Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has counseled young women across the continent not to succumb to pressures from their detractors and be determined on their quest to succeed in life. Addressing selected ladies from 25 African countries on a MILEAD Fellowship Programme who paid a curtsy call on her on Monday, Mrs Rawlings told them to be ambitious in whatever goals they set, warning that there would be dissuasion and discouragement on the way, but they should not be perturbed by that. “When you set a goal, please achieve it. Try and achieve the goal. You are going to have a lot of people trying to dissuade you, to stop you; some may discourage you. But if you know this is a goal, that is a positive goal, it is going to help you in your life, it is going to help the lives of other people, don’t abandon it half way…but I think you should give it great thought before you set out your goal.” Citing the driving force behind the establishment of the 31st December Women’s Movement (31st DWM), she said before 1979, the IMF had described Ghana as an “economically collapsed and socially bankrupt state”, and felt women would have to play a part to turn the situation around. Despite that, women at the time were “relegated to the background” in the struggle to rebuild the nation. “For me, the motivation was not just seeing that we (women) could be part of the decision making process, but being part of it and knowing that I could help to make a difference.” Mrs Rawlings asked women to cherish the fact that they are able to multitask and urged them to utilize such opportunities on their way to achieving their dreams. She also charged them to be confident in themselves, be bold and lead by example. She also appealed to them not to sacrifice their children’s education for anything, saying that motivated her to set up day care centres across the country. The 31st DWM was no set up because she was the First Lady but because she wanted a change, she stressed.