concerning women empowerment as Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

According to her, young women must be empowered to accept their position in society and strive to achieve greater heights.

“This is because when a woman is empowered the whole community and nation as a whole becomes empowered” she added.

Mrs. Rawlings however noted that it was imperative that men were roped in to assist in the achievement of this dream.

"What we are saying is that we cannot be empowering women alone without 49% of our men on board.

If the mindset of people towards women is not changed we can’t achieve that. Therefore we need the men on board to understand why there is the need to empower women.

It must begin with the empowerment of young men so that as they grow, they would know that they have been empowered enough to accept capacity into the ability of the men and their importance into the society,” she said.

“This is because when a woman is empowered the whole community and nation as a whole, becomes empowered”

International Women’s Day was originally called International Working Women's Day and was founded on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

In most regions the focus of the celebration ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements- to global development.

The International Women’s Day is commemorated annually and this year’s celebration is under the theme "The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum".