The theme for this year's International Women's Day, Embrace Equity, emphasises the importance of making gender equity an integral part of every society and promoting its benefits across all sectors.

Over the years, Vodafone Ghana has done its part to embrace equity under its Inclusion for All pillar. This pillar ensures that everyone has access to the benefits of digitalisation by prioritising access to connectivity, digital skills, and introducing meaningful products and services. Vodafone Ghana also strives to have a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities it serves.

The telco’s commitment to gender parity is evident in its many initiatives over the years both internally and externally.

“It starts with intentional actions that make our workplace more inclusive and comfortable for our female executives,” said Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, Vodafone Ghana’s Director of Human Resources. “Seventy percent of our Executive Committee is represented by women. We have targets to recruit more women in departments that typically have a significant male presence. We also designate parking spaces for expecting mothers, offer four months parental leave, and have dedicated spaces in our offices for breastfeeding mothers.”

She also mentioned Vodafone Ghana’s Reconnect program. “For female professionals who have taken a break from their careers to focus on other parts of their lives, our Reconnect program makes it easy for them to get back into the workforce whenever they are ready.”

Vodafone Ghana has also implemented several initiatives to encourage STEM participation in females.

An example of this is the Girls Camp, which exposes girls in STEM across second-cycle schools to the latest trends in technology, innovation, and creativity. Participants are trained in digital skills, including coding, online education, mentoring, and entrepreneurship.

Vodafone Ghana’s Code-Like-a-Girl initiative provides basic knowledge of computer languages and development programs, including HTML, CSS, and GitHub, enabling students to develop a website by the end of the one-week course.

Vodafone’s Female Engineering Students Scholarship Program (FESSP) offers female engineering students' opportunities to work in various roles within Vodafone Ghana. It provides mentorship and support to help them become leaders in their chosen STEM careers. The Women Mentoring Group is another initiative that Vodafone Ghana has implemented to promote gender equity, offering guidance, motivation, and role modelling for younger women. These groups champion gender equality initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion.

Vodafone Ghana has also supported external programs aimed at empowering women and girls, partnering with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to empower 1,500 women in the informal sector with digital and financial skills.

By providing opportunities for women to develop their skills and creating a supportive work environment, Vodafone Ghana is working towards creating a digital society accessible to everyone.