President John Evans Atta Mills has congratulated women and stressed the need for them to be given better recognition. Today is the International Women’s Day, which is observed annually on March 8 to recognize women’s contributions to society. Eulogizing Ghanaian women on their day, President Mills declared that women are “the backbone of our society we have known all along, socially, economically and all aspects of our lives, women have played very important roles.” He unveiled the nation’s love for women in the country: “Our mothers, our wives, our sisters, our aunts and our nieces we love you, may God bless you.” He also remarked that “We are in this world because of our women. They have very special qualities, they are very caring, they are very hardworking, they make all kinds of sacrifices for us. So we join them today in celebrating this special day and wish them many, many happy returns of the day.” In a related development, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has commended the government of Ghana for enacting a number of legislations and ratifying various international conventions and treaties that seek to promote the rights of women and children. It said inasmuch as the government has demonstrated “a strong commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment”, there is the need for stakeholders in education to “ensure girls are able to enjoy their rights to education and participation in a violence-free school environment in Ghana”. “GNECC calls on government for an affirmative action to address the issue of low participation of women in decision making that results in discrimination against women at all levels right down to girls in schools. GNECC believes this can be resolved by giving 30% quota to women on all decision making boards.” This year’s celebration also marks 100 years of women’s struggle for equal rights, equal status and emancipation. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana