The Women’s Commission, NUGS, UCC Chapter has organised the Women Economic Empowerment Summit’ 18 under the theme “Women Economic Empowerment: Driving Force for Societal Change”

The Women’s Commissioner, NUGS - UCC Chapter, Ms. Faustina Maama, explained that the summit was aimed at sensitising young women on the need to identify the current economic trend in order to determine the right opportunities available. She noted that the programme was held to help enlighten and empower the female youth on the driving forces of the country’s economy. 

Chairman's Opening Remarks

The Dean, Centre for International Education (CIE), Prof. Rosemond Boohene, who chaired the summit that though empowerment could take different dimensions to help one cater for particular needs, due to the current unemployment situation in the country, it was prudent considering economic empowerment  in order to create  awareness, especially in young women. She urged  participants to take full advantage of the summit to prepare and equip themselves for the possible opportunities that await their services.

Director of CEGRAD

The Director, Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD), Dr. (Mrs.) Genevieve Adukpo, said if women were not empowered, it would be very difficult for them to “progress in life; take part in decision making and manage their own resources.” She added that the summit was the right transformation platform to sharpen the minds of young women to think of tapping opportunities. She also promised participants that CEGRAD was willing to support and protect the rights of women in the University.

The Head of Sales, Data Bank and Chief Executive Officer, Leadership Empowerment Consult (LEC), Albert Prempeh Kusi, noted that  University Education has been designed to “equip people for corporate Ghana; make people have a career plan and to gain employable skills.” He cautioned the female youth on “poor skill sets; poor planning after completion; poor networking/connection; lack of entrepreneurial skills and dependency syndrome.” He advised participants to “identifying one’s strength; attending seminars; identifying one’s passion and pursuing it; developing one’s dreams into realities; committing one’s endeavours into the hands of God and being willing to serve voluntarily”.

Identify Your Talent and Redirect Your Focus

The Deputy Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Cape Coast North Constituency, Hon. Barbara Asher Ayisi, encouraged the female youth to identify their talents and redirect their focus adding that “if they were not aware of their talents then they would lose focus”. She urged them to determine their strength and weakness in order to capitalise on the benefits of life ahead of them as women. Cautioning the female youth on the need to make a move in life, she asked them to identify their needs and to know their calling to empower themselves. She advised participants to develop good attitude towards work.  

The Director of Operations, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Mr. Kofi Arhin, cautioned participants that to be economically empowered, one ought to be “purpose driven; financially disciplined and determined; prepare for opportunities; willing to start small and be willing to sacrifice his/her time.” He added that it was better to think positively because that could only help entrepreneurs to provide solutions for the country’s economic problems. “The world is looking for people with solutions and not people with problems, therefore, women ought to change,” he said.

The National Youth Authority Representative, Mr. Awotunde Awosika, said it was in the interest of the government that every youth grew economically, therefore, participants should participate fully in the summit to be equipped and empowered to affect the national development.

In her concluding remarks , Prof. Boohene, charged the female youth to “set achievable goals and add value to themselves; and be smart enough to take advantage of every opportunity available. She warned them to “open their eyes; start small and think big to make yourselves economically empowered” – and never to misuse time in their life.             

The Women’s Commission, NUGS, UCC Charter presented of honour to the dignitaries, who facilitated the summit.

The Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation in collaboration with the International Society of Sports and Exercise Psychology has launched the maiden Ghana Society of Sports and Exercise Psychology (GHASSEP).

The ceremony was under the theme “Embracing Sport and Exercise Psychology Application for Optimal Performance and General Well-being in Ghana”.

Speaking at the ceremony the Special Advisor to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Owusu Ansah, assured that government would support GHASSEP. “It is a worthy step to bridge academia and industry”, he noted. He lamented that sports in Ghana has developed at a slow pace. “The level of development is not established by the results attained in performances”, he argued.

Dr. Ansah called on government and other key players to collaborate towards changing the status quo in the Ghanaian Sports industry. He lamented about the fact that research conducted by academia were being left on the shelves of libraries instead of being useful to the development of the Sports. He urged academia to engage stakeholders through research dissemination so that they could make recommendations for implementation to improve sports.

Sharing his thought on the psychological problem being faced by the Black Queens at the ongoing Africa Women’s Cup of Nations tournament, he noted that the Minister of Youth and  Sports has admitted that if stakeholders  like the University of  Cape Coast  were to have been involved in the preparatory stages, the situation would have been avoided.

The Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology Education, Prof.  Joseph K. Mintah, used the opportunity to call on government to engage the service of experts in the field of Sports Psychology at the preparation stages and during tournaments. “What prevents us from using our experts? Why do we have to wait until we have crisis?” he queried.  “As l speaks Ghana Black Star has no sport psychologist attached to it”, he lamented.

He stated that Sports Psychologists must be involved at the early stages because their interventions would not work overnight as they involved various processes. “Ghana should count itself blessed to have handful of sport psychologists in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation of UCC who are dedicated to training more psychologists”, he noted.

The Vice President of the International Society of Sport Psychologist, Prof. Tatiana Ryba, was worried about the low representation of Africa in the Society adding that “it is only a Nigerian that represented Africa in the Society”. She, however, expressed the hope that with the creation of GHASSEP the situation would change for better. “I hope with the creation of GHASSEP there will be enough collaboration at the African level to be able to get a voice to the global world”, she stated.

The Head, Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Dr. Daniel Apaak, revealed that socio-cultural factors influence Sports Psychology consultation services. “Reasons that have been adduced to explain this apparent lack of receptiveness to sport psychology consulting by male athletes are perceived stigmatization associated with sport psychology consulting, having less confidence and less personal openness towards Sports Psychology” he noted. According to him, some athletes preferred working with a consultant of the same race or ethnicity. He explained that these social norms and stereotypes dictate that male athletes should be tough and masculine, and should not exhibit or disclose any emotional problems. He stated that cultural influences were major blockades to the success of Sport Psychologists, and therefore, must be factored into their services as it played important role.

Dr. Apaak called on stakeholders to join forces to project Sports Psychology in the country. “The purpose of launching this Society is to provide a platform for all stakeholders in Ghana to come together to ensure that our athletes are given the best psychological support necessary to excel in their chosen sports”, he noted.

The National President of the Psychological Association of Ghana, Dr. Erica Danfrekua Dickson, entreated Sports Psychologists to join the Association.

Barclays Bank in collaboration with the Students’ Representative Council has held a seminar on Entrepreneurship for students of the Univeristy.

The seminar dubbed “ReadytoWork” formed part of Barclays Bank’s corporate social responsibility to the University.

Speaking on how to become a successful entrepreneur, Mr. John Siade from Barclays Bank, said there were numerous opportunities for students to engage in meaningful ventures that would earn them income. He noted that what was required of was for them to identify a problem around and identify solutions to solve them. “Business opportunities are everywhere. You have to look for them and also create them”, he noted.

Mr. Siade noted that if they wanted to succeed, they should not wait for opportunities to come to them adding that, “look for the ordinary things and turn them to make money”. According to him, to become a successful entrepreneur, one must be self-disciplined, determined, purpose-driven, clever, motivated, and excellent at creating opportunities for making money.

He noted that preparation was a key to any successful entrepreneurship. “If you fail to plan it means you are planning to fail”, he stated.  He advised them always start a business with a plan as a guide. According to him one way for them to succeed was to do a thorough research about the business idea they want to implement.

Mr. Siade advised potential entrepreneurs to desist from the common habit of waiting to develop a perfect product before hitting the market. “Many entrepreneurs believe they have to perfect their product before the world sees it”, he observed. “Build the product, put it on the market and develop it based on customers’ feedback”, he encouraged. He asked them to recognize their weakness and learn how to build their business on their own from other successful people.

He admitted that as an entrepreneur they were bound to face challenges however they must face it without stopping. “When things get tough get back to your purpose and you will get the courage to continue”, he noted. He also advised students to dream big.          

The seminar was introduced four years ago to help eradicate the canker of fresh graduates getting stranded in the world of work. It has two aspects that focused on how to get job as a fresh graduate and how to create employment themselves.