Kwahu Professionals Network (KPN) has held the second edition of its female mentoring and career guidance programme, 'KPNinspires', to commemorate the global celebration of this year's International Women's Day.

The programme was held at the Nkawkaw Senior High School in Kwahu with over a thousand students, mainly female, from about 14 Senior High Schools in the Kwahu enclave.

The mentoring, coaching and career guidance initiative was held under the global IWD theme, "Embrace Equity", and sought to encourage the students to strive for equal opportunities in all areas of life.

Riding on the remarkable success and impact of the first edition, this year's event had varied knowledge-sharing sessions by accomplished KPN members.

It included a keynote speech on the global IWD theme, a personal story session dubbed, 'My journey; An inspiration', a career guidance presentation, essay and debate competitions among the schools.

Mrs Julia Appiah, a women's rights activist and a Deputy Director at MDF West Africa, gave the keynote speech.

She recounted her experiences and challenges, encouraging young women to be bold and determined to pursue their dreams.

A gender equality advocate and lecturer at Koforidua Technical University, Dr Simon Ofori Ametepey, gave the students a career guidance talk, highlighting the need to consider one's strengths when choosing a career.

Stephana Sefa-Boateng (Public Health Practitioner), Hesthalynna Osafo (Professional Banker- CGB) and Diana Opoku (Financial Crimes Specialist) took their turn during the inspirational story-sharing session.

Demonstrating that gender should never be a barrier to higher heights, the speakers used their different backgrounds and experiences to inspire the students, narrating how they have overcome obstacles to succeed in their chosen fields.

The speakers shared stories from their different backgrounds and experiences to encourage the students not to allow their gender to be a barrier to attaining higher heights. They also narrated how they have overcome obstacles to succeed in their chosen fields.

Reiterating the value that KPN places on youth development in Kwahu, the President of the network, Prince Boateng, said, "the network is committed to empowering young ladies by hand-holding them through mentoring, coaching and role-modelling to enable them to aspire to greater heights. KPN recognizes the importance of these interventions and will continue to initiate and support efforts that empower women to be the best versions of themselves."

A debate and essay competition was held among the students to climax the program. The objective was to encourage the students to think critically about issues that affect women and express their views on them.

Competing schools in the debate competition made their motions known: "Ghana's war against corruption is as good as handing power over to women."

Nkawkaw Senior High School emerged as winners of the debate. Participants in the essay competition also made their cases for removing taxes on sanitary pads.

At the end of the programme, KPN donated a 1000-litre polytank to the host school to augment the school's water supply and help improve students' hygiene and well-being.

KPN remains committed to promoting gender equality to ensure women's participation in national development.

The network is also grateful to its partners, sponsors, and everyone for their contributions and dedication to the cause. Together, we can create a more equitable world for all.

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The writer, Heidi Akosua Boateng (Pharm), is the Communications and Media Relations Director of KPN.