The Unilever Ghana Foundation (UGF) has presented 16 female tertiary graduates with its Excellence Awards in Tema. This is in line with the company’s strategy to empower women at all levels of the socio-economic strata to accelerate national development. The 16 recipients including seven polytechnics and four university graduates were the best in their respective institutions for the 2011/12 academic year. The female graduates, considered best among their peers, each received a customized Samsung notebook and assorted Unilever products. They were also taken on a tour of the factory to acquaint themselves with the operations of their benefactor. Chairman of the Foundation, Andrew Evans Quayson said that the awards were to "support the empowerment of women who are the engine of societal well-being and growth." He noted that the foundation’s interest is in the sciences with emphasis on technical education and engineering because the country needs more professionals in these fields to develop. The foundation chairman added that women's empowerment agenda is aligned to Unilever's social responsibility policy - The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. "The Unilever Ghana Foundation is committed to continuously finding innovative ways of offering value adding interventions to bring our objectives to life". Mr. Quayson urged the award winners to excel in their field of endeavours to justify the confidence re-posed in them.