The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has called on the public to encourage women to be brave and ambitious in their quest to achieve greater heights.
According to the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University, it is not a crime for women to be ambitious; adding that in her case, attempting to get to the level she found herself currently was not easy but became possible.
“Do not let anyone or anything prevent you from being bold enough to aspire for greater things as a woman because as long as you are alive, your dreams remain valid. Do not let the negative things you hear discourage you because nothing is impossible to achieve,” she said.
Prof. Amfo gave the advice during a panel discussion at the just ended Rotary tenth District Conference held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on the theme “Imagine Rotary”.
She said it was very important for women to muster the courage of putting themselves up for higher positions despite the obstacles they might face.
This, she was convinced, would pave way for the younger generation of girls to know that it is possible for women to hold very high positions and excel like their male counterparts.
“The more we see women take higher positions, the more younger women are encouraged to work towards getting to such levels or beyond. Let us support each other as women, so that together we can create the world of female leaders we so much wish for,” she added.
Touching on the need to empower women economically, the Vice-Chancellor stated that an economically empowered woman is able to add value to her life and chase her dreams as compared to women living in poverty.
She commended women holding high positions, urging them to keep up the good work while identifying and supporting young girls to fearlessly work towards being among the leaders of any area they found themselves.
Prof. Amfo is an experienced academic and university administrator with over twenty years of experience in the higher education sector.
As Vice-Chancellor, Professor Amfo is driven by two key notions, technology as an enabler and a devotion to human welfare in all the operations of Ghana’s premiere university.
Prior to her appointment as Vice-Chancellor in October 2021, she served as Acting Vice-Chancellor from August 2021.
She also served as Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Academic and Student Affairs (ASA) from November 2019.
Professor Amfo was a founding Dean of the School of Languages between 2014 and 2019, and also served as the Head of the Department of Linguistics from 2013 to 2014.
She has participated in the governance of the University of Ghana through her service on several statutory and ad hoc boards and committees.
As Vice-Chancellor, Professor Amfo chairs several high-level statutory boards and committees of the University, such as the Academic Board, Business and Executive Committee and Office of Research and Innovation Development (ORID) Advisory Board.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU