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 The Ambassadors and High Commissioners with Dorcas Arthur (left), Maish Ibrahim Mansodorah (2nd from left), Barikisu Ibrahim (3rd from left) and Feruzah Abdulai. Picture: EBOW HANSON
The Ambassadors and High Commissioners with Dorcas Arthur (left), Maish Ibrahim Mansodorah (2nd from left), Barikisu Ibrahim (3rd from left) and Feruzah Abdulai. Picture: EBOW HANSON

4 Girls win Ambassador for a day competition

Four young women, who shared what they would do if they were ambassadors for a day during a competition, have been awarded at a ceremony in Accra last Thursday.

They are Dorcas Arthur, Maish Ibrahim Mansoorah, Barikisu Ibrahim and Feruza Abdulai.

The competition, which was dubbed : “Ambassador For A Day”, provided an opportunity for marginalised young women to share their thoughts on leadership and become advocates for change.

The girls were shortlisted from over a hundred entries from other young women between the ages of 16 and 19 years old.

Award ceremony

At the award ceremony organised by the British High Commission, in partnership with the Australian High Commission, Canadian High Commission and the French Embassy, the four winners were presented with certificates and spent a day with four female diplomats to understand what it was like to work and lead in a diplomatic mission.

The diplomats were the British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, the French Ambassador to Ghana Anne Sophie Ave, the Australian Charge D’Affaires, Leann Johnson, and the Canadian High Commissioner, Kati Csaba.

Ambassador for a day

Speaking at the event, the British High Commissioner, Ms Thompson, explained that the competition formed part of efforts by the Commission to celebrate women and also observe the United Kingdom’s Africa Gender Month.

She said the “Ambassador for a Day” competition was aimed at providing a platform for marginalised young women to become leaders and advocates for change.

It was also to provide young girls the opportunity to express their opinions and share ideas on how a gender-equal future could be shaped.

“The competition was launched in March, in partnership with CAMFED, Girls Education Challenge and Plan Ghana, where applicants were asked to submit an essay and a video explaining what being an Ambassador for a day would mean for them,” she said.

She noted that an independent judging panel made up of representatives from the UK, Australia and Canada High Commissions and French Embassy, assessed the entries and selected the winners.

Gender Equality

Explaining the reason why the competition was opened to only women, Ms Thompson said although women made up half of the world’s population, they were not included 50 per cent of the time.

“Without women being fully involved in economic, political, social and cultural life, we are never going to realise the world’s potential,” she noted.

To that, she said UK had dedicated the whole of March to look at gender issues, noting that the competition was a key part of drawing attention to what they called, the three ‘Es’; Educating girls, Empowering women and girls, and Ending all forms of violence against women and girls.

"Ambassador for a Day gives a unique opportunity to some of Ghana's future leaders and we are looking forward to spending a day with one of the impressive winners,” she said.

The Australian High Commissioner, Canadian High Commissioner and French Ambassador, congratulated the winners and expressed their happiness of spending time with the winners.

Winners

The winners expressed their gratitude for the opportunity and called for similar initiatives to be organised to provide opportunity for young girls to thrive.

Describing the opportunity as a life-changing experience, they promised to share whatever they learnt during their time with the diplomats with other young women.

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