Monrovia -Liberia’s Vice President, Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor has been named along with 99 other African females, as the 100 most influential women on the Continent.
The list of 100 most influential women in Africa was published by a reputable Public Relations firm, Avance Media, which operates in seven countries across Africa.
Notably, the women were listed not on the basis of rank but the list captured distinguished women whose work continues to inspire the next generation of Africa.
The list also showcases 100 women from 35 African countries who are changing the feminine narratives and challenging the status quo of women on the African continent.
Meanwhile Veep Howard-Taylor on Wednesday, 7 August 2019, delivered the Keynote Address at the opening session of the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa (HACSA) summit 2019, being hosted in Accra, Ghana.
The Summit, which is expected to run thru 10 August, is an international event organized under the theme: “Linking, Reconciling and Reuniting communities 400 years after the start of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade”.
The 2019 version of Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa summit seeks to discuss the legacy, communities and innovation, 400 years since the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.
Addressing the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa summit, VP Howard-Taylor underscored the need for women empowerment to be at the center of the HACSA’s endeavors for actualizing the positive legacies of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In her inspiring presentation, the Vice President recounted that Liberia and Ghana symbolize not only points of departure into slavery, and points of return as freed men and women dedicated to the quest for freedom, self-governance and determination; but like the vast expanse of our continent, together, they represent an oasis of hope, freedom and aspirations of the black race.
She also cautioned that “as Africans, our common purpose is not one dedicated to racial superiority, but that racial harmony and respect for the rights of all God’s children are essential elements by which we can collectively rise in shared responsibilities and contributions to a better world for ourselves, and for posterity.”
The Liberian Vice President shared the platform with Ambassador Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Barbara Oteng-Gyapi, Minister of Tourism and Arts of Ghana, Mr. Abdourahamane Diallo, Country Director of UNESCO Ghana and Samia Nkrumah, former Member of the Parliament of Ghana and daughter of legendary Kwame Nkrumah (founding President of Ghana).
Speaking further, Madam Howard-Taylor intimated that the HACSA summit proves that Africans are still possessed of the dreams, hopes and aspirations of their forebears and that even slavery could not take away their innate desires to build, and to grow into the eminence that was once theirs.
The Liberian first female Vice President argued that if as slaves Africans could improve the economies of others, teach themselves to read and write, and sing a song of unfading hope; then as freed men and women, they can manage their economies, embrace good governance, end corruption and provide quality education for youth across Africa.
The Vice President proffered that the center of the matter is that the African woman is empowered, that she (the African woman) must be capacitated in order to be able to proudly stand, and to assume her rightful place, side by side with her male counterparts.
