Statement made in Commemoration of International Women's Day by Hon Cecilia Abena Dapaah
Source: parliament_of_ghana
Date: 2026

" STATEMENT MADE IN COMMEMORATION O INTERNATIONAL, WOMEN’S DAY BY HON. CE"CILIA ABENA DAPAAH, MP (BANTAM. Mr. Speaker, I wish to join in the celebration of 8™ March as the International Women’s Day (IWD), and alsc wish to use this opportunity to congratulate all women but most - especially, women in Ghana for their hard work, dynamism and resilience. It is an “established fact that the women in Ghana are industrious and have brought their knowledge, values, skills and wisdom to bear on national development. Mr. Speaker, it is also universally acknowledged that women form the majority of our population but continue to be the most vulnerable in our society. On this day Mr. Speaker, it is important for Ghana as a country and for Parliament, to remember and recognize the achievements of women in all spheres of life and to encourage them to strive higher. I wish to salute our women for their role as care givers in our homes, in our communities and in our hospitals. T wish to also salute them in their natural roles as mothers and guardians. I congratulate first of all our women fatmers who toil day and night to produce food for us as a nation. Our industrious market women whose activities form the barometer of our economy need special mention, and also salute the teachers Mr. Speaker, who help shape the characters of our youth. My congratulations go to women in politics have come a long way and continue to contribute their quota to national development. They have blazed the trail for other women to follow. I believe Mr. Speaker that it is only when women oceupy their rightful place in the excentive, legislature and judiciary that the national development would be given the impetus it critically needs. I believe that women do not need high-sounding titles to discharge their obligations faithfully to serve their communities.. We women, Mr. Speaker, must assert our humanity and for that matter our womanhood by respecting the right of all our people to life, liberty and happiness. As women MPs we have assumed our rightful place as political leaders and as our own liberators from tyranny, fear, poverty, humiliation and dehumanization. Mr. Speaker, we 1as women MPs., shomld help hght Ihe s’oello-cultural factors, V{hxch nom\a.lly mhlbfi ‘women. These factors mist be demysufled fo free the women éoclally, culturally and psychologically to contmbute more to national development. I believe Mr. Speaker that female Members of Parliament form a good platform for advocacy and must help champion the cause of gender, children, and the vulnerable in our society. It is also important Mr. Speaker, to remind ourselves that there arc also a number of initiatives that have to be assiduously worked on to improve the lives of women. Issues on women’s safety outside and within their homes, access to and control over resources like credit and land, and ensuring equity in property distribution as well as issues on their participation at all levels of our governance process, have to be worked on systematically through the collaboration of civil society and institutions of state such as Parliament, Once again Mr. Speaker, we congratulate our women farmers, Doctors, Market women, Engineers, Pilots, Lawyers, Artisans, Masons, Hairdressers, Dressmakers, Home Economists, Activists, Parliamentarians, Ministers, and all women within the civil society. Mr. Speaker, I will end by calling on all women to be proud and grateful that God created us in a special way. We must cherish the roles we are playing, It is tough and difficult at times but I urge all of us to soldier on for there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. We say ‘ayckoo’ and well done to our noble women on International Women’s Day. Thank you Mr, Speaker. ey