MPs Pledge Support For First Lady’s Initiative To Empower Girls

A girl’s empowerment initiative dubbed “Because I Want To Be”, which is being spearheaded by the Rebecca Foundation, has received overwhelming support from some Members of Parliament and Chiefs as well as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The project which is aimed at providing attractive and encouraging platforms for girls in school to continue to learn hard to achieve their aspiration in their chosen profession, will also afford ladies who for one reason or the other dropped out of school before completion, the opportunity to acquire vocational skills to secure professions which will enhance their livelihood.

According to the office of the First lady, the project which was first launched in December 2018 at James Town in Accra, there is now intense lobbying by political, religious and traditional authorities to have the project replicated in their communities because of its positive impact.

At the launch of the project at Teshie by the First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo Addo, the Member of Parliament for the Ledzokuku Constituency, Dr. Bernard Oko Boye committed to support the “Because I Want To Be” initiative in various ways including cash donations to participants who will take advantage of it to realize their dreams.

He recounted how his father, a mason and his mother, a fishmonger squeezed water out of stone to support the education of his siblings and himself because of its immense benefit, stating, “today, there is no doubt that the sweat and toil of my parents have paid off. We are what we are because we had their guidance and financial support and through that we have pulled them out of their economic quagmire”.

On his part, Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon, Hon Vincent Odotei Sowah urged his constituents to take advantage of the “Because I want to Be” project to advance their education and acquire occupational skills that will make them self-sustaining.

He stated that the project has the potential to break the vicious cycle of poverty and unemployment as well as serve as a catalyst for women empowerment if properly committed to.

The Deputy Country Head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Madam Erika Goldson promised that her outfit would support and ensure the success of the project.

She said her organization was very impressed with educational policies of the government, such as the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education and the Free SHS policy and was touched by the “Because I Want To Be” initiative.

The “Because I Want To Be” project has been lauded by traditional rulers, educationists and religious leaders who have described it as a policy which effectively serves as a crane to lift the girl out of a dark pit of poverty and hopelessness, onto the high platform of academic, occupational and social success.