The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has urged women to reject narratives that attempt to diminish their competence and reduce their contributions to superficial traits such as appearance.
Speaking at the first Annual National Forum on Women in Government and Media in Accra last Thursday, the Vice-President urged media practitioners not to reduce gender issues to clickbait that denied the public meaningful understanding and undermined women’s progress.
“When stories about women focus on superficial issues only, like appearance, at the expense of our brains, our competence, and our outcomes, the space for women in public life becomes very, very small, and sometimes insignificant”.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang encouraged women to remain confident and resilient in the face of criticism.
“We must refuse to be belittled. We must refuse to be intimidated. We must refuse to be shaped in other people’s images.
We must have faith in ourselves,” she said.
Forum
It was held on the theme: “Leadership, Visibility and Public Trust”.
Present are individuals in government, including the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, Deputy Chief of Staff, Nana Oye Bampoe-Addo, Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Patience Baffoe Bonnie, the Chief Fire Officer, Daniella Mawusi Ntow Sarpong, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Leader of the Women Caucus in Parliament, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, female ministers, Members of Parliament and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Also present as a tall list of women in media.
The forum forms part of ongoing national conversations aimed at strengthening women’s leadership and responsible media practice in the country.
Media space
The Vice-President further described the media as an important educational platform through which citizens learnt about governance, economics, health and public policy.
Responsible journalism, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang added, could elevate credible expertise and expose harmful practices, thereby contributing meaningfully to national development.
Visibility
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang urged women in media and public life to move beyond mere visibility and focus on building credible influence that strengthened institutions and public trust.
She said influence exercised without professional standards could become risky, particularly within the media space.
The Vice-President also urged women in government and public institutions to lead with integrity, communicate transparently and deliberately mentor younger women entering leadership spaces.
Collaboration
The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, said the event was to create meaningful connections that would advance women’s leadership.
He highlighted the importance of women supporting one another once opportunities were created.
Mr Debrah stated that the President expected to see more women occupying the right positions in society, stressing that women must take deliberate steps to claim their space in leadership and governance.
Low representative
Ms Cudjoe-Ghansah advocated increasing the number of female representatives in Parliament and said female representation should increase from the current level (41 women out of 276 MPs).
She urged stakeholders to protect the few women currently serving in government and intensify advocacy efforts to increase female participation, particularly in Parliament.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
