Full Text: Address by Vice President Jane Opoku-Agyemang at Int. Women’s Day celebration in Accra

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors, Honorable Ministers, Honorable Members of Parliament, Traditional Leaders, Queen Mothers, Distinguished Guests, Esteemed Speakers, and all Participants: good afternoon.

March 8, International Women’s Day, is for all nations to reflect and act, by advancing the achievements made so far, and going beyond to what lays untouched or unfinished. It is a day to celebrate the historical, social, economic, cultural, and political contributions of Ghanaian women over the centuries, while also acknowledging the persistent challenges in achieving true gender equality.

This year’s IWD 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark commitment to advancing women’s rights globally. As nations assess their progress, Ghana, too, contemplates her achievements, setbacks, and plans for realizing an equitable and fair community of peoples. From expanding women’s leadership and economic empowerment to ensuring girls’ education, reproductive health rights, and protection from gender-based violence, our progress must be inclusive and sustained.

This milestone is being highlighted by an inclusive, intersectional, and intergenerational women’s dialogue aimed at resetting the agenda for women-uplifting all Ghanaian women-whether parents, traders, farmers, fisherfolk, other professionals, homemakers, or rulers, regardless their backgrounds or dis/abilities.

We must choose to end violence against all persons, especially women and girls. This in whatever form it may take: whether human trafficking, domestic violence, accusations of witchcraft and the resulting instance justice, child marriage, female genital mutilation, or sexual violence.

Beyond decrying these unhelpful practices, we must interrogate whatever is proffered as the rationale of them. Let’s tackle the problems at their roots. Ignoring the needs of girls and women; obstructing their pathways to advancement; killing their dreams and clipping their wings-remember Maya Angelou’s I know Why the Caged Birds Sings”? —enforcing their acceptance of mediocrity; refusing even to encourage or support them; glamorizing systems that keep them at the bottom; all these also constitute unacceptable forms of violence against women and require urgent action.

Today, we stand in solidarity with women and girls. We deserve to live in dignity. Let us be intolerant to violence against women and girls in our homes, schools, places of work and worship, communities and nations. It is time for men and women, and boys and girls to choose to end such violations of human rights.

If we strengthen our legal systems, ease access to justice and guarantee advancement to girls and women; if, above all, we sustain public dialogue and education on what nations lose by pretending that these problems do not exist, we will be well on our way. We will be confronting the issues and going beyond debates to the consensus-building that enables effective action.

We must take decisive actions towards lasting and effective solutions that move our nations forward. We must isolate the reasons behind the high dropout rates among girls and tackle the problem where it lays. The recommendations outlined in the final report of the Beijing Platform some 30 years ago remain valid.

Gender sensitive pedagogy in schools and training facilities is an essential tool towards addressing the gaps in the training system, and curbing the persistent problem of the dropout rate. To think that the natural menstrual cycle poses a threat to the advancement of girls in education is unacceptable. It was the government of the National Democratic Congress that sought to deal with this problem, when I was privileged to serve as Minister for Education under the leadership of H.E. John Dramani Mahama.

I will leave the public bashing of this initiative for another day. However, I remain deeply comforted by the manner in which the Forum for African Women Educationalists, whose Africa Board I was honored to chair for 6 years, used this means to help girls remain in school and rise up the ladder in the 34 African countries we were happy to serve.

I am happy to report that we placed the supply of sanitary pads in our manifesto and that our current Minister for Education, Hon Haruna Iddrisu, has taken immediate action on it. We must empower girls in different and concrete ways.

This government will do whatever is in its power to advance the wellbeing of girls and women, by creating opportunities for our advancement and self-fulfillment, regardless. And, on my part, I pledge to work with all committed and like-minded persons-male and female-in our pursuit of justice and the true liberation of all women. I will support my country efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls, and to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality •

The Affirmative Action Act beckons; let’s make good uses of the opportunities in the supreme interest of our country, and of women, in particular. I commend our traditional authorities, especially our Queen mothers, for the seriousness with which they carry out their mandate. I also call on them to continue to prioritize the welfare of the women and girls in their communities.

We are all awakening to the benefits that accrue to children, families, communities and the nation when we support women to rise and reach their full potential in all spheres of life. Let’s accelerate action by bringing that knowledge long established, to fruition.

I thank you for your kind attention. May God continue to bless our homeland, Ghana.

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