Congratulations to Professor Takyiwaa Manuh

Pathways of Women's Empowerment warmly congratulate Professor Takyiwaa Manuh on her very well deserved award of an honorary doctorate in law at the University of Sussex summer graduation ceremony on 14 July. Takyiwaa has a long history of links to Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and from 2006 was the West Africa Hub Convenor for Pathways. She is now Director of the Social Development Policy Division at the UN Economic Commission for Africa. 

In her speech Takyiwaa made reference to the support her parents gave for her education at a time when girls' education in Ghana was very uncertain. She said it was:

a testament to the progress that has occurred almost everywhere now that the right of girls to an education, skills and training, is almost uncontested and actually promoted...

In looking to the future, however, noting the importance of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development being held in Addis Ababa, she made reference to the policy actions and resources that states need to commit to support women's agency and women's movements particularly in the post-2015 agenda. 

In conclusion, she spoke warmly of her longstanding links with IDS' work on gender and rights. Her parting message for graduands was that they continued to learn and seek knowledge and that they used what they learned to make a difference.