The Chief of Staff, Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has challenged Women to consider Energy and Mining as a career path to better their lot.
She also called for the removal of barriers hindering equal opportunities for women in the mining and energy sectors.
This was in a speech read for her by a Minister of State, in charge of Works and Housing, Dr. Freda Prempeh, at the Second Edition of the Women in Mining and Energy Awards (WiMEA) ceremony held in Accra.
The purpose of WiMEA among others is to acknowledge and celebrate the role, contributions, and achievements of women in Ghana’s mining and energy industries.
It was on the theme “Challenging Stereotypes and Conscious Bias: Supporting Women in Mining and Energy to Achieve Global Cohesion and Leverage their Game-Changing Collective Strength.“ Mrs. Osei-Opare noted the mining and energy sectors, despite being tagged as a male-dominated industry have seen significant adoption of corporate policies concerning equality, inclusion, and diversity to create a happier workforce.
She, therefore, underscored the need for the various boards of mining and energy organizations to prioritize and create equal opportunities for women in the boardroom. The Chief of Staff said research has shown that women have enormous impact on the well-being of their families, organizations, and nations, but stressed that their potential is sometimes not fully realized because of discriminatory social norms, incentives, corporate governance limitations and legal frameworks.
She explained that even though the status of most women have improved in recent decades, gender biases persist in some parts of the country and in some organizations, saying it is in that regard that successive governments had mainstreamed various interventions toward ensuring gender parity. Mrs. Osei-Opare stressed that education remained one of the most important aspects of human development, adding that eliminating gender disparity at all levels of education would help to increase the status and capabilities of women.“
She said the government has already implemented a number of policies and measures to respond to women’s needs and increase their participation in decision-making in the public and private sectors. She described the awards as another valuable tool for creating nationwide awareness of women in the mining and energy sectors and encouraged the organizers to sustain it.
Meanwhile, a statement issued and signed by the Events Director of Ianmatsun Global Services Ltd, organizers of the event Isaac Adu-Gyamfi, explained that the awards was conceptualized to identify and officially recognize women who have played significant roles and contributions in the mining and energy sectors of the economy.
It also aimed at bringing national recognition to women and promoted Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and sought to promote the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals Five (5) of Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities.
