From the Lonely Few to the Rising Many: What International Women’s Day Means for the Young Ghanaian Girl

By: Evans Adjokatse

Every International Women’s Day invites the world to celebrate women. But beyond the ceremonies and the social media messages lies a deeper question: how far have we really come?

This year’s theme, “Give To Gain,” reminds societies that progress happens when opportunities are intentionally given to women, because when women rise, nations gain stronger institutions, wiser leadership, and a more balanced future.

For Ghana, this reflection is both emotional and instructive. There was a time when women in leadership were not just rare; they were almost unimaginable.

In those years, a few courageous women forced the doors open for the rest of society. Women like Susanna Al-Hassan, Ghana’s first female minister, and Annie Jiagge, one of Ghana’s first female judges and a global champion for women’s rights.

Later came pioneers such as Joyce Bamford-Addo, who became the first female Speaker of Parliament, and Georgina Theodora Wood, who broke the glass ceiling as Ghana’s first female Chief Justice.

These women did not rise in a time of encouragement.

They rose in a time of doubt.

They carried not only their own ambitions but the heavy burden of proving that women belonged in rooms where decisions about nations were made.

For decades, they stood almost alone.

But slowly, Ghana has begun to change.

Today, the country is witnessing a growing presence of women at the helm of national affairs. Leaders like Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Vice President; Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, a global diplomatic force; Jean Mensa, who oversees Ghana’s elections; Gertrude Torkornoo, who leads the judiciary; and Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who has shaped Ghana’s digital transformation.

These are not symbolic roles.

They are seats of real power.

Yet data from global institutions reminds us that the journey is still unfinished.

According to data from UN Women, women hold only about 14.6% of seats in Ghana’s Parliament, despite the fact that women make up over half of the country’s population.

Reports from the United Nations Development Programme show that women’s parliamentary representation in Ghana has grown slowly, from 11% in 2012, to 13% in 2016, and about 14–15% today.

Globally, the average share of women in national parliaments is around 26%, meaning Ghana still has a long road toward the 30% benchmark recommended by the United Nations for meaningful representation.

These numbers tell two stories at the same time.

One story says progress is happening.

The other reminds us the work is not finished.

But statistics alone cannot capture the deeper meaning of this moment.

For the ordinary young Ghanaian girl sitting in a classroom in Ho, Tamale, Cape Coast, or Accra, something important has changed.

She no longer has to imagine what leadership looks like.

She can see it.

She can see women chairing elections, shaping diplomacy, presiding over the judiciary, and occupying the second-highest office in the land.

Representation does something powerful: it expands the boundaries of imagination.

Because equality is not achieved the day women are allowed into leadership.

Equality is achieved the day their presence there no longer surprises anyone.

Ghana is not yet at the destination. The numbers show that clearly.

But the distance between the lonely pioneers of yesterday and the growing leadership of today tells us something hopeful: the door that once opened for only a few women is slowly widening for many more.

And perhaps that is the real meaning of “Give To Gain.”

When a nation gives women the chance to lead, it gains a generation of girls who grow up believing that their dreams are not unrealistic.

They are simply unfinished history.

And somewhere in Ghana today, a young girl is watching.

Watching the women who have risen.

And quietly preparing to rise even higher.

Happy International Women’s Day.

By: Evans Adjokatse