A law lecturer has called for concerted effort to create the needed environment for women to be “be whatever they want to be”  at a women’s summit. 

The Summit, organized by Joy 99.7 FM, in collaboration with the Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA) and currently underway at the  Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra, is under the theme, “Shaping a Balanced Future free of Violence against Women.”

The forum, which is expected to highlight the struggles, vulnerabilities, representations and most importantly the inspiring success stories of women, is part of activities being done by the organizers ahead of tomorrow’s International Women's Day. 

International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year. It is a focal point in the movement for women's rights.

Using her life’s experience as an example, Clara Beeri Kasser Tee of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration law school said “I think as a society, and I also task we women, that in addition to what we do, I think we need to find time to spend more time with girls. So that the girls can get to feel that it is ok to be whatever you want to be. I benefitted from that a lot.”

She is also calling on the government and corporate institutions to consciously create an environment where everybody can realize their potentials

Other persons who attended today’s event included Audrey Gadzekpo, the Dean School of Communication studies, Angela Dwomoh, Country Manager of IBM Ghana and Angela Dwamena Aboagye, a gender activist.

On the women’s day, history recounts how after the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day on February 28, 1909 in New York, the 1910 International Socialist Woman's Conference suggested a Women's Day be held annually.

After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations.