The Female Empowerment and Advocacy for Development (FEAD Ghana) has encouraged women to stop shrinking themselves and go out of their comfort zones to shine their lights.
The remarks were made by the Executive Director of the FEAD Ghana, Hajia Hikmat Baba Dua at a summit held by the FEAD Ghana and Teen Talk Ghana dubbed "HerStory Summit" at the SDD University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) over the weekend.
"Women need to stop shrinking, dimming our lights, remaining caged-in and silent just because we don’t want to be seen nor heard," she said.
She said women could not claim their rightful place in the affairs of society if they continued to shrink themselves because they do not want to be seen.
"For women to take their rightful place in the society we find ourselves in, we must overcome this fear or better still anxiety in order to build a collective voice and own our identities and stories," she stated.
Hajia Baba said the summit intended to highlight the stories of women to inspire the young generation of females to take their rightful spaces and impact the world around them.
"Women who have moved ahead in life need to share their stories with more women around them.
"This cloak of silence around what happens in women’s minds and bodies and in their subsequent personal and professional journeys has to come out; the stories have to be heard by other women especially young women and girls," she said.
The Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo observed that women were highly productive at work because they possessed clarity of thought and were diligent in getting their duties executed mostly in a satisfactory and timely manner.
He, however, noted that women were relegated to the backdrop because they failed to get involved in the 'politics of the workplace' and always stayed affixed to their lone corners.
"The challenge I have seen, essentially, has to do with the fact that most of the women are unable to play the politics of the workplace, and so most of them do their work and go and sit in their corner.
"So they don't get the promotion they deserve because they are happy being in their corner," he explained.
He encouraged the women to get involved in the politics of the workplace which he said, was basically about building networks and forming positive relationships with co-workers, subordinates and superiors.
Oheneyere Gifty Anti, a renowned Ghanaian journalist, speaking at the summit, said women were born with shining lights and that they should not allow anyone or anything to dim the light.
"Ladies, you're stars, you were born with the light and that light is what makes you unique. Do not let anything kill it," she said.
She encouraged the women that they should not stop at their challenges because she believed it was those stumbling blocks that would pave the way to their greatness.
She said there was nothing one cannot achieve if they put their minds to it.
"Ladies, I just want you to know that you're amazing [and] there's nothing you cannot achieve if you decide to," she encouraged.
The summit, held under the theme, "Count Her In: Accelerating Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment," was attended by hundreds of young women including students and advocates who were inspired by highly motivating and enterprising women leaders drawn from academia, business, and civil society.