Fuseini Nurudeen, the Nkwanta North District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has challenged women to thrive in leadership positions and face the challenges that come with them.

He said they needed to take their destiny into their own hands and continue to clamour for reforms that would bring about the needed gender balance.

Mr Nurudeen made these remarks at a forum organised for the Lineebal Women Association at Abunyanya in the Nkwanta North District in the Oti Region.

He said there was no gain-saying that women were under-represented in local and national governance, hence the need for all to work relentlessly to uplift their status regarding decision-making and governance processes at the level.

He said it was important to underscore that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) five “seeks to achieve gender balance and equality in decision-making through the empowerment of women and girls.”

The forum was meant to educate them on the need to participate in the governance processes of the country as part of activities marking the Commission’s 2021 Constitution Week Celebration.

He said it would be difficult to achieve this enviable goal if women and girls issues were not taken seriously by local and national policymakers.

Mr Nurudeen said the impact of women was being felt although they constituted the majority of the population and urged them to reorganise.

“Perhaps this is the time for these groups to pool their resources together and act in a concerted, coordinated and consistent manner to achieve results,” he said.

He advised them to tolerate each other’s views, stop discrimination and live in peace for nation-building.

Mr Nurudeen also appealed to womenfolk to defend the 1992 Constitution against all forms of abuse and violation at all times.

Madam Victoria Ujan, the President of the Association, called on the women to be involved in the decision-making processes at all levels since such engagements were vital.

That, she said, would help deepen the country’s governance system, saying participatory democracy occurred when people were involved in the decision-making process.

Madam Ujan said the process must be devoid of political capture to achieve the desired results.

She also advised them to send the girl-child to school, rather than pushing them into early marriages.